Host John Oliver is finally explaining THAT running joke from last season!
On the last season of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” the former “The Daily Show” host revealed a bizarre obsession with “Star Wars” alum Adam Driver.
In a recent interview with Collider, the comedian explained where the joke came from and his concerns about “sticking the landing.”
John Oliver Explains That The Adam Driver Bit Started Out As ‘A Really Funny Joke’
Apparently, Oliver’s joke about Adam Driver was supposed to be a one-off joke… until audiences really took to it!
“No, that was a one-off joke,” Oliver explained. “That was one of the final shows that we actually had in the studio before the pandemic kicked in. I just liked it because it was a really funny joke. The audience seemed to like it a little bit and be very uncomfortable as well. And it was the perfect synthesis of those two reactions.”
“So then we did it again and then again and it felt like a really fun joke format,” he added. “Then we were about to stop because it felt like, well, unless this joke is heading somewhere to your point, it probably should end.”
That’s When HBO Decided To Call Adam Driver To See What He Had To Say!
The “Last Week Tonight” team had no idea if the former “Girls” star was aware of the ongoing joke, but they decided to reach out to him anyway.
“That was when we reached out to Adam Driver to say, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you know we are doing this joke, if you would like to come on at the end of the year I will keep going and we’ll set it up. If not, we will stop,’” Oliver explained.
“Because we did not want to get into that situation, exactly like you say, where you are building to a payoff, and you can’t stick the landing,” he continued. “So once we knew he was going to come at the end of the year, at that point, and this is five jokes in, at that point we realized, oh, we are continuing this at the end of the year then. But you can confidently accelerate knowing that the payoff is going to be beautiful.”
In the end, the joke did pay off, when the “House of Gucci” actor appeared in the show’s season 7 finale to call Oliver out. Although many fans thought that the joke ended there, Oliver thanked Adam Driver by name during the show’s acceptance speech at the 2021 Emmy Awards, so it’s possible that Oliver may continue his fascination with the “Marriage Story” actor into season 8!
‘Star Wars’ Star Adam Driver Confronts John Oliver Over ‘Weird’ Sexual Advances
After confusing audiences with a full season of baffling innuendos on his HBO broadcast “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver finally received a Facetime call from Driver himself to address the remarks in the season 7 finale when he appeared on the show to call Oliver out on his “strange” comments.
Oliver began his bit like any other, saying, “And of course, I spent the whole year demanding that Adam Driver demolish me. Crush my larynx, you unwieldy boulder.”
This time, his segment was interrupted by a Facetime call from none other than Driver himself, confronting John with a more subdued level of anger than you’d expect to see from Kylo Ren.
Driver didn’t mince words, letting the Emmy-award winning host know just how uncomfortable he was being the butt of the joke, saying:
“Hey, John… Listen to me: What the f— are you doing? This bit? This bit, this thing you’ve been doing that’s either sexual or violent, this strange, strange bit that for some reason you’ve pulled me into. What is it? When you first started doing it, it was easy for me to shrug it off. But then it kept going on, and on, and on, and on. Stop talking. Do you realize, over this past year, what you’ve asked me to do to you? ‘Collapse on your chest.’ ‘Tie your fingers in a square knot.’ ‘Step on your throat.’ ‘Shatter your knees.’ ‘Pull your heart out through your ear.’ You realize we’re strangers, right? I don’t know you. And now, random people on the internet stan us.”
Driver continued by saying, “You should be ashamed of yourself, because you know this was inappropriate” and appeared to seek an apology from the British-born comedian.
Unfortunately, an apology was not coming, as Oliver seemed confused as to what Driver was prompting him to say. “I was having some weird fun,” Oliver admitted before asking, “I’m… six feet of nasty, spankable bird meat crammed into a suit?”
“You’re sorry!” an exasperated Driver exclaims. “I’m trying to get you to say you’re sorry, Jesus Christ! You deeply weird, small, small thing!”
“I’m sorry, Adam, I’m truly, truly sorry,” Oliver finally confesses. “Consider this bit over. It’s done.”
“Okay, it’s fine,” Driver says as he appears to accept the apology. “Look, it’s been a rough year for everyone and I can tell it’s really gotten to you, sitting alone in your void. But I think, maybe, it might be time for you to step out of it for a bit. Get up from your chair. See what the world has to offer. Explore the space, man.”
“Huh, all right, yeah, I think I might,” Oliver concedes. “Just to be absolutely clear though, Adam, are you…giving me an order?”
After firing off some insults of his own, including calling Oliver an “underbaked gingerbread boy,” Driver ends the call by saying, “I hated this. Goodbye.”
“Oh God, this feels good,” Oliver whispers during the insult tirade before concluding, “That went really well.”
Has John Oliver given up on his Adam Driver obsession for good? Fans will just have to tune in to “Last Week Tonight” when it returns on February 20 to find out!
In the meantime, fans can watch the video of the exchange below!
