John Oliver was a guest on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” on Monday night, and he continued his promotion of the new season of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” by poking the bear that is the Walt Disney Corporation. Now that Steamboat Willie has entered the public domain, Oliver is leaning hard on the not-quite-Mickey-Mouse’s likeness in the run-up to his new season, and he took things to another level by bringing out a costumed Steamboat Willie while on Colbert.
“It’s not Mickey Mouse,” Oliver explained, noting that this is specifically Steamboat Willie Mickey. “I can’t stress that enough. Luckily there’s no resemblance so there shouldn’t be confusion.”
Colbert noted that the Walt Disney Corporation is notoriously litigious. “It’s up there with Scientology, the amount of attorneys they employ,” he told Oliver, to which the HBO host responded with glee, “I feel like I’ve been ignored, so they’ve left me with no choice but to take this up a f—king notch.”
Indeed, the official poster for the new season of “Last Week Tonight” features Steamboat Willie with the tagline, “What are they gonna do, sue?”
Colbert and Oliver discussed the legal ramifications of using Steamboat Willie to promote his show, and at one point Colbert asked if he’s an accomplice by having the character on his show. “Wouldn’t it be more fun to be in a courtroom together?,” Oliver shot back.
The HBO host continued, “We have been sued once and we won it once, therefore I take from that that I’m legally indestructible.”
As Oliver bid adieu to Steamboat Willie to continue the interview with Colbert one-on-one, he got in one final dig: “It’ll probably be fine, they’ve got a good sense of humor over there.”
Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” returns to HBO on Feb. 18.
