Last Week Tonight With John Oliver won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Show at the 2025 Emmys, marking the eighth year in a row that the HBO series took home the trophy. And tonight on CBS, the network that recently cut the cord on its own politically-bent late night television series, the winners made a pointed statement: “We share this category, we are honored to share it, with all writers of late night political comedy while that is still a type of show that’s allowed to exist,” writer Daniel O’Brien said in their speech.
This comes after the crowd in the room gave imminently unemployed Stephen Colbert a standing ovation; Colbert used the moment to champion his own writers, who will soon be out of jobs after CBS canceled the show. Though the convoluted philanthropic speech timer might have been intended to cut off the winners’ messages, many still managed to make political statements or allude to today’s turbulent times. Television Academy chair Cris Abrego made an impassioned case for public broadcasting and the power of television to affect change. Hannah Einbinder was more concise in her message by declaring, among other things, “Fuck ICE”—which prompted host Nate Bargatze to threaten adding a swear jar to the night’s penalties.
But Last Week Tonight fears no host or higher network power. While other winners stressed over the timer, Last Week Tonight managed to keep its acceptances short and put money back on the board for the Boys & Girls Club of America. Earlier in the evening the series beat out its sole competitor, Saturday Night Live, to win the Emmy for Scripted Variety Series. Host John Oliver sped through his thank yous in order to come under 45 seconds, ending with a resounding: “Fuck you Nate Bargatze, that is a lot of money for you, and you can add a fuck to the swear jar as well!”
