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The ‘Last Week Tonight’ host went after the recent controversies surrounding the justice — and revived calls for his resignation.
By Kevin Dolak
John Oliver closed Last Week Tonight‘s 11th season premiere by making Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a lucrative offer to quit his job, or as the host declared, “get the fuck off” the court.
“We have a special offer for you tonight: We are prepared to offer you $1 million a year for the rest of your life, if you simply agree to leave the Supreme Court immediately and never come back.” Oliver announced. “This is not a joke. If you watch our show, you know jokes aren’t really our thing. This is real. A million dollars a year — until you or I die.”
I know I usually share a link to our main story here on Mondays, but HBO has decided they’re going to wait until Thursday to post them to YouTube from now on. I hope they change their mind, but until then, you can see our piece about the Supreme Court on HBO, on MAX, and on…
The million-dollar annual payout from the award-winning TV host is an honest offer to the justice, it seems. The surprise came after one of Oliver’s trademark epic deep dives into a narrow topic — on Sunday’s episode, the former Daily Show correspondent had his sights set on Thomas’ behavior while on the court. Specifically, Oliver went after the controversies around some of the justice’s statements, comments and, more importantly, Thomas’ financial dealings while wielding massive power of the nation’s highest court.
This included a rundown of several controversies of late in which Judge Thomas is a central figure: his wife’s reported work to attempt to overturn the 2020 election results; how Justice Thomas took trips with Dallas-based real estate investor and major GOP donor Harlan Crow while serving on the top court; and that a friend reportedly helped pay the $260,000-plus tab for Thomas’s Prevost Le Mirage XL Marathon RV.
Olver’s lengthy diatribe took time to show multiple moments when Thomas, currently the longest-serving Supreme Court justice, was caught being rather petty while speaking before a crowd, nit-picking details from a moderator and even complaining about his Supreme Court salary.
Since the more recent news broke about Thomas’ financial dealings in investigative stories by ProPublica, The New York Times and The Washington Post in April and May of 2023, conversations about the impact of Thomas’ loose code of ethics have given way to calls for his resignation.
With his wry smirk and dry wit, Oliver on Sunday may have brought these calls roaring back to life merely by choosing to zero in on Thomas. During his announcement, the host even offered the justice a $2.4 million motor home as part of the deal; this was a nod to a 1999 loan to Thomas from health care industry mogul Anthony Welters.
In his pitch, Oliver made it clear that the offer was not coming from HBO but directly from the host himself: “I am personally on the hook. You can make me really regret this. I could be doing stand-up tours to pay for your retirement for years.”
In his conclusion, the comic host told Thomas he has exactly 30 days to make his resignation effective for the offer to stand.
“So that’s the offer,” Oliver said. “A million dollars a year and a brand new condo on wheels, and all you have to do in return is sign the contract and get the fuck off the Supreme Court.”
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