John Oliver Told to ‘Cease and Desist’ by Trump-Loving Coal Tycoon

Caitlin George Parker

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver focused on the coal industry and specifically on the Donald Trump-loving CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, Bob Murray, who apparently does not like media scrutiny. Oliver explained, “When we contacted Murray Energy for this piece, they sent us a letter instructing us to “Cease and desist from any effort to defame, harass, or otherwise injure Mr. Murray or Murray Energy.”

It turns out that Murray’s threat is probably not idle, with his company having now sued the New York Times, a Huffington Post contributor, and two papers in Ohio. Oliver went on to explain that “Murray’s current general counsel told reporters that [the Akron Beacon Journal] had inflicted a potential economic loss of — and I am not making this up — $1 billion, which, when you think about it, is exactly what you’d expect from a geriatric Dr. Evil.”

Oliver was willing to take the risk and looked at the history of Murray’s company, which includes unsuccessfully suing to block a rule that helped reduce miners’ exposure to coal dust.

Oliver joked, if you even appear to be on the same side as black lung, you’re on the wrong f***ing side. That’s the equivalent of watching My Girl and rooting for the bees.

And it turns out Oliver isn’t the only person who’s not a big fan of Bob Murray. Murray’s own employees are fed up with his dealings and his disregard for their safety, voiding and returning bonus checks for as little as $3.22 with “Eat s***, Bob” written on them.

Last Week Tonight airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on HBO.

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