John Oliver Wins Defamation Lawsuit Against Coal King

John Oliver and his show Last Week Tonight got caught up in a legal suit after Oliver called coal king Robert Murray a "geriatric Dr. Evil" and made fun of his energy corporation during a segment last June. Oliver was sued for defamation but he has announced that the comments were ruled a First Amendment right, according to Deadline.

Judge Jeffrey Cramer of West Virginia ruled: "I find 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. The Court adopts, with little exception, Defendants' argument in support of their Motion regarding all issues addressed in the same."

Watch Oliver's coal segment below and read more here.

John Oliver is an English comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor and television host.

Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian, both in the United Kingdom and United States. He came to wider attention for his work on THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART as its senior British correspondent from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on THE DAILY SHOW and was its guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. In addition to The Daily Show, Oliver co-hosted the satirical comedy podcast The Bugle(2007-2015) with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously co-hosted the radio series Political Animal, and hosted John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central from 2010 to 2013. He has also acted on television, most notably in a recurring role as Ian Duncan on the NBCsitcom Community.

Since 2014, Oliver has been the host of the HBO series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He has received widespread critical and popular recognition for his work on the series, whose influence over US culture, legislation and policymaking has been dubbed the "John Oliver effect".[3][4] For his work on Last Week Tonight, Oliver has won six Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award and was included in the 2015 Time 100, being described as a 'comedic agent of change...powerful because he isn't afraid to tackle important issues thoughtfully, without fear or apology.'