John Oliver sued by healthcare boss he rebuked on air over 'bowel movement' comments
A former health insurance boss has taken legal action against "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver, filing a defamation lawsuit against the Emmy winner.
Dr. Brian Morley, a hospital administrator and former medical director for AmeriHealth Caritas in Iowa, filed his lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Morley's complaint stems from a Medicaid-themed episode of "Last Week Tonight" that aired in April 2024. The lawsuit, reviewed by The Times, alleges Oliver and "Last Week Tonight" producer Partially Important Productions linked Morley to a drastic decrease in Medicaid services and accused him of thinking "it's ok if people have s— on them for days."
An attorney for Morley did not comment to The Times on Wednesday and a representative for Oliver did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The episode central to Morley's lawsuit aired April 14, 2024, and saw Oliver explore the state of Medicaid, examining healthcare companies' cost-cutting measures and their toll on patients across various states. During the segment, which aired on HBO and is available on YouTube, Oliver explained the role of managed care organizations (MCOs) in the healthcare system and shared a news outlet's video about dwindling patient care. The 2018 news snippet featured a cerebral palsy patient in Iowa named Louis whose care was negatively impacted by MCO involvement.
Oliver followed that part of the segment with an audio snippet of Morley's comments about patient care from a 2017 administrative hearing. In the clip, Morley can be heard saying: "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 a little dirty for a couple of days."
The quote garnered a strong reaction from the "Last Week Tonight" studio audience and led Oliver to say he thought Morley's comments were taken out of context. He explained that he first thought "there is no way a doctor, a licensed physician, would testify in a hearing that he thinks it's OK if people have s— on them for days." Oliver continued his segment stating his team obtained the full hearing and that Morley "said it."
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"He meant it and it made me want to punch a hole in the wall," Oliver said. The segment returned to the 2018 video of Louis and his mother, both responding negatively to Morley's comments. The "Last Week Tonight" host had some choice words for Morley — which were cited in Friday's lawsuit.
In his complaint, Morley says, "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: 'F— that doctor with a rusty canoe. I hope he gets tetanus of the balls,'" the complaint said. "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."
Morley accused Oliver and "Last Week Tonight" of making him the "face" of the dramatic decrease in Medicaid care and increased cost-cutting. The lawsuit also raised concerns about how "Last Week Tonight" allegedly misrepresented Morley's 2017 comments and "knew and disregarded" various details of the hearing in the April episode.
The lawsuit alleges that the "Last Week Tonight" team "conveyed the false and defamatory meanings" that Morley denied care to "Louis and/or the alleged 'similar' individual subject" of his testimony and that he allegedly said it was acceptable for patients who wear diapers or who cannot bathe themselves to "be left sitting in their own bowel movements for days."
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The complaint says that the "Last Week Tonight" team obtained and reviewed "an unabridged audio recording" of the 2017 hearing and that one of the show's senior news producers allegedly confirmed to Morley that they had reviewed the hearing. According to the lawsuit, Morley made his "bowel movement" comments in regard to a "hypothetical average person, who is independently mobile and can toilet transfer" but who might not have been able to clean themselves entirely after a bowel movement. "Last Week Tonight" allegedly did not disclose that detail, according to the lawsuit.
He accused the show's producers of "negligence, knowledge of falsity, and/or a reckless disregard for the truth."
Morely also alleges that a "Last Week Tonight" news producer "refused" to meet when he offered to explain his comments. The defendants also allegedly refused Morley's October 2024 request that they "retract their false and defamatory statements."
Morley seeks an unspecified amount in damages including legal fees and additional relief. He also requests that judges order "Last Week Tonight" to remove the "false and defamatory statements from all platforms" and keep them from republishing. He is seeking a trial.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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