The ACLU filed a legal brief Tuesday in support of HBO host John Oliver, who is being sued by the CEO of America’s largest privately owned coal company.
Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp., sued Oliver for defamation in June after the comedian mocked the coal company on his show, “Last Week Tonight.”
In the show, Oliver said Murray “looks like a geriatric Dr. Evil,” according to the ACLU’s amicus brief filed with the Marshall County Circuit Court in West Virginia.
“Although this brief pokes fun at the absurdity of this case, the legal issues raised by it are anything but comical,” the brief read.
The ACLU’s brief contained plenty of snark.
“With regard to the Dr. Evil remark, it should be remembered that truth is an absolute defense to a claim of defamation,” the ACLU wrote. “It should be noted that the very mean comparison arose from both a striking physical resemblance between the two characters and a statement by Plaintiff’s General Counsel with an uncanny similarity to statements made by a more youthful Dr. Evil.”
In late June, Murray sought a gag order against Oliver while the lawsuit is considered in court.
Murray’s lawyers filed a motion with the Marshall County Circuit Court, asking the judge to bar HBO from reshowing the June 18 episode of Oliver’s show and to prevent the comedian and the other defendants (including the show’s writers) from discussing the lawsuit in public.
Murray’s lawyers claimed to Judge Jeffrey Cramer that Oliver incited his audience to “vigilantism.”
