Suing coal CEO seeks court order to silence John Oliver
By Jeremy Dick
After hitting Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver with a lawsuit for ‘character assassination’, coal CEO Robert Murray wants the judge to impose a gag order.
If you’re seriously trying to silence John Oliver, then all I can say to you is “good luck!”
A couple weeks back, Oliver devoted an episode of his weekly HBO program to taking on the coal industry. Even after pointing out himself how doing so could get him into trouble, Oliver exposed coal giants like Robert Murray for the greedy scumbags they really are. Well, Murray himself saw the segment, and needless to say, he wasn’t a fan.
Murray has since hired a legal team to hit Oliver and HBO with a lawsuit for the episode. The coal giant is claiming it’s character assassination, even though Oliver’s claims are backed up with facts. That fact is likely weighing on Murray now, as the suing CEO is now trying to put a lid on the episode. Oliver refusing to back down the next week is only making things more tense between the two.
The Daily Beast is reporting that Murray’s legal team filed a motion on June 28th to gag Oliver from speaking any more about the incident. Not only that, but they also want HBO to stop broadcasting all repeats of the episode in question. Who knows whether HBO will ultimately oblige due to the legal threats, but for now, you can watch the episode below while it’s still up on YouTube.
The video Robert Murray doesn’t want you to see.
Next: Bill Maher monologue rips Donald Trump over Twitter rant
The article above also includes a response from HBO, which notes they intend to stick by Oliver. His comments are considered to be protected by our freedom of speech, and they will settle this in court before pulling the videos.