This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

John Oliver Rips American Media For Coverage Of London Attack

The comedian stressed that Britain is not "under siege" or "reeling."

John Oliver was not a fan of the American media’s use of strange verbiage during their coverage of the terror attack in London on Saturday night.

During Sunday night’s episode of “Last Week Tonight”, the British comedian showed a supercut of CNN and Fox News repeatedly saying that Britain was “reeling” and “under siege” after the attack. In an effort to clarify how Brits are feeling, Oliver stressed that “in no way is Britain ‘under siege.’”

“Is it upset? Yes. Is it pissed off? Oh, you fucking bet it’s pissed off,” he said. “But to say it’s ‘under siege’ and that its people are ‘reeling’ is to imply that it’s somehow weak enough to be brought to its knees by three monumental assholes. And that, as an idea, is insulting.”

In fact, the overstatement of being “under siege” caused a perfectly snarky hashtag, #ThingsThatLeaveBritainReeling, to pop up.

Oliver used this man, still clutching his pint of beer while leaving the scene of the attack, as an example:

“He refused to leave his pint of beer behind! That is a one-man walking ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ poster,” Oliver quipped.

You can watch the whole glorious clip above.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.