UK TV network Sky censored parts of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” over jokes related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II — and viewers are blasting the choice on Twitter.
Oliver, 45, opened the HBO show — which took home two 2022 Emmys at Monday night’s awards ceremony — with a joke about the President of Chile, and then said: “But obviously, we need to start with the UK, which is clearly still reeling from the shocking death of a 96-year-old woman from natural causes.”
The British comedian went on to joke about the bizarre group of people who paid tribute to the Queen.
“It is a big moment which for some reason absolutely everyone felt that they had to weigh in on from Crazy Frog, which tweeted out ‘RIP the Queen’ [and a] candle emoji…to Dominos UK which posted, ‘Everyone at Domino’s joins the nation and the world in mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts and condolences are with the Royal Family.’”
“Which I guess is nice although if the world is mourning they should maybe tell the US Domino’s account whose most recent tweet as of this taping is ‘if ur reading this it means u need pizza like to confirm.’” Oliver continued. “Get your f—king house in order Domino’s! A LADY IS DEAD.”
He ends his jokes about Her Majesty with a gag about the new Prime Minister Liz Truss: “The Queen’s death is sadly not the only traumatic event that Britain has had to deal with this week because on Tuesday, Liz Truss, basically Margaret Thatcher if she were high on glue, became its new Prime Minister.”
The British version of the Emmy-award winning show available on Sky’s platforms cut everything in between the jokes about President of Chile and Liz Truss — leaving no Queen-related jabs behind.
Angry viewers took to Twitter to bash Sky over the censorship.
“Dear @SkyUK , there was a VERY obvious edit in tonight’s ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ – what gives? Presuming it was queen-related?,” one wrote.
“Don’t censor my @LastWeekTonight. I am British, I am a monarchist and I CAN TAKE A JOKE!!!,” a user angrily tweeted. “The coverage and forced mourning here is getting real out of hand.”
“@iamjohnoliver @LastWeekTonight any ideas as to why the segment covering the death of the Queen was cut from the latest episode by Sky Comedy? Was somebody upset?,” another said.
“Very disappointed in @SkyUK censorship of @LastWeekTonight with @iamjohnoliver – we condemn other countries for this sort of behaviour. The audience is used to his irreverent style and light hearted comments. The ‘target’ of his remarks was corporate social media,” a user said.
“We live in a country where you can’t say ANYTHING that might offend the Royals,” another commented.
“@iamjohnoliver Sky cut out your joke about the queen last night. Cowards. Any chance you can put it up on here? They teased us with her picture and and truly amateurish cut,” one person attempted to ask the host.
This isn’t the only drama Oliver has found himself wrapped up in recently. Also in Sunday’s episode, Oliver slammed “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf, saying his work paints law enforcement in a “good light.”
He said Wolf, 75, has a “close, behind-the-scenes relationship with the NYPD, employing officers as consultants and boasting about the access he had.”
“‘Law & Order’ is never going to grapple with the reality of policing in a meaningful way,” Oliver concluded. “Because fundamentally, the person who is responsible for ‘Law & Order’ and its brand is Dick Wolf, and he knows exactly what he wants his shows to do and, importantly, not to do.”
“Last Week Tonight” won its seventh consecutive Emmy in the Outstanding Variety Talk series category Monday night.