John Oliver facing defamation lawsuit over Medicaid episode

Oliver said he hoped the ex-medical director of AmeriHealth Caritas would get "tetanus of the balls."

By Mary Kate Carr  |  April 2, 2025 | 11:33am
Screenshot: Last Week Tonight/YouTube
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John Oliver facing defamation lawsuit over Medicaid episode
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John Oliver is back in the hot seat. The host of Last Week Tonight is once again being sued for defamation by Dr. Brian Morley, the ex-medical director of AmeriHealth Caritas. In a 2024 episode, Oliver quoted the doctor as saying it was okay for a patient with bowel issues to be “a little dirty for a couple of days.” Dr. Morley argues that his quote was taken out of context and is seeking unspecified damages (“in an amount to be determined and in excess of $75,000,” per Deadline) in his lawsuit against Oliver and LWT producers Partially Important Productions.  

“Defendants falsely told millions of viewers of their show, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, that Dr. Morley testified in a Medicaid hearing that ‘he thinks it’s okay if people have shit on them for days,’ intentionally leading viewers to believe that Dr. Morley made these alleged statements about — and illegally denied Medicaid services to — a young man who has severe mental impairment, was harnessed in a wheelchair, wears diapers, and required in-home bathing and diaper changing because he could do neither himself,” reads the suit (via Deadline). “Defendants’ false accusations were designed to spark outrage, and they did. The false accusations Defendants made were so heinous that John Oliver felt justified in telling his millions of viewers: ‘fuck that doctor with a rusty canoe. I hope he gets tetanus of the balls.’ Oliver’s feigned outrage at Dr. Morley was fabricated for ratings and profits at the expense of Dr. Morley’s reputation and personal well-being.”

The quote in question (which can be found around the 19 minute mark in the video below) was presented on Last Week Tonight as such: “People have bowel movements every day where they don’t completely clean themselves, and we don’t fuss over [them] too much. People are allowed to be dirty. … You know, I would allow him to be dirty for a couple of days.” After sharing the snippet on the show, Oliver said, ​​”Look, I’ll be honest, when I first heard that, I thought that had to be taken out of context. There is no way a doctor, a licensed physician, would testify in a hearing that he thinks it’s okay if people have shit on them for days. So, we got the full hearing, and I’m not gonna play it for you, I’m just gonna tell you: he said it, he meant it, and it made me want to punch a hole in the wall.” 

However, the lawsuit argues the context is indeed changed by the full quote, as seen below: 

“In certain cases, yes, with the patient with significant comorbidities, you would want to have someone wiping them and getting the feces off. But like I said, people have bowel movements every day where they don’t completely clean themselves and we don’t fuss over too much. People are allowed to be dirty. It’s when the dirty and the feces and the urine interfere with, you know, medical safety, like in someone who has concomitant comorbidities that you worry, but not in this specific case. I would allow him to be a little dirty for a couple days.“

According to the complaint, a senior producer for the show spoke to Morley before airing and stated they’d listened to the full administrative hearing. Nevertheless, “Defendants knowingly manipulated Dr. Morley’s testimony and then knowingly manipulated the context in which they placed it such to convey the defamatory meaning,” the suit claims. Morley later “demanded that Defendants retract their False and Defamatory Statements,” which Last Week Tonight refused. The lawsuit asserts, “Defendants published the False and Defamatory Statements and Meanings with common law malice, with the intent to injure and reckless disregard for the rights of Dr. Morley.”

 
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