John Oliver and Larry Flynt have at least one thing in common: Both have been sued for using over-the-top jokes to hurt the feelings of powerful men.
Oliver was sued last week by Murray Energy CEO Robert E. Murray for what Murray called “vile and baseless” “attempts at humor.” Murray alleges that the “Last Week Tonight” host caused him “severe emotional distress” by enlisting a staffer to dress as a giant squirrel on his set and say “Eat s—, Bob” and “Kiss my ass, Bob.”
HBO lawyers will likely rely on Flynt’s court victory to win a quick dismissal of the Murray lawsuit, which he filed in West Virginia.
Flynt’s legal fights led to a powerful court rule protecting parody and satire: The Hustler publisher won dismissal of an emotional distress lawsuit filed by Rev. Jerry Falwell in a landmark 1988 Supreme Court decision, Hustler v. Falwell.
In that case, the court declared that the First Amendment protects jokes, even when the humorous jabs are offensive, mean-spirited and intended to cause serious emotional harm to the butt of the joke.
The Supreme Court said in Flynt’s case that the First Amendment protects “vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks” on public figures, said Lincoln Bandlow, a Los Angeles media law lawyer at Fox Rothschild.
“In my mind, this is not a complaint, this is a press release,” he told TheWrap, referring to Murray’s lawsuit.
Lawyers for Murray did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
In addition to suing Oliver for his jokes, Murray also accused Oliver of committing defamation when he ridiculed Murray’s contention that a fatal collapse at one of his mines was caused by a earthquake. Oliver said Murray ignored a government report concluding the collapse was caused by collapsing pillars and poor design, not a quake.
Murray made three claims in his lawsuit against Oliver and HBO: alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and placing Murray in a “false light.”
First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams told LawNewz, a legal news website owned by his son Dan Abrams, that Oliver’s segment is constitutionally protected because Oliver commented on President Trump’s public support of the coal industry, which is political speech.
“Political commentary, whether phrased humorously or not, receives sweeping protection under the First Amendment,” Abrams said.
The fact that Oliver’s jibes at the coal executive were obviously hyperbole and absurd means that the audience understood the gags were jokes and not statements of defamatory facts, Abrams added.
Bandlow said that Murray’s libel claim also is likely to be dismissed because Oliver was expressing his opinion based on government reports, which provides protection against libel and false-light claims.
Murray’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress will likely fail because Oliver’s commentary is “far, far, far from the kind of outrageous conduct that would justify” such a claim, Bandlow said.
HBO’s issued the following statement in reaction to the lawsuit: “While we have not seen the complaint, we have confidence in the staff of ‘Last Week Tonight’ and do not believe anything in the show this week violated Mr. Murray’s or Murray Energy’s rights.”
Flynt was sued for a parody advertisement in a November 1983 issue of Hustler that portrayed fundamentalist preacher Falwell talking about a drunken incestuous relationship with his mother in an outhouse.
The Supreme Court dismissed the case, saying the parody was “offensive to [Falwell], and doubtless gross and repugnant in the eyes of most,” but still Constitutionally protected as political speech and not understood to be factual.
15 Stars Who Imagined Violence Against Donald Trump, From Kathy Griffin to Pearl Jam (Photos)
Since the election, several celebrities have voiced their displeasure -- even anger -- with the Trump administration. Some have gone so far as to suggest violent measures. From Robert De Niro to Snoop Dogg, here are some left-leaning noteworthy people who have fanned themes of violence toward Trump and the GOP.
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Mickey Rourke
In a TMZ video from 2015, this boxer-turned-actor directed his rage toward Trump, calling him a "big-mouthed bitch bully," saying he would "love 30 seconds in a room with the little bitch." Rourke has also expressed a desire to "give [Trump] a Louisville slugger."
In late February 2016, the host of Comedy Central's now-canceled "The Nightly Show" joked about then-candidate Donald Trump: “I don’t want to give him any more oxygen. That’s not a euphemism, by the way. I mean it literally. Somebody get me the pillow they used to kill [Supreme Court Justice Antonin] Scalia and I’ll do it — I’ll do it!"
George Lopez
During the Republican primaries in March 2016, the Mexican American comedian tweeted a cartoon image of former Mexican president Vincente Fox holding the decapitated head of Donald Trump aloft, with the caption "Make America Great Again."
Marilyn Manson
Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson had to take his turn in the Trump-bashing festivities. In a teaser video for his song, "Say10," released just after the 2016 election, a Trump-like figure wearing a suit and a red tie lies decapitated on a concrete floor, in a pool of his own blood.
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Rosie O'Donnell
In July 2017, O'Donnell tweeted out a link to a game called "Push Trump Off A Cliff Again." This made many conservatives want to push her off a cliff, not POTUS.
Madonna told a crowd of thousands at the Women's March on Washington in January 2017 that she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House." The singer's profanity-riddled jab at the Republican administration provoked the anger of many conservatives.
The actor is not afraid to express his disdain for the commander in chief. De Niro confirmed to ABC's "The View" in February 2017 that he would like to punch Trump in the face. He clarified earlier comments, saying "It wasn’t like I was gonna go find him and [really] punch him in the face, but he’s gotta hear it."
Snoop Dogg's music video for "Lavender," released in March 2017, (literally) paints POTUS as a clown and orchestrates his death. At the video's end, the "Gin and Juice" rapper points a gun at the harlequin Trump figure and shoots. But instead of a bullet, a red flag that reads "Bang!" fires out of the gun.
The comedian landed in hot water in May 2017 after photos surfaced of her holding a fake bloody, decapitated Trump head. Griffin was promptly dropped from her annual New Year's Eve gig by CNN. Toilet stool company Squatty Potty also pulled its ads featuring Griffin. Trump himself called the photos "sick" and tweeted that his youngest son, Barron, was "having a hard time" with the images. Griffin later apologized.
The nonprofit theater staged a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" in May-June 2017 that made conservative viewers want to revolt. In the production, a Trumplike figure playing the title role is stabbed to death by a band of angry Senators. The Public Theater subsequently lost sponsorships from Delta Airlines and Bank of America.
The musician's new video, released in June 2017, is simultaneously nostalgic and dystopian. In 1980s cartoon fashion, a giant Transformer-like Trump morphs into a swastika/dollar sign and wreaks havoc on a city before meeting a fiery, explosive demise.
During an appearance at the U.K.'s 2017 Glastonbury music and arts festival, the actor tore into the president -- "I think Trump needs help" -- and then made an ill-considered joke: “When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?” Depp claimed his joke was misconstrued and eventually issued an apology.
Asked what he'd serve at a peace summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, the celebrity chef told a TMZ video crew in 2017: "Hemlock."
CNN
Big Sean
In February 2017 rapper Big Sean rapped a verse about killing the President on his "I Decided" album. The lyrics are, “And I might just kill ISIS with the same icepick/That I murder Donald Trump in the same night with."
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Pearl Jam
At a show in Montana in August 2018 that served as a fundraiser for Sen. Jon Tester, the Seattle-based rockers released a cartoon poster commemorating the show that featured a bald eagle picking at the rotting corpse of President Trump on the White House lawn.
Some celebrities have been more than outspoken in their criticism of the Republican president
Since the election, several celebrities have voiced their displeasure -- even anger -- with the Trump administration. Some have gone so far as to suggest violent measures. From Robert De Niro to Snoop Dogg, here are some left-leaning noteworthy people who have fanned themes of violence toward Trump and the GOP.