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You are here: Home / See Ya In Court, Jackass

See Ya In Court, Jackass

by | 60 Comments

This post is in: ,

Or probably not, as this will quickly get thrown out:

A Republican coal baron is suing John Oliver, HBO, Time Warner, and the writers for Oliver’s show over the most recent episode of Last Week Tonight.

The suit, filed on June 21 in the circuit court of Marshall County, West Virginia, holds that Oliver and his team “executed a meticulously planned attempt to assassinate the character of and reputation of Mr. Robert E. Murray and his companies” by airing an episode that ripped into him. Murray runs the country’s largest privately owned coal company, Murray Energy Corporation.

“They did this to a man who needs a lung transplant, a man who does not expect to live to see the end of this case,” reads the complaint, which also lists Murray’s companies as plaintiffs.

The lawsuit isn’t a surprise to Oliver. In fact, the British comic said on the episode of his show that aired on June 18 that he expected it, noting that Murray has sued several other media outlets in the past (including, in May, the New York Times). In the episode, Oliver criticized Murray’s business practices, saying he doesn’t do enough to protect his miners’ safety. Oliver also noted that his team contacted Murray’s company before the episode aired, and that the company sent a cease-and-desist letter––the first time that had ever happened to his show.

In the interest of full disclosure so Mr. Murray will not sue me and because I am a big fan of the Streisand effect, here is the entire Last Week Tonight piece:

Screw Murray.

Reader Interactions

60Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    Yeah, the guy is nuttier than a squirrel convention buffet and loves, loves, loves to sue so Oliver and Co. certainly knew this was coming. Does dudebro coal know about a thing called “discovery?”

    In other entertainment news, DIAF Cosby.

    Bill Cosby wants to spread the word to young people about sexual assault … how to avoid being accused of it.

    Cosby’s spokespeople, Andrew Wyatt and Ebonee Benson, told “Good Day Alabama” Wednesday the comedian is planning a series of town halls this summer to educate young people about sexual assault.

  2. 2.

    Cacti

    Check out Murray’s current wiki page before it gets changed:

    Robert E. Murray (born January 13, 1940) is CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, a mining corporation based in St. Clairsville, Ohio. He is one of the largest independent operators of coal mines in the United States. After a spotlight on the series last week tonight with John Oliver, many more people told him to “eat $hit Bob”. Many people from Cleveland Ohio, Bob’s hometown, hope his poor health causes his rapid death. His death will be good for the world. [1]

    Link

  4. 4.

    burnspbesq

    How do you assassinate something that doesn’t exist (i.e., Murray’s character)?

  5. 5.

    trollhattan

    In Trump America, Soviet bear good, grizzly bear dead.

    Today, the Interior Department announced that the Yellowstone grizzly bear will no longer be listed as an endangered species. The bear has been listed for 42 years, despite multiple efforts to remove Endangered Species Act protections. The move could allow hunting of the grizzly – a decision will be left up to the states.

  6. 6.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    “They did this to a man who needs a lung transplant, a man who does not expect to live to see the end of this case,” reads the complaint, which also lists Murray’s companies as plaintiffs.

    Is this supposed to bolster the case? Cry me a river, counselor.

  7. 7.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    @trollhattan:

    Cosby’s spokespeople, Andrew Wyatt and Ebonee Benson, told “Good Day Alabama” Wednesday the comedian is planning a series of town halls this summer to educate young people about sexual assault.

    Couldn’t make this up if I tried
    This should play well with the MRA, PUA, and other assorted right-wing internet weirdo crowd

  9. 9.

    Brachiator

    @Cacti:

    Check out Murray’s current wiki page before it gets changed

    Very good (even though I think that the Wiki should be treated as sacred ground).

  12. 12.

    patrick II

    While on the topics of Assholes, Sociopaths, I was just listening to Sean Hannity whose guest was Mark Meadows (R-NC). Meadows and the freedom caucus are planning to introduce a bill to investigate the investigators. It seems that some of Mueller’s investigators actually contributed to democrats — and how is that fair, and why shouldn’t that disqualify them? And why aren’t they investigating the real criminals Hillary and Lynch?
    The possibility that Russia interfered with our elections doesn’t seem to matter to these people very much.

  13. 13.

    bystander

    Speaking of defamation, MSNBC has been pushing how terrible Nancy Pelosi is the entire day. I guess since they don’t have Clinton to bash…

  14. 14.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    @patrick II: Why would it? They benefited. And Putin is the kind of leader they’d like here in America. Putie Poot would do more than punch hippies

  15. 15.

    trollhattan

    Wow and ka-ching.

    Two Republican lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would increase the U.S. Navy fleet from 274 ships to 355 ships. Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.) and Rep. Rob Wittman (Va.) unveiled the bipartisan Securing the Homeland by Increasing our Power on the Seas (SHIPS) Act. It would set a 355-vessel fleet as U.S. policy, subject to Congress appropriating enough money.

    It was also revealed the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal year 2018 defense policy bill will call for more new ships than the nine supported under the White House defense budget.

    Arbitrary number is arbitrary. But hey, make it nothing but carriers while you’re at it so the airplane makers get in on the action.

  16. 16.

    sharl

    Ken White, a Los Angeles defense attorney who tweets and blogs as Popehat, and who specializes in First Amendment cases like this, found the legal complaint ridiculous.

    Thanks to @woodruffbets I got to see the defamation complaint against John Oliver and HBO. It’s very, very 2017. /1

    First it follows the fashion “make your complaint an unapologetic political screed suitable for InfoWars.” /2

    Second it jumbles whining about obvious protected insults and opinions with MAYBE a few references to allegedly false factual statement. /3

    Third it’s got hella hand-wringing about how nice plaintiff is and how mean Oliver is. Cringeworthy red-meat-to-my-supporters. /4

    It’s simply not professional — it’s lawsuit as theater. Gross. /5

    By the way there’s no anti-SLAPP statute in West Virginia. Sorry. /6

    Liam Dennehy‏ @liamdennehy

    OMG that complaint is amazing. You can’t cite the Fed MSHA in support, then mock their “experts” (quotes in original) when you disagree. ?

    ETA: fixed first blockquote

  17. 17.

    cmorenc

    This is a classic SLAPP suit – except Murray seems to have the mistaken impression he’s taking on parties who cannot afford to fight him back – as trollhatten noted above, does this dudebro not know the scope of discovery he’s opening himself up to, esp by someone with the capacity to drill deep into his company’s safety history?

  18. 18.

    cmorenc

    @Mike J:

    West Virginia doesn’t have an anti-slapp law.

    Abuse of process is the common-law version of an anti-slapp law, albeit it’s far from the most plaintiff-friendly item of common law.

  19. 19.

    Corner Stone

    @bystander: They have been on her ass all damn day. And I am sure it’s not over yet. I wonder if it will bleed over to coverage tomorrow. With all the Senate healthcare bill shenannies I don’t see how it could be worth talking about anymore.
    However, in case this has not been dropped anywhere here today:
    Hugh Hewitt to Host Show on MSNBC
    “As part of the expansion, conservative radio talk show host and MSNBC contributor Hugh Hewitt is getting a half hour show, airing Saturdays at 8 a.m. ET.
    …
    Hewitt’s first show, which will air live, is this Saturday morning. Expanding news programming has long been the goal of NBC News chairman Andy Lack, who created MSNBC 21 years ago. But with intensive coverage of the Trump White House, which has led to ratings gains across MSNBC, it only makes sense to add live hours where it can.”

    Hmmm…ratings gains…adding Hugh Hewitt….hmmm…

  20. 20.

    cmorenc

    @trollhattan:

    In Trump America, Soviet bear good, grizzly bear dead.

    And there are trophy-hunting assholes like that Minnesota dentist and local ranchers who will try their best to kill every damn one of them before a democratic administration regains power and re-institutes the endangered species status for grizzlies.

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    And sad to say, Nicolle Wallace’s show used to be somewhat useful but it has recently turned really rightwing in the commentary and the way it is being handled. Just being anti-Trump is not enough and the rest of the dialogue is really getting worse, quickly.

  23. 23.

    Corner Stone

    If Karen Handel had lost GA-06 it would not have deterred McConnell in any way, shape, form, style or anything else. This is a bullshit talking point propagated by the pundit lovers.

  25. 25.

    ThresherK

    @Brachiator: I imagine Massey will remove the top, extract the few useful pixels in it, and then dump the tailings upstream of someone else’s water suplply.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @trollhattan:

    Two Republican lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would increase the U.S. Navy fleet from 274 ships to 355 ships. Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.) and Rep. Rob Wittman (Va.) unveiled the bipartisan Securing the Homeland by Increasing our Power on the Seas (SHIPS) Act. It would set a 355-vessel fleet as U.S. policy, subject to Congress appropriating enough money.

    How is it bipartisan if both sponsors are members of the same party?

  28. 28.

    FlipYrWhig

    @trollhattan: Wittman is my Congressman and, since I berated him over his support for the House health care bill, he now sends me emails, I suppose as retaliation. He’s supposed to be a “moderate.” Fuck that guy.

  29. 29.

    Corner Stone

    That image in Cole’s twit feed, of the person in the wheelchair who is strip tie handcuffed with arms behind the back? That riles Trump supporters up. That makes them get erections and start drooling. They love it. They would show up to a rally if they could yell and scream in the face of handcuffed people in wheelchairs who were all protesting for useful healthcare. That’s what they want, and what they voted for.

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    How is it bipartisan if both sponsors are members of the same party?

    One is from the north end of the Confederacy and the other is from the south end? Details, details.

  31. 31.

    Shell

    That worked so well when the Beef industry decided to sue Oprah. An unfortunate side effect of that trial was bringing Dr. Phil into the public light.

  32. 32.

    Tom Levenson

    I’m not altogether sure Mr. Murray has considered the pleasures of the discovery process.

  34. 34.

    D58826

    The suit, filed on June 21 in the circuit court of Marshall County, West Virginia, holds that Oliver and his team “executed a meticulously planned attempt to assassinate the character of and reputation of Mr. Robert E. Murray and his companies” by airing an episode that ripped into him

    Ah with all due respect and the required disclaimer that i am not a lawyer (but I did just eat at Boardwalk Billies) how can you assassinate something that does not in fact exist in the first place. IN fact give what most people think of Murray and his coal company you would think he would send Oliver a thank you note for killing that deplorable reputation.

  35. 35.

    Corner Stone

    Lee, Cruz, Paul, Johnson. Hmmmm, wonder what these four Senators have in common? First two guesses don’t count.

  36. 36.

    trollhattan

    Ha-ha-ha-ha.

    Mississippi regulators are asking the owners of a under-construction “clean coal” power plant to draft a plan for it to run solely on natural gas.

    The unanimous Wednesday vote by the state’s Public Service Commission could spell the end for one of the largest attempts to demonstrate that “clean coal” technology to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of coal-burning power plants can be viable on a utility scale, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Kemper project has been running on natural gas for the time being. Its owner, Southern Co., has spent seven years and $7.5 billion to build the coal gasification capability.

    But earlier this month, Mississippi Power, a unit of Southern, asked regulators to allow it to charge customers more for the increased costs of the coal portion of the facility. The state regulators instead told the company to either figure out how to avoid charging more for power or how to run the plant solely on natural gas.

  45. 45.

    trnc

    Apparently, Murray has failed to find satisfaction in every previous lawsuit, so I’m not sure what he thinks makes this different.

    On the flip side, is there a reason that we can expect more fun from the discovery process this time around? Did previous suits get dropped before discovery?

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    @Kathleen: I think you replied to the wrong comment. But in any event, of course it is worth covering and should be shown to be happening. My comment was further to the twitter post linked in Cole’s feed that somehow believed that image was going to be useful in elections going forward. It will be quite useful. It will get Republican voters motivated to come out and vote more and more to enable that kind of cruelty. They will be quite enthusiastic to give their elected officials the opportunity to strap down disabled people and treat them like shit in public. It most certainly will not damage anyone R’s effort to run for Congress in any way.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne

    “They did this to a man who needs a lung transplant, a man who does not expect to live to see the end of this case,” reads the complaint, which also lists Murray’s companies as plaintiffs.

    I am probably a bad person, because my first thought upon reading this was, “How do we make sure that Don Blankenship gets a fatal lung disease, too?”

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @gene108:

    I believe today, based on comments in an earlier thread. Also check Cole’s Twitter feed to the right for confirmation.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, too, there is pretty much zero chance that Oliver did not pre-alert HBO’s lawyers to a potential lawsuit. I’m guessing they’re champing at the bit right now to respond.

  52. 52.

    Ian G.

    When the last bituminous coal mine in this country closes in 10-15 years, I’ll be popping champagne.

    Hopefully by then, the knuckleheads running KY and WV will figure out how well suited their hills are for wind energy.

  53. 53.

    Kathleen

    @Corner Stone: Yes I did reply to wrong comment. I blame DWS, Pelosi, Obama, et al.
    Sadly I think you’re absolutely right. These people feed off of suffering, misery, hatred and fear. It’s what keeps them alive. Sort of. And they will stuff themselves with it. After all their favorite comedy is Le Mis.

  57. 57.

    TenguPhule

    @Ian G.:

    Hopefully by then, the knuckleheads running KY and WV will figure out how well suited their hills are for wind energy.

    Unfortunately, they leveled them to get the coal underneath.

  58. 58.

    sukabi

    @bystander: with the news in the last week that Georgia’s election business on the web could be accessed by anyone with the knowledge and the inclination (including passwords, voter info, ECT), and that it was brought to Handel’s attention a year ago, and nothing was done to fix it, I’m surprised that folks are willing to blindly accept that she actually won.

    The hit pieces on Pelosi are a distraction. If they can get enough infighting going in the dem party the rs will get away with doing what they want without much, if any push back.

  59. 59.

    Mike in NC

    Great episode of Last Week Tonight mocking the Fat Bastard Murray who’s a BFF of that other Fat Bastard Trump.

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