Actor Dean Cain hit back at John Oliver’s diss after saying he would be joining ICE.
Newsweek reached out to Cain’s representative for comment on Monday via email outside regular working hours.
Why It Matters
Cain rose to fame as Clark Kent on the 1990s television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He also hosted Ripley’s Believe It or Not!.
In July, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recruitment campaign to assist in carrying out the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants. Incentives to join the program include a maximum $50,000 signing bonus and student loan forgiveness.
On August 6, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said they eliminated the age requirements for ICE recruits.
Noam Galai/Getty Images for New York Comic Con; Kevin Winter/Getty Images
What To Know
On Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Oliver teased Dean for volunteering to join ICE.
“There’s an old saying in Hollywood: ‘If all you can get is Dean Cain, you are f*****,'” the 48-year-old said. “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 added: “Although, on the plus side, no need for that guy to wear a mask because the chances of anyone recognizing him are f****** zero.”
Cain responded to the segment on X on Monday: “He stole that mask joke from the internet — and he also laughed hysterically when Trump said he was going to run for President. Case closed,” he said. “(and those movies were sweet, by the way!)”
🤣 He stole that mask joke from the internet — and he also laughed hysterically when Trump said he was going to run for President. Case closed. 🤣
(and those movies were sweet, by the way!) https://t.co/9jQqb6h9WM— Dean Cain (@RealDeanCain) August 11, 2025
On Tuesday, August 5, Cain took to social media to say he joined ICE and pushed for others to follow his lead.
“Hey everybody, Dean Cain here. For those who don’t know, I am a sworn law enforcement officer, as well as being a filmmaker, and I felt it was important to join with our first responders to help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it. So I joined up,” he shared in a video.
“Since President Trump took office, ICE has arrested hundreds of thousands of criminals including terrorists, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, MS-13 gang members, drug traffickers, you name it—very dangerous people who are no longer on the streets.”
Cain spoke out on the “great benefits” that come with joining the program and added: “We need your help to protect our homeland and our families.”
What People Are Saying
Ice Age actor John Leguizamo said in a video on Instagram: “What kind of loser volunteers to be an ICE officer? What a moron. Dean Cain, your pronouns are has/been.”
Cain told Fox News host Jesse Watters on August 6: “I put out a recruitment video yesterday—I’m actually a sworn deputy sheriff and a reserve police officer—I wasn’t part of ICE, but once I put that out there and you put a little blurb on your show, it went crazy.
“So now I’ve spoken with some officials over at ICE, and I will be sworn in as an ICE agent asap.”
Fox News host Jesse Watters said: “They can’t have a better guy than Dean Cain.”
What Happens Next
A DHS press release stated ICE recruitment materials will be distributed across major cities, college campuses, job fairs and law enforcement networks in the coming weeks.