Actors aren’t really the characters they play in film and TV.
John Oliver relayed that message on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight in response to a comment from a Fox News pundit.
He began the latest episode of his HBO late night show by noting that both former President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg have visited East Palestine, Ohio, in the wake of a freight train derailment and toxic spill.
But, Oliver noted, that isn’t enough for some Fox News Channel personalities. He showed a clip of Fox News hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy and Jesse Watters discussing the high-profile figures who have — and haven’t — visited the Ohio town amid the disaster.
“Think about the environmental activists, and corporate America — they weren’t there,” Campos-Duffy said. “I mean, with the activists, this is an ‘Erin Brockovich’ moment. There was a blockbuster, Oscar-winning movie written about something like this.”
“Erin Brockovich is actually in East Palestine tonight, right now,” Watters interjected.
Replied Campos-Duffy: “She is — but where’s Julia Roberts?”
A perplexed and exasperated Oliver responded: “What? What are you talking about? You realize Julia Roberts is an actor, right? She was pretending. She’s not actually Erin Brockovich.”
He continued, referencing some of her biggest films: “Also, I can’t believe I’m the one that has to break this to you. She didn’t actually ruin her best friend’s wedding [My Best Friend’s Wedding], she’s not a sex worker [Pretty Woman] and she did not die in a small Louisiana town in 1989 [Steel Magnolias]. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
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