John Oliver Relentlessly Mocks Olympic Opening Ceremony

click to play video

John Oliver has never shied away from his love-hate relationship with the Olympics, skewering the event while professing his undying love for it on The Bugle, a podcast he used to co-host. So, it's not surprising that Friday's opening ceremony got serious play on this week's installment of Last Week Tonight.

From Hoda Kotb's awkward excitement to the broadcast's inability to let anyone enter the ceremony without mentioning everything that's gone wrong in their country over the last year, Oliver highlighted the weirdest moments of Friday's opening ceremony. Getting a lot of Oliver's attention — and the attention of broadcast journalists everywhere — was the oiled up taekwondo Olympic entry from Tonga, Pita Nikolas Taufatofua. Broadcasters and tweeters can't get enough of his greasy chest.

Also skewered were Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, whose powers were suspended in May, and acting president Michel Temer. Instead of going in on the actual political turmoil in Brazil, Oliver highlighted some random facts he learned about Temer. Those facts included that Temer's wife, who is 42 years his junior, tattooed his name on her neck and was the inspiration for his book of poetry. Naturally, Oliver had to read a sappy excerpt from the collection that contained the lines "Which smile with scarlet lips / Fires / They take hold of me. / Of my mind / My soul. / All mine / In heat." Hot.

"Does any of this have anything to do with the Olympics? No," said Oliver. "But did I just find out about it and need to tell somebody? Yes. Absolutely."

It wasn't all depressing stories, weird presidential facts, and high school poetry, though. Oliver highlighted some of the Olympics' most inspiring stories, including the refugee Olympic team and Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, whose story is harrowing and totally incredible.

Watch the Olympic segment above, and check out the episode's main story on the death print journalism below.

click to play video
Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, and get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.

Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record, but has never met the fingernail lady. He’s written for Sports Illustrated, Men’s Journal, The Rumpus, and other digital wonderlands. Follow him @dlukenelson.