John Oliver rebukes Megyn Kelly for her controversial ‘barely legal’ remark defending Epstein

John Oliver argued that Megyn Kelly’s remark was a way to shield Trump from backlash amid Epstein controversy
PUBLISHED NOV 17, 2025
Megyn Kelly comes under fire as John Oliver rebukes her for defending Epstein (BlueATLGeorgia/X, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)
Megyn Kelly comes under fire as John Oliver rebukes her for defending Epstein (BlueATLGeorgia/X, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Megyn Kelly is facing intense backlash after defending Jeffrey Epstein. Her comments sparked widespread criticism, and now John Oliver, host of 'Last Week Tonight,' has joined in. Oliver criticized Kelly for what he called “perhaps the boldest attempt” to defend Epstein.

He suggested she sided with the accuser as a way to manage damage control for President Donald Trump. On her SiriusXM show, Kelly tried to “define” what kind of person Epstein was.

She also said she knew “someone very close to this case who is in a position to know virtually everything” about Epstein. Oliver didn’t hold back and remarked, “Trump seems to be immune to shame.”



John Oliver says Megyn Kelly used ‘barely legal’ comment to shield Donald Trump

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 29:  Megyn Kelly, NBC News Anchor and host of
 Megyn Kelly, NBC News Anchor and host of 'Megyn Kelly Today' speaks onstage with Alyson Shontell at IGNITION: Future of Media at Time Warner Center on November 29, 2017 in New York City (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)

Oliver made his stern comment on Sunday, November 17, during the season finale of HBO’s 'Last Week Tonight'. He said, “Yeah, that clip starts with I know someone who’s super in the middle of all the Epstein s**t, and it somehow gets sketchier from there.”

He made this comment in response to Kelly’s attempt to defend Epstein about her 'barely legal' comment.

She had recently said that, according to a source, Epstein “was into the barely legal type. Likely, he liked 15-year-old girls.” Oliver responded, emphasizing every point. 

Friend of Presidents, the ultra-rich and the elite of Wall Street's bankers Jeff Epstein remains an enigma to many in the world of finance despite handling portfolio's estimated to be worth over $15 billion. (Photo by Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images)
Friend of Presidents, the ultra-rich and the elite of Wall Street's bankers Jeff Epstein remains an enigma to many in the world of finance despite handling portfolio's estimated to be worth over $15 billion (Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images)

“Because if I am understanding you there and I am definitely not Epstein wasn’t into eight-year-olds. He was just into very young teens who could pass for even younger while also, to passersby, still somehow managing to look legal,” Oliver said. “And you felt this was an important legal distinction to bring up to your ‘Yes, and’-ing friend here," he said. 

Oliver went on, explaining slowly, “Now, when someone is in a cell, waiting to hear his punishment, thinks that you are a d***, that has got to sting.” He added, “I know that Trump seems to be immune to shame. But c’mon! At some point, he’s going to look at himself in the mirror, and even if briefly, think: ‘None as bad as me?!’” 

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - OCTOBER 26: U.S. President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (not in frame) at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on October 26, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Trump is in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, and will next travel to Japan, en route to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (not in frame) at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on October 26, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Trump is in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, and will next travel to Japan, en route to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

For those who may not know, Epstein’s emails reveal some truly horrific crimes. He wrote to Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, saying there was “no one as bad as” Trump and even that there was “not one decent cell in his body.”

Trump denies any ties to Epstein as Megyn Kelly faces backlash for ‘barely legal’ comment

Donald Trump has dismissed all claims linking him to Jeffrey Epstein, insisting he had no involvement and never did anything wrong. He even suggested that House Republicans should vote to make the Epstein files public, confident that they would show he had nothing to hide.



Meanwhile, Megyn Kelly is facing a wave of backlash for her comments about 15-year-olds being “barely legal.” As a mother of a 14-year-old, her remark sparked outrage on social media, leading to the trending hashtag #IWasFifteen on X (formerly Twitter).

Actress Melissa Gilbert criticized Kelly, urging her to be careful with her words, saying such comments make young girls feel unsafe. Actress Christina Ricci also slammed the pundit, calling her “a danger to children.”

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