Can any comedian, even one as talented as John Oliver, make a laughing matter out of the crisis in Medicaid?
Tag: first amendment
Suing JOHN OLIVER For Defamation: A Good Use Of Time?
Speaking of occupational hazards, comedians cannot help but irritate people and they do it aplenty. And, for what it is worth, they do get sued by those they piss off. This time John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, has been sued for defamation by Robert Murray, founder and CEO of coal company Murray…
JERRY SEINFELD: A comedian’s lesson from a defamation case
A few years ago, star comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s family spent quite a bit of time in court and with lawyers. First, his wife gets sued for plagiarizing (or copying) somebody else’s cookbook. Then Seinfeld himself gets sued for talking about the lawsuit filed against his wife when he appeared on David Letterman’s show. And it…
THE WHEELCHAIR COMEDIAN: Between the Jail House and Free Speech
The world of comedy is a weird one that can serve up both big laughs and the occasional puzzle. As things stand, not many people would guess that a crippled comedian in a wheelchair making fun of her disability in a public park would be told she may be breaking the law or that folks helping…
DONALD TRUMP vs. BILL MAHER: Tensions between a Joke and a Deal
When it comes to money matters, mixing things up with Donald Trump can be a costly proposition. This means that even making a bet with the real estate mogul and Celebrity Apprentice host can earn someone a court date and maybe even set the person back a couple million dollars. Not even if the bet was meant…
Promoting Comedy in the Public Forum: Learning the Tricky Ropes
When can a comedian claim a right to advertise their show/event in a particular public forum or platform?
Seriously, Can Comedy and Cancel Culture Live on the Same Planet?
Comedy is at a quite different place today than it was just a generation ago. In that simpler time, comedy was essentially about making people laugh, whether it was slapstick humor or one involving social commentary. Then society as a whole started to change, beginning in the 1960s, with the push to create a more…
Roy Moore vs. Sacha Baron Cohen: The Maverick Politico and the Gadfly Funnyman
This is a case about a failed collaboration between a gadfly comedian and a maverick politician with allegations of fraud in the mix.
The Predicament of Mike Ward: An American Perspective on Canadian Comedy
Subscriber Content What’s the difference between a Canadian comic and his American counterpart? Simple answer: location, location, location. The brash Canadian comedian Mike Ward has had quite the unpleasant experience in his march through the comedy landscape of his country. From all indications, if he thought his native Canada was a place where a comedian…
Free Speech versus Privacy: British comedian Louise Reay sued by ex-husband
As it happens, comedians tend to have extroverted personalities and considering the nature of their jobs, that isn’t exactly surprising. Yet, they also have a private life and sometimes they actually do draw some of their comic material from the experiences of their private lives just like their other experiences. Problem is, other people in…