Twitter Users Lambast U.K. Network Sky For Cutting John Oliver’s Jokes About Queen Elizabeth

U.K. viewers have taken to Twitter to lambast Comcast-owned network Sky for apparently cutting two jokes related to Queen Elizabeth II in the local broadcast of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.”

In HBO’s broadcast, which aired on Sunday night in the U.S., Oliver opens with a joke about the President of Chile before saying: “But obviously, we need to start with the U.K., which is clearly still reeling from the shocking death of a 96-year-old woman from natural causes,” which is followed by laughter.

Oliver continues: “It is a big moment which for some reason absolutely everyone felt that they had to weigh in on from [Swedish CGI dance music act] Crazy Frog, which tweeted out ‘RIP the Queen’ [and a] candle emoji – a tweet that’s impossible to read without mentally adding [Crazy Frog’s dance music] – to Dominos U.K. which posted, ‘Everyone at Domino’s joins the nation and the world in mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts and condolences are with the Royal Family.’”

“Which I guess is nice although if the world is mourning they should maybe tell the U.S. Domino’s account whose most recent tweet as of this taping is ‘if ur reading this it means u need pizza like to confirm.’” Oliver said. “Get your fucking house in order Domino’s! A LADY IS DEAD.”

He then goes on to make a joke about the new British Prime Minister, Liz Truss, saying: “The Queen’s death is sadly not the only traumatic event that Britain has had to deal with this week because on Tuesday, Liz Truss, basically Margaret Thatcher if she were high on glue, became its new Prime Minister.”

In the version available on Sky’s streaming platform NOW, Oliver’s joke about the Chilean President is followed by a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it ident for “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and then cuts immediately to Oliver’s joke about Truss. Apparently the same edited version was broadcast on Sky Comedy on Monday night.

Sky attracted dozens of comments from angry fans on Twitter, with many tagging Oliver directly. “Sky cut out your joke about the queen last night,” one Twitter user said. “Cowards. Any chance you can put it up on here? They teased us with her picture and and truly amateurish cut.”

Don’t censor my @LastWeekTonight,” tweeted another. “I am British, I am a monarchist and I CAN TAKE A JOKE!!! @SkyUK If @iamjohnoliver wants to have an intelligent, jovial, factual opinion about our queen I wanna hear it. FFS! The coverage and forced mourning here is getting real out of hand.”

Others wrote “@iamjohnoliver @LastWeekTonight any ideas as to why the segment covering the death of the Queen was cut from the latest episode by Sky Comedy? Was somebody upset?” And “@SkyUK editing out the @iamjohnoliver / @LastWeekTonight bit on the Queen’s death is not a good look.”

The U.K. is currently in a period of official mourning, which is set to last until the end of the month. Television schedules have been thrown into chaos as broadcasters try to balance the appetite for news about the royals with those who are anti-monarchy or simply fatigued by all the coverage.

A representative for Sky did not respond by press time. Variety has reached out to HBO and John Oliver.

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