John Oliver, like most people, inherently knows that blackface is wrong. That’s apparently all that was needed for him to (faux) land Megyn Kelly’s “Today” show gig.
Mocking a back-and-forth between a Republican congressional candidate’s chief of staff and an associate professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Oliver said he personally knows that “blackface is not acceptable.” Cue the NBC chimes, rainbow confetti and the broadcast network’s peacock mascot.
“Oh, God — I just won! I won! I won! I’m replacing Megyn Kelly on the ‘Today’ show!” Oliver said. “That’s all it took! What an incredibly easy standard to meet!”
That’s when the peacock sighed and got on his knees behind Oliver’s desk, pecking gently at the HBO host’s crotch.
“Oh, no, no, no, no, no!” Oliver said. “I’m not gonna be that kind of ‘Today’ show host.”
“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? You’ve really been through a lot,” he attempted to comfort the bird. “Just go home and you try and get some rest. It sounds rough over there.”
Earlier on last night’s “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver (again) took his new parent company, AT&T, to task. The telephone company and Time Warner (which owns HBO) parent is involved in a corporate pact with Congressman Steve King, who Oliver said has a”history of flirting with white nationalists.”
“Of course, AT&T didn’t catch on to King’s white nationalism for a long time,” he continued. “Picking up on clear signals isn’t exactly their forte.”
Boom.
Watch the video above.