June 21, 2017 - In response to the blatantly false, totally concocted, and deliberately destructive statements made against Mr. Robert E. Murray, Murray Energy Corporation, and certain of its West Virginia Subsidiary Companies (collectively “Murray Energy”), Mr. Murray and Murray Energy confirm that they have sued Time Warner, Inc., Home Box Office, Inc., and their operatives for the false and defamatory statements that they made during the broadcast of an episode of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” on June 18, 2017.  

The deceitful and damaging statements of Time Warner, HBO, and their operatives were clearly a deliberate attempt to assassinate the character of Mr. Robert E. Murray, a champion of the United States coal industry and patriotic American, and to destroy Murray Energy, a company which Mr. Murray founded nearly thirty years ago and built into the largest underground coal mining company in the United States.  Allowing these false statements to stand unrefuted would be a disservice to the Company’s employees, who rely on Mr. Murray and Murray Energy for their continued livelihoods, and to the Company’s lenders, customers, and suppliers who depend on our integrity and performance.      

Time Warner, HBO, and their operatives made these false statements and allegations in total disregard for the truth.  Indeed, prior to the broadcast, Murray Energy and Mr. Murray sent them two (2) letters, on June 12, and 16, 2017, and had a lengthy conference call their counsel, on Saturday, June 17, in order to correct what we knew of their proposed false and destructive broadcast and present the facts to them.  Time Warner, HBO, and their operatives ignored our communications and, instead, continued to baselessly and maliciously attack the character of Mr. Murray and Murray Energy, with no factual basis whatsoever.  

The false and defamatory statements in this broadcast severely and destructively impact Mr. Murray, and all of Murray Energy, particularly our Mines in the State of West Virginia, where we are the largest coal mining employer in the State, as well as coal mining itself, one of the primary foundations of that State’s economy.  

Murray Energy filed this lawsuit, in part, in order to protect these lives and family livelihoods from the further damage by people who do not want to see coal mined, and want all of those lives destroyed, and will stop at nothing, including lying and fabrications, to accomplish their goal.