Jon Oliver, public-domain fan and self-appointed gadfly to highly effective establishments, once more poked a finger within the eye of the Mouse Home in a brand new promo for his HBO present.

In a teaser for the Feb. 18 return of “Final Week Tonight With Jon Oliver” for its eleventh season, the host posed subsequent to somebody wearing a go well with resembling Steamboat Willie, the 1928 model of Mickey Mouse that entered the general public area on Jan. 1 after Disney’s copyright on the character expired.

“What are they gonna do, sue?” reads the poster for the present’s upcoming season premiere. Cheeky monkey!

It’s not clear whether or not Disney particularly shall be a goal for Oliver on this season of “Final Week Tonight” or if he’s simply opportunistically seizing the Steamboat Willie second as a result of he can. (A rep for HBO didn’t instantly reply to a request for clarification.)

Oliver has trod this floor earlier than. In an episode of “Final Week Tonight” that aired in April 2023, he mentioned the approaching expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright — after which launched a Mickey Mouse-like character because the present’s new mascot. “The actual fact is, anybody wanting to make use of the ‘Steamboat Willie’ Mickey Mouse will in all probability nonetheless be taking a threat,” Oliver stated within the phase. “But when you realize something about this present by now, we do prefer to take a threat now and again.” The host additionally carried on a mock interview with an animated model of Disney’s well-known mouse, who tells Oliver, “I hope Henry Kissinger dies quickly.”

For many years, Disney has been notoriously litigious in policing the utilization of its mental property, together with of Mickey Mouse. Disney has stated that it “will proceed to guard our rights within the extra fashionable variations of Mickey Mouse and different works that stay topic to copyright, and we’ll work to safeguard towards shopper confusion attributable to unauthorized makes use of of Mickey and our different iconic characters.”

After Steamboat Willie entered the general public area, one indie filmmaker introduced plans for a horror-comedy based mostly on Mickey Mouse’s cartoon debut wherein a sadistic mouse torments a bunch of unsuspecting ferry passengers.

Final December, HBO introduced it renewed the Emmy-winning “Final Week Tonight” for 3 extra seasons, by way of 2026. The sequence airs Sunday nights on HBO and is out there to stream on Max.