One hopes that there will be sanctions against both Mr. Murray and his counsel:<\/p>\n
West Virginia judge Jeffrey Cramer is dismissing a defamation lawsuit<\/a> against John Oliver stemming from a segment<\/a> in which a giant squirrel named \u201cMr. Nutterbutter\u201d told coal baron Robert Murray to eat shit, according to the Hollywood Reporter<\/a>. HBO and Partially Important Productions had asked that the suit be dismissed because the facts in Oliver\u2019s segment were based on government reports, and the more insulting statements\u2014like Oliver\u2019s assessment that Murray resembles \u201ca geriatric Dr. Evil\u201d\u2014could not be proven true or false. Judge Cramer agreed, and on Wednesday, informed attorneys by letter<\/a> that he planned to dismiss the case. The judge\u2019s letter is a lot less funny than the West Virginia ACLU\u2019s amicus brief<\/a>, but has the advantage of being dispositive. <\/p>\n
Lawyers for Murray, whose company lost six miners and three rescue workers in the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse<\/a>, said in their initial complaint that \u201cnothing has ever stressed him more<\/a>\u201d than the Last Week Tonight<\/i> segment, in which a gigantic squirrel named \u201cMr. Nutterbutter\u201d presented a novelty check for \u201cthree acorns and eighteen cents\u201d made out to \u201cEat Shit, Bob!\u201d (The memo line on the check read \u201cKiss My Ass,\u201d which does indeed sound stressful, but maybe not \u201cmine collapse with multiple fatalities\u201d stressful.) To be fair, most of the complaint revolved around whether or not Oliver correctly characterized Murray\u2019s handling of the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse, but Mr. Nutterbutter did play a prominent part: <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n51. Instead, Defendants continued their ruthless character assassination and attack on Plaintiffs\u2019 business reputations by describing Mr. Murray as someone who \u201clooks like a geriatric Dr. Evil\u201d and arranging for a staff member to dress up in a squirrel costume and deliver the message, \u201cEat Shit, Bob!\u201d to Mr. Murray.<\/p>\n
52. If that were not enough, after the live taping, Defendant Oliver exclaimed to the audience that having someone in a squirrel costume tell Mr. Murray to \u201cEat Shit\u201d was a \u201cdream come true.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I do not know if there is anti-SLAPP legislation in West Virginia, but there should be. <\/p>\n
BTW, you can find the ACLU’s amicus brief in support of Oliver here<\/a>, and it is well worth the read.<\/p>\n
Here is a selection of their brief for your amusement: <\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/6XxQimC.png\")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n