Now that the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger has closed, “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver is preparing for changes and budget cuts. To do so, the HBO host joked on Sunday night, he’s apparently using his show’s studio for a side hustle during the week.
Oliver’s main story in the latest episode of “Last Week Tonight” focused on drugs — more specifically, generic versions of drugs. Throughout the segment, he called out various overseas production plants of generic drugs, as they often fail safety inspections. Or at least, they fail surprise safety inspections. When warned in advance, most of them pass, “which just makes sense,” Oliver argued.
“You clean up when you know people are coming over,” he said exasperatedly. “The only reason this studio is so clean is because I knew you were all coming here today. Otherwise, this place would be a complete pig sty! And by the way, I mean that literally. I run a wet market here the rest of the week.”
“I’m just trying to get out ahead of any Paramount budget cuts,” Oliver quipped.
Indeed, with the merger, the combined Paramount Warner company is expected to carry $80 billion in debt. Now, they must figure out how to knock it down, and it’s unclear exactly how that will be happening so far. For what it’s worth though, John Oliver did extend his deal with HBO back in July.
As of now, the “Last Week Tonight” host will continue on with the show until at least the end of 2027, having signed a 1-year deal. This marked a change from his previous three-year contract cycles though, amid uncertainty surrounding the merger (Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of HBO).
You can watch John Oliver’s full segment on generic drugs in the video above.
