Last June, coal magnate Robert Murray of the Murray Energy Corporation filed a lawsuit against comedian John Oliver, his popular show Last Week Tonight, and HBO. Why? Because the former The Daily Show correspondent and his team had targeted Murray with a recent deep-dive segment that was all about the American coal industry (or lack thereof) and President Trump’s many promises to save it from financial and cultural obscurity. Specifically, the lawsuit accused Oliver et al. of “[executing] a meticulously planned attempt to assassinate the character of and reputation of [himself] and his companies.”
Thanks to Judge Jeffrey Cramer of West Virginia’s second judicial circuit court, however, Murray’s lawsuit against the above parties has been summarily dismissed. According to Deadline, Cramer “[found] the arguments set forth in the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim and Reply well-founded, appropriate in this matter and will grant the same.” As a result, he ruled that the court “[will adopt], with little exception, Defendants’ argument in support of their Motion regarding all issues addressed in the same.”
Oliver previously joked that Cramer was “probably going to sue” him, but defiantly declared, “You know what? I stand by everything I said.” Even so, when the coal magnate did sue him, the show, and the premium cable network, subsequent attempts by Late Show host Stephen Colbert to get Oliver to open up about it proved fruitless. With the West Virginia second judicial circuit court’s recent decision, however, this might change ahead of Last Week Tonight‘s next episode on Sunday.
(Via Deadline)