‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’ Fans Fear Cancellation After Paramount & Warner Bros. Discovery Merger
What To Know
- Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have agreed to a merger, raising concerns among fans about the future of HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
- Speculation on social media suggests the show may end soon, as John Oliver’s contract reportedly expires at the end of 2026.
- Leadership from both companies emphasized their commitment to honoring their brands and maximizing value, but fans worry about the potential loss of influential late-night programming.
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery officially struck a deal on their merger — and late-night TV fans fear that Last Week Tonight With John Oliver could be canceled.
On Friday, February 27, Paramount and Warner Bros. agreed on a $111 billion merger, TMZ reported, after Netflix backed out of bidding.
As Paramount prepares to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO, fans can’t help but wonder what that means for late-night TV. (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS, also owned by Paramount, is already ending after the current season in May 2026.) Meanwhile, HBO’s Last Week Tonight is only under contract until the end of 2026.
On X, fans of John Oliver speculated that the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger might mean that Last Week Tonight’s days are numbered.
One X user pointed out, “John Oliver’s only under contract until the end of this calendar year, so expect this to be the final season of Last Week Tonight on HBO. David Ellison already got rid of Stephen Colbert.”
To that, a different person replied, “🙁I hope not, but I can see where this is going.”
John Oliver’s only under contract until the end of this calendar year, so expect this to be the final season of Last Week Tonight on HBO. David Ellison already got rid of Stephen Colbert pic.twitter.com/jVolO9KSd3
— Nick Field (@nick_field90) February 26, 2026
Another X user declared, “JOHN OLIVER FOUND DEAD IN A DITCH.”
Someone else echoed via X, “Now that Warner Bros Discovery is going to be in the Ellisons’ hands, do you think they’ll pressure HBO to get rid of John Oliver the same way they’re getting rid of Stephen Colbert, to do the bidding of the Trump regime with silencing another late night voice of the resistance?”
“From the very beginning, our pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery has been guided by a clear purpose: to honor the legacy of two iconic companies while accelerating our vision of building a next-generation media and entertainment company,” David Ellison, the chairman and CEO of Paramount, said, in part, in a statement.
Meanwhile, David Zaslav, the president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said, “Our guiding principle throughout this process has been to secure a transaction that maximizes the value of our iconic assets and our century-old studio while delivering as much certainty as possible for our investors. We look forward to working with Paramount to complete this historic transaction.”
What do you think about the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger?
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Sundays, 11/10c, HBO
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