John Oliver's legal hell is the stuff of Hulk Hogan-fueled nightmares
...John Oliver is being sued by Robert Murray, the head of a coal-based energy company...The case is set to go forward in West Virginia, where several of the companies technically suing Oliver are based...Murray is suing Oliver and HBO for defamation for a segment on Last Week Tonight in which the host hurled a variety of insults mixed with facts alongside claims that a mine accident that killed nine people was the result of the company's practices rather than an earthquake...
...West Virginia has no anti-SLAPP law, a tool other states have put in place to give defendants a way to fight back against lawsuits much like this one. These legal proceedings can cost heaps of time and money, forcing weaker defendants to settle regardless of the merit of the lawsuits...
...First Amendment lawyer Ken White called the lawsuits "frivolous and vexatious." The American Civil Liberties Union noted in an Amicus Brief filed on the case arguing there's almost no substance to this lawsuit.
Oliver's lawyers will look to get the case thrown out before it ever gets to a jury...