John Oliver Jokes About the Confusion Over What ‘Emilia Pérez’ Is Actually About on ‘Last Week Tonight’

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On Sunday evening, John Oliver reappeared for the start of Season 12 on his show, “Last Week Tonight“. This time around, he targeted Donald Trump and Elon Musk for their actions that led to the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development.

Last week, the Trump Administration imposed a halt on funding for USAID, an organization responsible for humanitarian aid and global development projects, and allegedly sent home over 8,000 staff members and closed all foreign missions. However, on Friday, a federal judge mandated that the administration temporarily lift this funding freeze.

On Sunday’s episode of his HBO program, Oliver predominantly discussed Trump. He emphasized that the efforts made by USAID in preventing diseases globally not only save lives but also facilitate diplomacy by generating goodwill among other nations.

As a gamer putting things in my own words, I’d say: “If you were to believe what the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is saying, it seems like we’re just wasting USAID funds on some far-fetched stuff,” showing a clip from her C-SPAN appearance.

As a concerned gamer putting on my investigative hat, let me share some eyebrow-raising expenditures that have been caught in USAID’s budget over the past few years:

1. A whopping $1.5 million to boost diversity and inclusion (DEI) within Serbian workplaces.
2. A $70,000 production of a DEI musical in Ireland.
3. $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia.
4. An investment of $32,000 on a transgender comic book in Peru.

Now, I’m no financial expert, but as an American taxpayer, these expenditures seem more like a game of Monopoly than managing the nation’s finances. And I’d bet my last Chance card that most Americans would prefer their hard-earned dollars not be spent on such ventures.

Oliver commented: “If it seems to you like mainly empty talk and manipulation, that’s because it is. However, I should note that ‘An Emilia Pérez-led musical in Ireland, an opera featuring a transgender character in Colombia, and a comic book with a transgender protagonist in Peru’ seem to be her most plausible predictions about who Emilia Pérez is.

Emilia Pérez’s film, titled “The Parallel Mothers,” spearheads the Oscars with an impressive 13 nominations, breaking the record for a non-English movie. This Spanish musical thriller, helmed by French director Jacques Audiard, transcends conventional genre boundaries. In this production, trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón portrays a Mexican drug lord transitioning to a woman, with Zoe Saldaña taking on the role of her lawyer. Selena Gomez plays her spouse in the movie.

In a turn of events, the leading actress in the Netflix film, born in Spain and known as Gascón, was nominated for the prestigious Best Actress award, marking her as the first openly transgender performer to receive such recognition. However, following the announcement of the nominations, controversial social media posts made by Gascón several years ago resurfaced. These posts contained insensitive comments about racial issues, including Black people, immigrants, and Islam. Gascón has since issued an apology for these past remarks.

In response to Leavitt’s comments on USAID, Oliver pointed out: “However, it seems she is overstating some facts about these projects, and interestingly enough, the last three examples she mentioned weren’t financed by USAID at all. Instead, they were funded through grants from the State Department. On multiple occasions, the Trump administration, along with Elon Musk, have propagated misinformation concerning where USAID funds are actually spent.

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2025-02-17 09:54