I don’t watch this show, but HBO’s John Oliver’s reaction to Bari Weiss, who isn’t even a conservative Republican, being hired as CBS News’ editor-in-chief, is amusing. First, you’re not going to stop this, man. She’s hired, settling in, and already fired one of the top editors of the old rotten woke guard at the network. Second, the smug overtones is astonishing.
Weiss’ story is fantastic. She was a New York Times op-ed writer who was banished for her pro-Israel and classical-liberal views. She’s pro-free speech and debate and isn’t a woke zombie. She started The Free Press, and later it got bought by CBS News’ parent company, which led us to this moment. What a comeback, and a massive middle finger to the people who tried to muzzle her.
Still, Oliver is worried that CBS News might actually report on what happens instead of using stories to thread woke messaging strategies and DNC talking points (via Variety):
John Oliver has had his own TV show in the United States since 2014, and somehow still has not learned anything about the country. https://t.co/xcu4tHwoqs
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) October 13, 2025
John Oliver makes $15 million a year for a show he does once a week with a writing staff of about 250,000. Bari Weiss has made something out of nothing. His condescension toward her is the definition of unearned. https://t.co/dcaFLAs8FW
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) October 13, 2025
Oliver also warns, "it's worth keeping an eye out for subtle changes there. Because while I'm sure many of CBS good journalists will continue to do great work, if you start seeing people resigning, or getting fired, or start seeing stories that seem off in some way – especially… pic.twitter.com/ZnxWN4Cbn2
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) October 14, 2025
I was with @JamieWhistle on Sunday when John Oliver used her story to attack @bariweiss. But it won't stick, because Jamie's motives are unimpeachable. She's a lesbian leftist who was married to a trans person and STILL realized transing kids is wrong. She's brave. He's a coward. https://t.co/EnjuZjxmaZ pic.twitter.com/yF5TFagiif
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) October 14, 2025
Recommended
John:
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) October 13, 2025
Have you ever stopped to think that turning kids into lifetime patients and sterilizing them before they can vote is not the unalloyed good you seem to assume it is?
(And yes I conflated Colbert and Oliver in my now deleted post. They are forever conflated in my mind!) pic.twitter.com/wzrruJaiiF
John Oliver took the opportunity on Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” to do a deep dive on Bari Weiss, the opinion journalist and co-founder of the Free Press who is now the editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Paramount, the parent company of CBS which recently merged with David Ellison’s Skydance, announced last week that it would acquire Weiss’ Free Press and that she would lead the broadcaster’s newsroom. The decision raised eyebrows as Weiss is known for her contrarian takes and, as Oliver underlined, does not have much experience in hard news.
[…]
Oliver then dissected her publication, the Free Press, which he said enforces a “pronounced theme” that “the left has gone too far.”
“Basically whatever issue you feel that is true for — Israel, campus politics, DEI or police reform — you’ll find articles there to reinforce your opinion,” he said. “And look, I’m not saying the left never goes too far or that it’s immune from criticism at all. But it can sometimes feel like the Free Press’ conclusions can get out ahead of its evidence, which brings us to the fact that some of its pieces can be pretty poorly fact-checked, and in ways that feel important.”
Though Oliver said that “there are many opinion-heavy outlets out there” — of which “Last Week Tonight” is one — he acknowledged that his show is “not the news.”
“I wouldn’t want anyone who led a pure opinion outlet, not even one that I happened to agree with, to suddenly be running CBS News,” he said. “But it is especially alarming to have someone doing it who has spent years putting out work that, in my opinion, is at best irresponsible and at worst deeply misleading.”
Yep, right there is where you can tune out. We know you’re not a real news outlet, John. It’s a comedy show, and that’s fine. But to get uppity about a private company’s decision because it will degrade the Left’s ability to control the narrative here is comical. I don’t get the point of this rant.
Bill Maher is a comedian and HBO host who ends his New Rules commentary because it’s his show. It’s his take. You can take it or leave it, and the rest is up for discussion, which is what he wants. He knows his lane, which is why he wasn’t going to treat dining with Trump like the Potsdam Conference. It was an opportunity to have dinner with the president of the United States —an honor no matter what. He wasn’t going to change Trump’s mind, and vice versa. He left the White House shocked that none of the things progressives say about the president were present that evening. He said what happened and moved on. He’s a comedian; he doesn’t take himself that seriously.
Meanwhile, Oliver claims he doesn't, but opted to fire red flares that a lesbian woman who's a liberal isn't the right fit for CBS.
Also, Oliver’s ‘I wouldn’t want anyone running an opinion outlet, even those with whom I agree, to run a news outlet’ is crap. You can be opinionated and still know what hard news is. Journalism isn’t rocket science. It’s not some entry into an elite institution, and that mindset has made many in this industry insufferable, contributing to its decline.
John, your friends in the lefty press are getting smoked, ignored, mocked, and dismissed because they’re bad at their jobs. And new blood is needed. Sorry if you missed that over the past 10-plus years.
Editor's Note: Donald Trump is America's Peace Time President. Support and follow Townhall's latest reporting on the president's historic trip to the Middle East.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member