John Oliver Calls Out Disney CEO Bob Iger For Suspending Jimmy Kimmel: 'History Will Remember The Cowards'

John Oliver laid into ABC — and Disney CEO Bob Iger in particular — on Sunday for suspending fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, devoting much of Last Week Tonight to the dangers of media censorship.

"It is not safe to let attacks on one show slide because there are currently others," Oliver said. "And I know I've literally said these exact same words about the cancellation of Doctor Odyssey, but I promise this situation is genuinely worse.

"It is important to remember that, as of this taping [Saturday], Kimmel is just suspended, not actually cancelled," Oliver noted. "ABC and its parent company, Disney, still have a chance to do the right thing here. And I do get that the easier path for them right now is to keep him off the air and to keep the [Trump] administration off their back — though, I will point out that was the apparent argument for ABC paying Trump $15 million last year, and how did that work out for them?"

Oliver urged Disney to stand by Kimmel and his staff. He acknowledged that viewers could "exert pressure" by cancelling their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, but stressed that "it really shouldn't take the threat of lost revenue to bring Disney to its senses here."

It was at that point that "America's third favorite Zazu" directly addressed Iger.

"One day, the history of the time we're living through is going to be written — and when it is, I'm not sure it's those in this administration who are even going to come off the worst," he said. "Now, don't get me wrong, they're going to come off terribly, but history is also going to remember the cowards who definitely knew better, but still let things happen — whether it was for money, convenience or just comfort.

"I know this is something of a tough sell, and it can be a bit of anathema to risk-averse business leaders, but I will say this: If we've learned nothing else from this administration's second term so far — and I don't think we have — it's that giving the bully your lunch money doesn't make him go away. It just makes him come back, hungrier each time. They are never going to stop," Oliver added, pointing out Trump is already imploring NBC should yank Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers off the air, and FCC chairman Brendan Carr is suggesting he'll go after ABC's The View. "At some point, you're going to have a draw a line — so I'd argue, why not draw it right here? And when they come to you with stupid, ridiculous demands, picking fights that you know you could win in court, instead of rolling over, why not stand up and use four key words they don't tend to teach you in business school? Not, 'OK, you're the boss.' Not, 'Whatever you say goes.' But instead, the only phrase that can genuinely make a weak bully go away, and that is 'F—k you, make me!'"

Update (Monday, Sept. 22 at 3:30 pm ET): The Walt Disney Company has lifted Kimmel's suspension. New episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! resume Tuesday on ABC.