During his first show back since the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike ended, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver couldn't help but roast Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert, who last month was ejected with her date, bar owner Quinn Gallagher, from a performance of Beetlejuice due to disruptive behavior at a Denver theater.
Since usually Oliver recaps the previous week's news, in his first show back he felt he should recap the prior 5 months since going off the air. And how could he not roast Boebert?
Boebert has continued to weather criticism about her "outrageous behavior" and those who attended the performance confirmed she was vaping and taking photos during the show.
Additionally, Boebert was caught on surveillance video getting rather hot and heavy with her date. The video showed Boebert and Gallagher fondling each other in the middle of a performance where children were present.
And while Oliver was technically in the middle of a report on Italy's economy, he couldn't help but circle back to the topic of Boebert, referring to the "fondling and light over-the-pants hands stuff which was caught on video.”
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Oliver went on to express mock surprise that Boebert and Gallagher had decided to fool around during a performance of Beetlejuice and not a performance of a more sexually charged show like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Spring Awakening, or even Cats:
“It was a torrid production of Beetlejuice: The Musical. I just need you to know that. I’m not saying it would be appropriate to engage in high-school freshman-era hand stuff during a production of any musical."
I just want to be clear, this wasn’t one of the more sexually explicit ones like Spring Awakening or Rocky Horror or Cats. This was Beetlejuice. A show that’s quite loudly about death."
"I’m just saying, if you’re gonna get your nipples tweaked and your pipes squeaked, save that s**t for Fiddler [On The Roof] like a goddamn adult.”
Oliver, in his quintessential style, proceeded to explain just how odd it is to know that Boebert and Gallagher had chosen Beetlejuice for their rendevouz:
“If you don’t know the show, that puts us comfortably into 'That Beautiful Sound,' a song where Beetlejuice and Lydia gleefully torture a series of visitors including a Girl Scout, a pizza delivery person, and one of their neighbors."
“It’s a song about how they like the sound of tortured screams.”
He also mocked Boebert for declaring, “Do you know who I am?” as she was ejected from the performance, calling it a “catastrophically bad” decision:
“If you’ve been caught for, again, sexual activity during ‘Beetlejuice: The Musical,’ you would hope no one knew who you were."
"And you definitely wouldn’t want to immediately get on the phone with the mayor to tell him what had just happened.”
Oliver's remarks had social media users in stitches—and they were quick to criticize Boebert themselves.
Boebert's camp initially acknowledged that she was taking photos during the performance but disputed reports that she was vaping; a campaign statement did not address her groping behavior.
Theater officials confirmed that two patrons, including Boebert, were escorted out of the show after talking loudly, vaping, and using cameras during the performance. They had been warned about their behavior during intermission, when a pregnant audience member who was sitting behind them complained, but continued to disrupt the show in the second act, leading to their removal.
Boebert initially attributed the incident to her "overtly animated personality" and later admitted to vaping during the show. However, she claimed she "genuinely did not recall" doing so.
She told reporters she has "peacefully parted" ways with Gallagher, saying that "All future date nights have been canceled and I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date."
