After having a minor meltdown over the possibility of a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery late last month, John Oliver offered a message directly to Paramount on Sunday night. In it, the HBO host made his wishes explicitly clear.
The moment came as a quick aside during Oliver’s main segment, which focused on explaining presidential libraries. During the show, the host zeroed in on how presidents obtain funding for their libraries, and broke down how, more often than not, donations can really just be legal bribes.
“The fact is, as things stand right now, someone could walk up to Trump today with a $15 million check, hand it to him while saying, ‘We love the work that you are doing, and hope that you’ll consider helping us out with that little problem that we were discussing earlier’ — and as long as that check said ‘Pay to the order of the Donald J. Trump presidential library foundation,’ it would be completely legal,” Oliver lamented.
“Though, don’t worry, what soulless, ethically bankrupt ass-kissing corporation would even think of doing something like that?” Oliver continued.
As the host said that last bit, an image of Paramount’s logo flashed on screen. The network recently finalized a merger with Skydance Media, but only after it announced the cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” and after it reached a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by President Trump earlier this year.
Obviously, Oliver’s joke was a dig at Paramount. But from there, he offered them a message directly.
“Please stay the f–k away from us,” Oliver said bluntly. “You are not my real business daddy, and you never will be!”
For those unfamiliar, the “us” Oliver was referring to is Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the parent company of HBO, where “Last Week Tonight” airs. Reports of a merger between the two began circulating in early September.
On a recent episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver freaked out at the idea, considering it would make HBO more likely to cave to pressure from the FCC, and thus limit what he would be allowed to say on-air.
You can watch John Oliver’s full story on presidential libraries in the video above.
