In season 11 Last week tonight Finally, John Oliver addressed TikTok's ongoing lawsuits against the US government's attempts to ban the platform, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
Oliver began the program by recapping the week's “shocking headlines,” which included Mark Zuckerberg dropping a single with artist T-Pain while the two covered “Get Low” — a project the comedy host likened to “Kidz Bop.” For adults, where all the swearing is intact but there is still a deep feeling that the music was wrong.
He also briefly touched on Donald Trump's string of Cabinet picks that have drawn backlash from both sides of the aisle, including Matt Gaetz's nomination to be attorney general: “The guy who lawyers insist I can't call Jeffrey Epstein if he goes to the more awkward shores.” “.
However, the majority of the latest episode covered the dueling interests of TikTok and the US government. Oliver began the segment by showing a clip of a social media user interacting with celebrity chocolatier Amaury Guichon, who was building what at first glance appeared to be a NSFW chocolate product.
“What a ride! And honestly, I don't know how TV is supposed to compete with that. I'll definitely watch this guy host a game show called Rooster or snake? It's basically Is it a cake? “Only with much higher snake-on-penis injuries,” Oliver joked.
One of the most controversial elements of TikTok is the system's super-fast algorithm, which works by collecting and tracking user data: “This way it can quickly discover exactly what you like and feed you more of the same thing over and over again,” not unlike a doting grandma or Marvel Studios. Oliver said as he took a jab at the studio regarding super consumer fatigue.
Oliver then played a series of TikToks featuring women who said the platform helped them realize they were gay, saying the platform is “people's sexual awakening quickly. Before, a discovery like this would have taken years of therapy or an entire episode of therapy.” Xena: Warrior Princess. I honestly don't think the machine has been responsible for any more sexual awakening since then Iron giantAnd I'm not explaining that to you. I don't do that. He's an objectively sexy robot, he's tall, has cute eyes, is great with kids, and I'm pretty sure he has a vibration setting. Don't be weird about this. You are being strange“.
Although Oliver said he was hesitant to put his trust in a multinational company that profits from consumer data, “its behavior is very much in line with very timid Silicon Valley standards. Think of TikTok as a 19th century soft drink company. Sure, most of its products It's cocaine, but show me a kid's drink that's not.
He concluded, “In a world where Instagram knows your location, Uber knows your childhood fears and DoorDash has a detailed 3D rendering of your small intestine that its executives use as a screensaver, claiming that you're protecting Americans' privacy by banning TikTok sounds like claiming you're fighting climate change by banning a car.” Kia Sorento Sure, I mean it's technically nothing, but in the broader sense, it's basically nothing.
At the conclusion of the show and the start of Season 12 in 2025, Oliver participated in a viral TikTok trend of his own, imitating Charli XCX's “Apple” dance.
“In 2025, I would like Elon Musk to jump really high, and never back down,” he said of his New Year's resolutions. “I would like to go just one day without hearing about… evil film. And in 2025, I would like to finish Mission: impossible The film ends with Tom Cruise taking off his face mask to reveal Shelly Miscavige.
