--- title: Watch John Oliver Audition for '50 Shades of Grey' description: "It hurts not to have even been asked," Oliver says canonical: https://time.com/3682203/john-oliver-fifty-shades-of-grey/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-26T13:26:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:16:14.678Z og:title: Watch John Oliver Audition for '50 Shades of Grey' og:description: "It hurts not to have even been asked," Oliver says og:url: https://time.com/3682203/john-oliver-fifty-shades-of-grey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ee7146fe1b9a70a/69877bd255a859fc5ca85745/john-oliver-50-shades-of-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2030 og:image:height: 1142 og:image:alt: john-oliver-50-shades-of-grey og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch John Oliver Audition for '50 Shades of Grey' twitter:description: "It hurts not to have even been asked," Oliver says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ee7146fe1b9a70a/69877bd255a859fc5ca85745/john-oliver-50-shades-of-grey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch John Oliver Audition for _50 Shades of Grey_ > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=65a0da09-7afd-4783-add3-2171b04b3e6f&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jan 26, 2015 1:26 PM UTC  by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jan 26, 2015 1:26 PM UTC Before _Last Week Tonight_ ends it hiatus next month, John Oliver took to YouTube on Sunday night to half-heartedly apologize to _50 Shades of Grey_ star Jamie Dornan for perpetuating the [#NotMyChristian](https://twitter.com/hashtag/notmychristian) hashtag. “Now look, I’m sorry if anyone was offended by my incredibly accurate evaluation of a casting choice for a movie whose target audience, going by the trailer, seems to be suburban mothers of three who have somehow never had sex before,” Oliver began, bemoaning Hollywood’s safe choice of casting an actor “who specifies in handsome” rather than make a more daring choice. **MORE**: [How the John Oliver Effect Is Having a Real-Life Impact](http://time.com/3674807/john-oliver-net-neutrality-civil-forfeiture-miss-america/) Namely, a spectacled British comedian. “It hurts not to have even been asked,” Oliver said, before launching into a passionate audition “for a movie that has already been made from a book I’ve never read.” Luckily for Oliver, _Fifty Shades_ is a trilogy. 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