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No reason to start holding back now.
John Oliver again took aim at AT&T’s “Business Daddy” – which in May announced an agreement to separate HBO’s parent WarnerMedia and merge him with Discovery – in the Sunday episode of HBO. Last week tonight.
This time, he took issue with a Reuters report that surfaced last week, revealing that AT&T helped create and fund One America News, a far-right network that has propagated conspiracy theories regarding the pandemic of COVID-19 as well as the 2020 elections.
“Turns out AT&T did some shit,” Oliver said. “And it should be noted that AT&T is still technically our ‘Business Daddy’, making OAN our ‘Business Stepsibling’, and not in a hot way.”
According to Reuters, which reviewed the court records, OAN founder and CEO Robert Herring Sr. said it was AT&T executives who told him to launch the network. They told us they wanted a conservative network, ”Herring said in a 2019 deposition, according to Reuters. “They only had one, it was Fox News, and they had seven more from each other [left-wing] side. When they said that, I jumped on it and built one.
AT&T has also reportedly funded OAN to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. And once the network launched, AT&T broadcast OAN on U-verse and, later, on DirecTV.
Oliver then showed a clip from an OAN broadcaster believing that anyone who worked in the 2020 election, including election officials who used voting machines, is guilty of treason, punishable by death. Showing a photo of an elderly woman at a polling station, Oliver asked, “Are you really saying those who ran the voting machines could be traitors?” Do you mean Dolores? Dolores who lives down the street? Who volunteered to spend 12 hours or she, let’s face it, decreases NCIS– watch the time, distribute voter turnout stickers? All right, dead to Dolores, I guess.
Oliver then showed an email from AT&T representatives in response to Last week tonight request for comment. In the email, AT&T denied that “senior executives suggested Herring create another conservative news network.” “With the exclusion of ‘senior’ this is quite striking,” Oliver added.
He noted that AT&T said the only reason OAN is on DirecTV is because OAN has sued the company. “OK, I guess the biggest telecommunications company in the world has been sued by a motley bunch of fascists. It happens, ”Oliver said.
In his statement to Last week tonight AT&T has also defended the broadcast of OAN despite the “horrible content” it broadcasts, in Oliver’s words. “DirecTV respects the independent editorial of the channels it broadcasts,” the statement said. “Just as AT&T is committed to providing editorial independence for every WarnerMedia show – including this one,” referring to Oliver’s show.
It gave Oliver an opening. “It’s such a relief,” he said, noting that he wanted to “use this generous editorial independence to give constructive feedback” to AT&T.
He pointed to the company’s recent promotional campaign which carries the slogan “More for your stuff. This is our thing. Oliver called this “complete gibberish”: “Looks like Yoda is launching a penis enlargement device. It’s so absurd that I have to assume that something got lost in the communication which would actually be a much more appropriate tagline for the company. And if you don’t like that tagline, AT&T, don’t worry, I got more.
Namely, he presented two other options:
– “All of Quibi’s business acumen without the courtesy of committing corporate suicide.”
– “If you run a cable through the back of your head office and plug it into T-Mobile’s network while they’re not watching, that’s legal, right?” Ask a friend.
He ended by noting that the show’s relationship with AT&T is not good. (See his previous blows in the business, patronizing him as “Business Daddy”; frequently mocking what he calls his “terrible” service; calling his old and new business leaders “rich fools” following the merger announcement; talking about AT&T in a segment on robocalls; and criticizing the company’s support for “white nationalist” Steve King.)
Oliver said: “While we’re still technically related, let me say this. You are a horrible business. You do bad things and you make the world worse. Don’t bother to stay in touch after the merge is complete. Although this really shouldn’t be a problem for you: you are AT&T. It’s not like your messages are getting through anyway.
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