John Oliver Blasts Paramount's Warner Bros. Takeover On HBO's Last Week Tonight

There are so many questions swirling around the not-yet-approved Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger, but only really one that's on everyone's mind today: How much will HBO Max change now that, per Paramount CEO David Ellison, it's to be combined with Paramount+? Given its deep library of classic films and critically acclaimed original programming, HBO Max is considered by many movie and television fans to be the crown jewel of streaming services. And while Paramount+ does boast a number of popular television shows (like "Landman" and "RuPaul's Drag Race"), the streamer lacks the prestige of the one it's set to join. It also has millions of fewer subscribers. This is unquestionably a big win for Ellison and Paramount and a big loss for anyone who cares about quality movies and television.

Since Ellison will be calling the shots across the board should this deal go through, many fear that he'll seize the reins of HBO from Casey Bloys and install a loyal top executive in his place. Talking to investors and analysts today, Ellison praised Bloys' leadership and claimed that he intends to let HBO operate with independence. We'll have to wait and see if this continues to be the case. For now, however, some remain skeptical that there won't be any interference, and one person who's especially panicked is "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver.

On last night's broadcast, the fearlessly outspoken late night host took some very funny shots at his potential new "business daddy." After calling the pending merger "not great news," Oliver unleashed a killer swipe at the company that just swallowed WBD whole: 

"In fact, if I may quote anyone who's ever accidentally sat on their Roku remote, 'Oh s***! I'm in Paramount now! How the f*** do I get out of this???"

Later in the episode, while discussing law enforcement body camera footage, John Oliver remarked, "There's no point in the police just stacking up thousands of hours of footage that no one's ever going to see — especially given that we all know that's Paramount+'s job. Hey, what are they gonna do? Take us over and immediately cancel us? I'm genuinely asking!" He then continued on with his body camera segment.

Oliver has good reason to be worried, too. After host Stephen Colbert called CBS' decision to settle a frivolous lawsuit filed by Donald Trump "a big fat bribe," "The Late Show" was canceled, even though it had been the top rated late night network show for nine years. While CBS claimed this was a purely financial decision (the network claimed the show was losing roughly $40 million per season, though that number might have been inflated), the timing seemed awfully suspicious, especially since Trump has long been publicly vocal about how much he loathes Colbert.

Will Oliver suffer the same fate for his impertinence? Or will he be given impunity to take jabs at his new corporate employer in the same way that Colbert's predecessor David Letterman was back when General Electric (GE) purchased NBC in 1986? I've got a feeling that the next time he takes a poke at Trump, the latter could force his billionaire lapdog Ellison (who, along with the rest of his kin, have allegedly told the Trump administration that their intent is to introduce "sweeping changes" to CNN upon closing their acquisition of WBD) to break his promise of an independent HBO.

"Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" premieres new episodes on Sundays on HBO.