In the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver addressed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, highlighting the severe famine affecting the region. His introduction to the segment set the stage perfectly, as he pointed to a 2024 story from CNN. Anne’s post included Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s infamous statement that it would be “just and moral” to starve two million Palestinians. Oliver sharply criticized this viewpoint, suggesting that Smotrich’s remarks reveal a disturbing mindset, stating that he is “basically complaining that the world is cock-blocking him from committing genocide better.”
The episode transitioned from the crisis in Gaza to a broader discussion on corporate crime, with Oliver using high-profile examples to underscore the issue. He began with General Motors (GM) and took viewers on a journey through the automaker’s dogged history. Their dereliction over a defective ignition switch resulted in accidents that killed 124 people after a quarter of a century. Like our current water contamination crisis, this scandal had a tragic toll. In response, while there was one woman charged and convicted of negligent homicide, no one else was held accountable for the systemic failures.
Since then, Oliver has trained his sights on corporate crime in America—specifically, during the Trump administration. He highlighted the rise of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), which he described as “basically out-of-court settlements for companies to avoid being prosecuted.” These agreements have raised more questions than answers regarding their ability to actually serve as deterrents. To Oliver’s latter main point, he highlighted that almost 50% of companies receiving DPAs do not pay any fines and in two-thirds of DPA cases, there is a lack of employee prosecutions.
To increase accountability for bad corporate behavior, Oliver suggested a few tougher-enforced penalties. He also called for tripling the fines tied to DPAs and making the prosecution of executives linked to corporate wrongdoing a priority. First, he used his order to call for more corporate compliance record transparency. He added that, without accountability, corporations would be free to pollute and harm communities without consequence.
Oliver’s suit aimed to blow apart the Trump administration’s corporate enforcement strategy. In the same report, he disclosed that it stopped or lowered 109 enforcement actions against corporate wrongdoing. He pointed out one of the most scandalous actions. This was the first corporate pardon in American history, and it went to the politically-connected offshore cryptocurrency exchange BitMex.
Oliver faced to his original subject matter. He further highlighted the stark hypocrisy of U.S. military assistance to Israel when there’s an ongoing conflict. He cited a staggering figure: nearly $18 billion in military support was provided in the first year of war. This alarming statistic was meant to highlight the contradictory and complicated circumstances surrounding international assistance and its effects on our world’s humanitarian crises.