A West Virginia judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed by a coal magnate who was ridiculed on HBO’s show Last Week Tonight by host John Oliver. Oliver targeted Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray during a segment last June that blasted his company and criticized the standards of the coal industry at large. In the segment, Oliver said that when a producer for his show tried to get in touch with Murray Energy, it responded with a cease and desist letter from its legal team. I stand by everything I said,” said Oliver, who called the CEO a “geriatric Dr. Evil.”Murray filed a lawsuit shortly after the episode aired. Attorneys for HBO argued that Oliver’s comments were factual — sourced from various court documents about Murray — or obviously satirical, both of which are protected by the First Amendment.

Source: thestar February 24, 2018 23:26 UTC