Let the Truth Be Told: Comedian John Oliver isn't an Apple TV Plus fan as this stinging quip shows

Truth Be Told
(Image credit: Apple)

Apple TV Plus might be the home of some very popular TV shows as well as more than its fair share of awards nominations and wins. But that isn't enough for one comedian who accused the Apple-owned streaming service of being "where celebrities go to hide."

Speaking in the latest episode of his HBO show Last Week Tonight, Oliver was speaking about a range of matters when he suggested that there are some things that you can ignore in life, like a spam call or, it seems Apple TV Plus.

Oliver claimed that some people might not even be aware that Octavia Spencer, one of the bigger names in the business, starred in three seasons of a show about a crime-solving podcaster — he was of course talking about the popular Truth Be Told, although it has to be said it isn't among the top shows on the streamer's roster.

Not impressed

Deadline reports that Oliver was commenting on the story that a store worker had been told to reopen shortly after a robbery when he rightly said that “an armed robbery is a traumatic event people need time to recover from.” But then he went on to aim a jab at Apple, saying that “it’s not something you can just ignore like a spam call or a broken light bulb or any show on Apple TV.” He's obviously not holding his breath for Severance season 2, then.

He continued, asking viewers if they knew that Spencer had starred in Truth Be Told for a full three seasons. “Of course you didn’t. It’s Apple TV, where celebrities go to hide,” he said.

With The Problem With Jon Stewart having been canceled on Apple TV Plus we can probably safely say that the show won't be replaced by anything starring John Oliver any time soon. And if we did, apparently nobody would know it was there anyway.

Oliver's comments were of course unfair, but they perhaps say something about the lack of robust advertising that Apple TV Plus has seen of late. Of all the promotions Apple has done, most of them seem to have focused on the MLS and Leo Messi of late.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

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