John Oliver had a lot of life, and politics, to catch up on in the premiere episode of Last Week Tonight Season 13. Coming back after a typical three-month holiday hiatus, the political comic speed-ran through various headlines, from the biathlete drama emerging from the 2026 Winter Olympics to the U.S. kidnapping of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
A majority of the episode was dedicated to a bird’s eye view of what is unfolding in Minneapolis as a result of ICE crackdowns and killings, stemming from the creation of the Department of Homeland Security post-9/11.
“In the immediate aftermath of the most devastating terrorist attack in its history, America started screaming, and didn’t really stop for a decade,” the host began, before switching gears: “And while, thankfully, the Riyadh Comedy Festival has since healed the world through comedy, we don’t need to be worried about who or what was actually responsible for 9/11.”
(Numerous comics condemned their fellow colleagues — like Aziz Ansari, Whitney Cummings, Pete Davidson and Dave Chappelle — for participating in the Saudi Arabia-sponsored event, which many see as a continuation of its long-critiqued sportswashing, whereby high-profile entertainment events are utilized to distract from the nation’s historical human rights abuses.)
Elsewhere, while discussing the mismanagement of the then-recently created DHS, Oliver drew similarities between the agency and his experience: “Having an endless cavalcade of rapidly changing bosses would clearly be a distraction, though I gotta say, you do eventually get used to it,” he quipped, flashing an image of Warner Bros. Discovery’s logo.
He continued, “I don’t even know which of these companies [Paramount or Netflix] is gonna be my new business daddy yet. It’s like a Mamma Mia! situation except less fun and way less sexy. But incidentally, if it is indeed Netflix, sorry for all the times I called your catalog a ‘who’s who of who the fuck is this?’”
Oliver concluded cheekily, “Loved the ending of Stranger Things, by the way — very brown,” roasting the color grading of the erstwhile streamer hit. “And good luck with Detective Hole; it sounds great.” (In the latest update, WBD may play ball with Paramount after all, despite having signed a deal with Netflix.)
The host, who has previously sung Bad Bunny’s praises, also commented on the King of Latin Trap’s megawatt halftime show performance while making a point about ICE’s rapid expansion resulting in lessened worker standards, including making Spanish-language lessons optional: “which is a bad idea for many reasons, including those agents now won’t get to understand even a little bit of Bad Bunny’s music, which is sad for them; they’re missing out on a lot of joy, plenty of political commentary and a metric ton of blowjob descriptions. There is a lot — it’s a rich text!”
