Do we like John Oliver?
Our score: 8 out of 10. He backs trans people and migrants on air, put real money into public media, and has beaten two lawsuits aimed at silencing his show.
Last Week Tonight was already on HBO in 2014, and three episodes in Oliver was telling reporters it was “comedy first”, with maybe one serious point wrapped in 35 stupid jokes. Twelve years on he is still doing it, and the serious point is the bit that gets him sued.
Coal boss Bob Murray sued HBO and the show in 2017 over a segment about him. A local judge dismissed it in 2018, Murray appealed, and in 2019 the company, by then bankrupt, dropped the case. Oliver said HBO spent over $200,000 defending it and that its libel insurance premiums tripled. He used the episode to call for anti-SLAPP laws in every state.
Round two came in 2025, when a former Medicaid medical director sued over a segment about care in nursing homes. He alleged a quote was taken out of context and that the show acted with malice. On 2 June 2026 Judge Ronnie Abrams dismissed it, finding the statements not defamatory and the description of his testimony substantially accurate. The one loss for Oliver's side was the fee request, refused on a procedural point.
The harm check is the easy part. In April 2025 he spent 42 minutes arguing against efforts to push trans women out of sport, and picked apart a “900 medals” statistic that he said came from an anti-trans website. J.K. Rowling answered by accusing him of selling out, and told him to read the room. He took that fight rather than ducking it, and that is a point in his favour.
He is just as blunt on migrants. In February 2026 he said ICE should be abolished, and called the DHS recruitment ad campaign a “disturbing pattern” of white nationalist dog whistles. In August 2025 he used a whole segment on starvation in Gaza and pressed the US to push for aid getting through. Gaza is contested politics, so how you read that depends on whether you see a humanitarian appeal or a lack of context. It is what he said, and he said it plainly.
The recent stuff is warmer. In May 2026 he farewelled Stephen Colbert's Late Show with a swearing salute borrowed from David Letterman, saying Colbert was the best. Last November he auctioned off props and fan experiences, and reports said it raised about US$1.5 million for the Public Media Bridge Fund. That is generosity with a good cause behind it.