John Oliver’s interview during the New York Mets TV broadcast captured an audience that likely doesn’t include Keith Hernandez. Although Last Week Tonight was off this week, Oliver’s fans had the chance to see him on Sunday afternoon during the Mets’ 7-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Field reporter Steve Gelbs conducted a nearly four-minute interview with the comedian amid the game commentary by Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling, referring to Oliver as “one of my favorite comedians on the planet” before acknowledging his Mets fandom, which began in 2006 when he joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
During the interview, Gelbs praised Oliver for his ability to “deep dive” into topics requiring extensive research for his HBO show and inquired whether the fast-paced media environment impacted the show’s capacity to dedicate time to these stories. “It has changed it a little bit,” Oliver admitted. “Because I think in slower news times, we can do that slower cooking. We’re still trying to do that. But when things – hypothetically speaking – are happening, like a president suggesting sending American citizens overseas to foreign gulags, yeah, that probably feels like something you need to address as soon as possible.” He referenced the recent White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, where Trump mentioned the idea of deporting U.S. citizens with violent criminal records to El Salvador.
John Oliver joined Mets field reporter Steve Gelbs for an impromptu interview in the stands at this afternoon’s Mets-Cardinals game. pic.twitter.com/F0v2oh0ORB
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) April 20, 2025
While it may not have been the wholesome content some Mets fans anticipated on an Easter Sunday, Oliver responded thoughtfully to Gelbs’ valid question. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get a camera on Hernandez, who has expressed his conservative views and support for Trump in the past. After the interview, Cohen expressed his gratitude to Gelbs and Oliver, with Darling pointing out the numerous comedians who are Mets fans. However, just as Hernandez was set to share his thoughts, the Cardinals made their third out, causing the broadcast to cut to commercial before he could voice his opinion on John Oliver or foreign gulags.
