John Oliver Slams Hotstar For Self Censoring 'Last Week Tonight' In India

John Oliver, Last Week Tonight show host, has slammed the Indian streaming service provider Hotstar for self-censoring content. The platform owned by Disney has reportedly been self-censoring content from the show, it first came to light when the episode of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not aired last month.

John in his recent episode also talked about Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami, calling him an embarrassment to himself. The Emmy award-winning show, aired every Sunday in the US, is streamed on Hotstar every Tuesday at 6 am. However, Modi: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was not updated on the platform. On finding out from Indian audience John's team confirmed if Hotstar had previously censored their content without intimation.

"A couple of weeks ago we did a story on India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which some diehard Modi supporters like Arnab Goswami, the Tucker Carlson of India, did not enjoy...that episode actually did not air in India. A lot of our viewers alerted us of the fact that Hotstar, the streaming service that broadcast us in India, never uploaded that episode in India. There is no evidence that the Indian government made them do that," Oliver said.

He went on to share that Hotstar has also removed clips about Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and "what's worse is, it's apparently not even the first time that they have censored us. We've discovered that they've quietly been doing it for a while now, but not for the reason that you might expect."

John ended the episode by reminding Disney that he voiced the hornbill Zazu in its live-action film, The Lion King. He added, it was pointless for Hotstar to censor his words critical of the studio as he is Zazu, and "Everything that comes out of this beak is a Disney fact."