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Comedian John Oliver poses for photographers backstage during the 41st International Emmy Awards in New York, November 25, 2013Carlo Allegri/Reuters

PUBLIC ENEMY

John Oliver may have scored a comedy hit with his new HBO series Last Week Tonight, but the Thailand government is not amused.

According to a report from Vice News, the cheeky Brit has enraged Thailand's current reigning military junta, the National Council of Peace and Order, with comments he recently made on the show.

As revealed in a "highly confidential" document obtained by Vice, the Thailand military junta appears to be steamed about Oliver poking fun at the country's ruling class on the June 22 episode of Last Week Tonight.

The Thai military, under the guidance of General Prayuth Chan-ocha, seized power on May 22, two weeks after former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was forced to step down after being found guilty of abuse of power by the country's Constitutional Court.

Earlier this week, it was announced General Chan-Ocha could stay in charge of the country as the head of a provisional government until elections are held sometime next year.

All of which of course has been obvious comedy fodder for Oliver, who came to Last Week Tonight following a decade as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

In the contentious LWT episode, Oliver took aim at General Chan-ocha's "happiness campaign" that was designed to dismiss criticism about the junta's crackdown on human rights and freedom of speech.

And it probably didn't help matters when Oliver called Thailand's Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn an "idiot."

Specifically, Oliver introduced a segment of the recently leaked footage showing Prince Vajiralongkorn and his wife, Princess Srirasm, attending the birthday party for their pet poodle, Foo Foo, who apparently holds the rank of Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Thai Air Force.

In the clip, the princess is topless and is shown lying at her husband's feet at the soirée as she poses happily with a slice of birthday cake.

"And you're telling me they're not supposed to make fun of that?" cracked Oliver. "That's entrapment!"

In the Thai government document, allegedly written four days after the LWT episode aired, the author rails about overseas activities the military junta believes are "undermining the royal institution" and criticizes the "Free Thai" resistance movement being mounted by exiled activists.

And right in the middle of the propaganda message, there's a paragraph wholly devoted to the threat that John Oliver supposedly poses to the military regime.

To quote directly: "Mr. William John Oliver, a comedy actor known for parodying English politics, discusses the issue of Crown Prince Felipe of Spain's inauguration, criticizing it and referring/connecting it to other countries with monarchs, such as Queen Elizabeth II, by means of showing sections of and criticizing the 'poolside clip' on HBO."

Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, the same document names other perceived threats to the current military regime, including Chatwadee "Rose" Amornpat, a Thai hairdresser living in London who has criticized the monarchy via social media, and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai college professor who resides in Kyoto, Japan.

GOOD SPORT

If you loved Morgan Freeman's distinctive voice before, wait until you hear it on helium. The Oscar-winning actor was a good sport during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night when the host brought out two balloons filled with helium. "Everyone loves your voice," said Fallon, "but I was wondering what your voice would sound like on helium." The 77-year-old Freeman complied, but began the experiment by saying, "I really shouldn't be doing this. It's very undignified."

Source: Us

WEDDING BELLS?

Are Sean Penn and Charlize Theron planning to walk down the aisle? According to People magazine, Theron was recently spotted wearing a sparkly new diamond on her ring finger, which has fuelled speculation that the couple intend to set a wedding date in the near future. Penn, 53, was previously wed to Madonna and Robin Wright, while Theron, 38, has never been married but dated Irish actor Stuart Townsend for more than a decade.

Source: People

BILL'S HERE

Bill Murray is making unannounced visits again. The Lost in Translation star recently shocked the owner of a mobile Los Angeles ice-cream shop with a surprise visit. Joe Nicchi, owner of CVT Soft Serve, mounted a "Bill Murray Ice Cream Social" near the set of the actor's latest movie, Rock the Kasbah, earlier this week and was amazed when Murray himself showed up for a cone. Said Nicchi: "He was so complimentary, he even tried to pay me but I refused to take money from him." In the past year, Murray has also dropped into a couple's engagement photo shoot and gave an impromptu speech at a bachelor party.

Source: People

BACK AT WORK

Portia de Rossi has signed on for a fulltime role on Scandal. The former Arrested Development star will join the hit political drama next season for a multi-episode arc playing a character yet to be revealed. First word of the deal came from de Rossi's spouse, daytime talk host Ellen DeGeneres, who tweeted, "So annoying when people brag on twitter & that's why I'm not tweeting that Portia just signed on to do a top secret arc on 'Scandal.' Oops."

Source: CNN

PRANK TV

Mayim Bialik will co-host the upcoming TV reboot of Candid Camera. In addition to her ongoing role on The Big Bang Theory, the 38-year-old actress will co-host the new version of the hidden-camera prank series with Peter Funt, the son of show creator and host Allen Funt, who helmed the show from 1949 to 1992. Said Bialik: "Since I was a child, I have found it impossible not to smile when I hear, 'Smile! You're on Candid Camera! And I am honoured and tickled pink to get to be a part of this amazing franchise." The new version of Candid Camera will debut Aug. 11 on the U.S. cable outlet TV Land.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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