Marshall County Coal Co. v. Oliver

On November 10, 2019, comedian John Oliver announced on his television show that coal executive Robert E. Murray and related coal companies had withdrawn their appeal of the dismissal of their lawsuit against Oliver. The plaintiffs asserted claims of defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress on the grounds that Oliver and the other defendants knowingly broadcast malicious statements that they knew to be false based on information provided by the plaintiffs. The allegedly defamatory statements included statements that Mr. Murray and his companies “appear to be on the same side as black lung” and that their position on a coal dust regulation was the equivalent of rooting for bees to kill a child, as well as a description of Mr. Murray as looking “like a geriatric Dr. Evil.” A West Virginia trial court dismissed the case in 2018, and an appeal had reportedly been pending before the West Virginia Supreme Court for more than a year.