Dean Cain responds to John Oliver’s criticism over his ICE recruitment video

John Oliver couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make fun of Dean Cain, the former Superman actor who recently joined ICE.

Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight saw Oliver discuss President Donald Trump’s deportation promises in the wake of his One Big Beautiful Bill. Midway through the story, the British host played Cain’s ICE recruitment video, in which he says he joined the agency to “help secure the safety of all Americans.” Oliver was far from impressed.

“You know, there’s an old saying in Hollywood: ‘If all you can get is Dean Cain, you are f—ed,” Oliver quipped. “Now, I’m not saying that ICE isn’t finding people. I’m just saying, when you are reduced to pinning a badge on the 59-year-old star of The Dog Who Saved Christmas, The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation, The Dog Who Saved the Holidays, The Dog Who Saved Halloween, The Dog Who Saved Easter, and The Dog Who Saved Summer, maybe you are in trouble.”

Oliver did offer one positive about the Lois & Clark actor joining up with immigration agency, joking that Cain shouldn’t have any trouble concealing his identity. “No need for that guy to wear a mask because the chances of anyone recognizing him are f—ing zero,” Oliver said.

Towards the close of the episode, Oliver advised his audience on how to respond if approached by ICE agents, whether or not you’re a U.S. citizen. 

“Attorneys told us the only two things you should say to them are: ‘Am I free to leave?’ And ‘I want to speak to a lawyer.’ That’s it. You have the right to remain silent,” Oliver shared. “And I recognize that in some cases you may be unable to help yourself from saying: ‘Didn’t you used to be Superman? I thought you died.’ … But that really is it.”

Within hours of the episode airing, Cain had penned a response on social media.

“He stole that mask joke from the internet,” Cain wrote on X, resharing a clip of Oliver’s takedown. “And he also laughed hysterically when Trump said he was going to run for President. Case closed.”

As for Oliver taking shots at his filmography, he added, “Those movies were sweet, by the way!”

Cain, a longtime supporter of Trump, announced his plans to join ICE earlier this month, during an Aug. 6 appearance on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime. Cain was previously sworn in as a reserve police officer in Idaho in 2018 and again as a reserve deputy sheriff in Virginia in 2022.

“We have a broken immigration system. Congress needs to fix it, but in the interim, President Trump ran on this. He is delivering on this. This is what people voted for,” Cain told Watters. “It’s what I voted for and he’s going to see it through, and I’ll do my part and help make sure it happens.”

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Oliver is certainly not the first to slam Cain’s position on the issue. Last week, John Leguizamo called the actor a “moron” in an Instagram video. He added, “What kind of loser volunteers to be an ICE officer? Dean Cain, your pronouns are has/been.”

Cain also caught flak from Glee star Kevin McHale and comedian Margaret Cho, who pointed to the actor’s Japanese heritage. (Cain’s father was Japanese American, and the actor has stated that his family was interred at the Minidoka internment camp in the 1940s.)

“Why would you join ICE and encourage people to join ICE when your ancestors were interred in World War II?” Cho asked in an Instagram video. “You’re Japanese. You’re not even white… You’re never gonna be white, no matter how racist you are, no matter how wrong you act.”

Watch Oliver mock Cain in his full story on immigration enforcement above.