John Oliver slams 'business daddy' AT&T for role in creating 'toxic far-right' OAN: 'You’re a terrible company'

John Oliver discussed OAN during a segment on the Sunday, October 10 broadcast of his HBO series "Last Week Tonight," humorously taking a jab at AT&T for playing a role in the launch of OAN back in 2013.

Oliver told viewers, "You may remember that we covered (OAN) last year. It's a far-right channel that peddles COVID misinformation and conspiracy theories. Well, this week, we learned some pretty unsettling news."

After showing a clip of CNN's Jake Tapper reporting on the AT&T/OAN connection, Oliver humorously added, "Yup, turns out AT&T has been up to some shit. And it is worth noting: AT&T is still technically our business daddy, making OAN our business stepsibling — and not in a hot way."

Oliver, drawing on reporting from Reuters, added "OAN founder and Chief Executive Robert Herring, Sr. has testified that the inspiration to launch OAN in 2013 came from AT&T executives. 'They told us they wanted a conservative network,' Herring said during a 2019 deposition seen by Reuters…. With that help, OAN has grown into the toxic network that it is today — one that's happy to give a platform to batshit election fraud theories from America's most out-of-breath pillow fetishist (Mike Lindell)."

Oliver showed a clip of OAN's Pearson Sharp calling for mass executions of Democrats and election workers he believes stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump.

Maintaining his humorous but edgy tone, the "Last Week Tonight" host said, "Look, AT&T, I know our relationship is a little awkward…. Let me just say this: You're a terrible company. You do bad things, and you make the world worse."

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver 10/10/2021 | HBO October 10th 2021 FULL NEWwww.youtube.com