TV
John Oliver Jokes About Princess Diana's Death, Audience Gasps
The 'Last Week Tonight' host compared the British royal family's strategy to a screenwriting trope during a segment on the Secret Service.
John Oliver shocked his studio audience Sunday night with a joke about the death of Princess Diana, TheWrap reports. The comment came early in the episode, before the main segment.
Oliver was discussing the Secret Service and showed a trailer for 'Olympus Has Fallen,' which features a car accident on a bridge. He joked that the scene follows a key screenwriting rule: if you want to make a man sympathetic, kill his wife in a tragic accident.
Then he added, 'Incidentally, I believe that's the same strategy the British royal family had in 1997,' as a photo of Princess Diana appeared on screen. The audience responded with audible gasps, and one woman let out a startled cackle.
Oliver didn't dwell on the joke, quickly moving on to his main story about the Secret Service. The full episode is available on HBO and Max.
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