Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Coal mining and Bob Murray === {{Main|SLAPP Suits}} On June 18, 2017, ''Last Week Tonight''{{'}}s main segment was about coal mining and [[Robert E. Murray|Bob Murray]]. In his segment, Oliver talked about safety conditions inside coal mines, specifically the 2007 [[Crandall Canyon Mine]] collapse, which killed six miners. Oliver criticized Murray for claiming the collapse was caused by an [[earthquake]], despite all evidence demonstrating otherwise.<ref name="Suneson-2017">{{Cite news |last=Suneson |first=Grant |date=June 22, 2017 |title=John Oliver Is In Legal Trouble For His Rant About A Coal CEO |work=Newsy |url=https://www.newsy.com/stories/coal-ceo-sues-john-oliver-and-his-show-for-defamation/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623041444/http://www.newsy.com/stories/coal-ceo-sues-john-oliver-and-his-show-towhfor-defamation/ |archive-date=June 23, 2017}}</ref> The show ended with a costumed [[squirrel]] named "Mr. Nutterbutter", portrayed by [[Noel MacNeal]], offering Murray with an oversized check for "3 acorns and 18 cents" with the phrase "Eat Shit, Bob" in response to Murray's company presenting its employees with low sums of money as bonuses{{snd}}to which many retaliated by returning the checks, including one who returned theirs with that exact phrase written on it{{snd}}and in reference to a claim that Murray supposedly got the idea to start his company from a talking squirrel.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Coal: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw6RsUhw1Q8 |access-date=June 23, 2017 |series=Last Week Tonight with John Oliver |last=Oliver |first=John (host) |network=HBO |date=June 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623002244/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw6RsUhw1Q8 |archive-date=June 23, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> On June 22, Bob Murray presented a [[lawsuit]] against Oliver, HBO, and [[Time Warner]] for defamation. HBO believed ''Last Week Tonight'' had done nothing wrong, with a [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] lawyer describing the lawsuit as "frivolous."<ref name="Suneson-2017" /> In February 2018, a [[West Virginia]] judge stated that he planned to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Murray as unfounded.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oppenheim |first=Maya |date=February 24, 2018 |title=Coal tycoon's defamation lawsuit against John Oliver dismissed by judge |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/john-oliver-bob-murray-defamation-lawsuit-dismissed-judge-murray-energy-corp-a8226846.html |url-status=live |work=The Independent |language=en-GB |access-date=February 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225060807/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/john-oliver-bob-murray-defamation-lawsuit-dismissed-judge-murray-energy-corp-a8226846.html |archive-date=February 25, 2018}}</ref> After Murray's appeal to the [[West Virginia Supreme Court]] was delayed due to the [[Impeachment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia|impeachment of its judges]], Murray offered to drop the charges and HBO accepted.<ref name="Horton-2019">{{Cite news |last=Horton |first=Adrian |date=November 11, 2019 |title=John Oliver takes on muzzling lawsuits β and the man who sued his show |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/11/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-lawsuits-murray-energy |url-status=live |access-date=November 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106154317/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/11/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-lawsuits-murray-energy |archive-date=January 6, 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> On November 10, 2019, Oliver discussed the case in a segment about [[SLAPP|SLAPP suits]], revealing that the suit cost HBO $200,000 in legal costs and tripled the show's libel insurance fees. Oliver acknowledged that, despite the segment being vetted, the content would likely lead to another lawsuit, and that he would stand behind his team if it were to happen.<ref name="Horton-2019" /> The segment ended with a five-minute, [[Times Square]]-set [[musical number]] featuring crude and ludicrous fictional anecdotes about Murray. The musical number, entitled "Eat Shit, Bob",<ref name="Horton-2019" /> was later nominated for the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lambe |first=Stacy |date=July 28, 2020 |title=Emmy Nominations 2020: The Complete List |url=https://www.etonline.com/2020-emmy-nominations-the-complete-list-150060 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729011658/https://www.etonline.com/2020-emmy-nominations-the-complete-list-150060 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |website=Entertainment Tonight |language=en-US |access-date=November 17, 2022}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). 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