WATCH: John Oliver Pokes Fun at 'Genuinely Hard to Watch' House of the Dragon

John Oliver might be employed by HBO, but he isn't shying away from poking fun at his parent company. 

Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight saw the host playfully take aim at HBO during a segment on transgender rights. After showing a clip of a young transgender girl sharing her frustrated feelings about not being able to use the girls bathroom at school, Oliver took an opportunity to make a quick joke at the expense of House of the Dragon. 

"That is brutal," Oliver said. "It's so dark it is genuinely hard to watch - which would also, coincidentally, be a pretty accurate tagline for House of the Dragon." (The Game of Thrones spinoff has been slammed by fans for having "the worst lighting on TV"). 

Later on in the segment, when discussing puberty blockers and gender-affirming care, Oliver took a jab at his parent company's streaming app. "Think of it like a pause button - that thing you can’t do easily on the HBO Max app," he jested. 

This isn't the first time Oliver has bitten the hand that feeds him; in the past, he's called HBO Max "a series of tax write-offs to appease Wall street", criticized HBO for axing the Batgirl movie, and referred to former parent company AT&T as "Business Daddy". 

Last Week Tonight is streaming on HBO Max. 

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Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.