John Oliver neglected to address Paramount’s acquisition of HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, on Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight amid speculation about the show’s future.
David Ellison will lead the new combined entertainment company — to be named Skydance — after U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved the $ 110 billion deal last week. Paramount said it would close the merger on Tuesday after the deal was held up for months over antitrust concerns.
The merger has led to concerns that Ellison will make sweeping job cuts and changes to Warner Bros. properties, such as CNN and HBO, as he has done at CBS News with Bari Weiss’s takeover. Paramount also decided to pull the plug on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show last year after 33 years.
Oliver’s silence was particularly notable given he did not shy away from the subject on his show last month.
While speaking about United HealthCare’s reputation for denying health claims, he gave the example of cancer patient Kate Weissman, whose parents had to pay for her treatment due to UHC’s refusal to help cover the costs.
“Now in the end her parents paid $95,000 out of pocket to cover the treatment, which, in happy news, did actually work, but having access to wealthy parents just cannot be the system to get badly needed healthcare,” Oliver said before coyly changing topics.
“Even if it is apparently the system that lets you be in charge of HBO.”
David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who personally pledged $40 billion to help Paramount’s deal.
After showing a photo of David on-screen, Oliver continued: “Yeah. My soon-to-be business daddy has a literal business daddy. And to be very clear: I deeply respect that and I would never make fun of you for it, unlike that pesky Stephen Colbert.”
Paramount’s decision to cut The Late Show came just weeks after the network reached a settlement with Donald Trump, prompting questions about the timing of the cancellation.
Oliver’s contract was recently renewed through 2027 ahead of the Ellisons’ imminent acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
When early discussions of the potential deal began in 2025, Oliver publicly criticized the idea. He said on the show at the time: “Please stay the f*** away from us. You are not my real business daddy, and you never will be.”
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