Robert Murray, CEO of the one of the largest independent coal mining operation in the United States, is suing HBO, John Oliver, Time Warner and the writers for “Last Week Tonight” over a segment of Oliver’s show that aired Sunday.
The segment focused on Murray’s business and a cease and desist letter that he sent to HBO when Oliver contacted Murray while researching the segment.
“Cease and desist from any effort to defame, harass, or otherwise injure Mr. Murray or Murray Energy,” Murray’s letter said, according to Oliver. “Failure to do so will result in immediate litigation.”
The letter motivated Oliver to focus criticism on Murray, allegedly offending and harming Murray greatly.
“On June 18, 2017, Defendants executed a meticulously planned attempt to assassinate the character and reputation of Mr. Robert E. Murray and his companies,” Murray’s official complaint states. “They did this to a man who needs a lung transplant, a man who does not expect to live to see the end of this case. They attacked him in a forum in which he had no opportunity to defend himself, and so he has brought this suit to try to set the record straight.”
Murray has sued media outlets in the past for similar reasons, including The New York Times in May for defamation after an April 24 editorial accused Murray of lying about the cause of a mine collapse in 2007.
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