Last Week Tonight With John Oliver: Hotstar Retains Episode Criticising Disney, Arnab Goswami; but the PM Narendra Modi Segment Is Still Missing

Popular late night talk show host and comedian, John Oliver, made quite the headlines in India, after an episode of Last Week Tonight Prime Minister Narendra Modi went viral. Made available in India on the same day as the visit of the US President Donald Trump, the episode criticised Modi's stand on CAA and NRC, while taking potshots at the Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Some of the media channels, like Republic India, very scathing of the episode, while Hotstar, that is a property of Disney India, made this particular episode unavailable. John Oliver’s Episode Criticising PM Narendra Modi Goes Missing From Hotstar; Disney India Accused of Indulging in Self-Censorship.

Here's where Hotstar's self-censorship becomes even more interesting. Earlier this week, John Oliver uploaded another episode that also went viral. While it focussed on the Sheriff system in the States, the host took some time out of the episode to take a dig at Republic India's editor Arnab Goswami, who had called Oliver 'an ignoramus of global proportions' and 'third rate talk show host'. John Oliver Responds to Arnab Goswami Calling Him ‘Ignoramus’, ‘Third-Rate TV Host’ in a Tongue-in-Cheek Manner (Watch Video).

Oliver then goes on to take digs at Disney for censoring his episode, claiming this isn't the first time they have done so.

The funny part here is that this episode is available on Hotstar, which also streams Republic India, without any of the controversial portions edited.

However, the Modi episode hasn't been made available on the platform yet.

Intriguingly, the episode is available on Youtube through Last Week's official handle with the same portion removed, while the channel had no qualms in airing the Modi episode on the platform.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 11, 2020 02:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).