Originally aired June 9 on HBO, John Oliver’s takedown of the medspa industry on Last Week Tonight was long (26 minutes) and equal parts hilarious and horrifying—and it landed with a thud right in the heart of our field.
If you’re a medspa owner who caught the episode, you probably felt the same thing we did: *“Well… he is not really that wrong.”
In typical Oliver fashion, the segment was brutally honest—and it spotlighted some of the most concerning issues surrounding the explosive growth of medspas in the U.S.:
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Lack of national standards
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Inconsistent licensing laws between states
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Undertrained injectors performing medical-grade procedures
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Unclear distinctions between “cleared” and “approved” devices
It wasn’t an attack on aesthetics at—it was a call-out on how fast the industry has outpaced the rules meant to keep patients safe.
In addition to the easy hits – like Kim K, salmon sperm facials, and Coolsculpting (because that is an easy target) – Oliver addressed the lack of on-site medical directors and the “less than professional” approach to opening and promoting medspas e.g. ridiculous trendy social media posts which absolutely hurt rather than help the integrity of the industry.
🔗 Related Reading: Suburban Boston, Botulism, and Karen Read? Yes, It’s All Connected
Spoiler: the very same week Oliver’s episode aired, a medspa in Milton, MA (right next to the now-world-famous town of Canton) was linked to a botulism outbreak involving injectable treatments.
Read that wild story—and what it means for your reputation as a provider—here
A Call for Accountability—Not Alarm
Was John Oliver wrong? Not at all – the medspa industry is unique, and growing at such a quick pace that quick cash grabs and bad actors can easily infiltrate with little to no risk.
But for the majority of upstanding, experience providers, this moment is a powerful opportunity to:
- Educate the public about the safety protocols you actually follow
- Showcase the professional standards you hold your staff to (even when regulation doesn’t require it)
- Help reframe the medspa narrative—from “sketchy injectables” to “serious, ethical care.”
Because for every shady operator cutting corners, there are thousands of trained, qualified, safety-obsessed professionals doing it right.
But if we don’t speak up, John Oliver becomes the loudest voice in the room.
