Comedian hits out at tobacco-firm lawsuit threats

John Oliver, host of the US television program, HBO’s Last Week Tonight, turned his attention to the tobacco industry during Sunday night’s episode, and, according to a story by Ryan Parker for the Los Angeles Times, it wasn’t pretty for the main target, Philip Morris International.

The HBO host was said to have spent about 20minutes ripping into the tobacco company’s threats of lawsuits – especially in poorer nations such as Togo – in what Oliver called an attempt to ward off more stringent regulations on cigarettes, such as laws that require cigarette packs to feature pictures of diseased body parts and warnings of the health consequences of smoking.

PMI directed the Times towards a statement it had made in which it said, in part, that while it recognized the tobacco industry was an easy target for comedians, it took seriously the responsibility that came with selling a product that was consumed as a result of an adult choice and was harmful to health.

And it suggested that people interested in the issues raised in the program should visit its website.

The full story, with links to the relevant parts of the PMI website, is at: http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82835250/.