John Oliver Responds To Bill Maher's 'Woke' Criticism

Host John Oliver is finally back from the void!

His weekly HBO show “Last Week Tonight” is finally making a return on Sunday, February 20. The Emmy nominated host spoke with Deadline to talk about what fans expect for the upcoming season.

“Real Time” host Bill Maher has criticized the British comedian’s followers, saying, “They love John Oliver because when does he ever say anything that isn’t in line with what the conventional woke with them is? I don’t watch it all the time, but what I’ve seen of it is extremely down the line liberalism.”

Oliver was quick to offer his rebuttal.

“I just don’t know if I see it that way,” he replied. “The stories that we’re happiest covering are the ones that don’t have much attention paid to them so it’s such a bulls---- prism to see it through. I don’t know how that would apply to a story on Pace loans or prison heat. I don’t know how to even begin to engage in something so intellectually bankrupt.”

“I guess you would hope that America could go through something together like a collective trauma that will bring the country together as one because we’d all be experiencing the same thing, but I don’t know,” he quipped. “If this doesn’t, what will? Sadly, deep down, we all know the answer to that.”

John Oliver began trending on social media in response to Maher’s criticism. Some fans even suggested that Oliver eat Bill Maher alive. When pressed for comment, Oliver replied, “Literally is always used in a very literal sense, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like that word has been misused to the point that it’s absolutely meaningless,” he continued. “You know what Bill Maher’s diet is? That man subsists on nuts. That’s a very stringy lean meat.”

“If we’re going to stay literal here, my answer is no, that would drive me to a vegan diet,” he joked. “The concept of literally eating Bill Maher is stomach-turning in every possible way. You’re not getting Kobe beef. If we’ve taught people anything from this conversation it’s don’t misuse the word literally.”

Now that the political race is heating up, Oliver was asked if he would focus any more segments on former President Donald Trump.

“I’m not sure how many times we said his name last year, it really wasn’t many, it was great,” Oliver recalled. “I don’t see why it should be different this year.”

“I know that America always wants to talk about its elections three years before they happen and it should definitely not be that way,” he continued. “It is not healthy to be in a perpetual election year. It was great being able to avoid him.”

“There was a conflation of two things that made it hard, especially in 2020; you had the Trump presidency, which often was desperate for attention,” he went on. “He was a provider of a dangerous amount of low-hanging fruit. You had to be very judicious about how much of that you let yourself eat because it’s almost giving him a pass. To engage in that low-hanging fruit too much you are ignoring the much more important things that are actually happening further up that fruit tree – to drive that metaphor into the ground.”

He added, “It was a huge relief to be able to do that [tackle other issues] without having to fight this firehose of nonsense.”

In the season 7 finale, Oliver was confronted by “Star Wars” alum Adam Driver after making “violent and sexual” remarks about him all season. Although Oliver seemed to put the joke to rest, he did thank Adam Driver by name while accepting his sixth straight Emmy win for Outstanding Variety Talk Series.

Last season, actor George Clooney appeared whenever Oliver snapped his fingers. Inquiring minds had to know: would Clooney be making a return this season?

“No. We’ve wrapped that joke up,” Oliver said. “It was incredibly fun and physically demoralizing to have his face appear next to mine. It’s just it’s a brutal juxtaposition. It was really fun and it feels like we’ve tied that up.”

However, there’s still no word as to whether or not the Adam Driver jokes will continue. Most likely, Oliver has his sights set on a new target. Fans will just have to tune in to “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday, February 20 to find out who!

Fans can get a glimpse of what's to come by watching the season 9 trailer below!