John Oliver is closing out 2025 in true John Oliver trend by going large and daring. He’s placing 65 of Final Week Tonight’s wildest props up for public sale to lift cash for public broadcasting.
John Oliver launches an public sale in assist of public broadcasting
In his last episode of 2025, Oliver laid out simply how badly public TV and radio stations have been hit after the large federal funding cuts. Then he shared his plan: the “John Oliver’s Junk” public sale.
He shared that the thought got here from the Bob Ross property, which lately offered three authentic Ross work and pulled in $662,000 for public broadcasting. The transfer comes after the Trump administration slashed $1.1 billion from the Company for Public Broadcasting, leaving smaller stations scrambling to remain afloat.
One of many largest eye-catchers within the 65-item lineup is an authentic 1987 Bob Ross portray, “Cabin at Sundown,” which had already climbed to $51,000 when the public sale went dwell. Oliver additionally mentioned that his crew has collected a ton of “bizarre” stuff on this present through the years.
“We’ve really collected a bunch of bizarre artifacts on this present through the years that we may undoubtedly public sale off to lift some a lot wanted cash,” the long-lasting host mentioned. “I’m proud to announce Final Week Tonight’s first-ever public sale in help of public media. That is actual!” ( by way of Selection)
The public sale stays open till November 24, and each greenback goes to the Public Media Bridge Fund to assist native stations maintain their lights on.
Followers of Final Week Tonight will immediately acknowledge a bunch of the wild props. These embrace Russell Crowe’s jockstrap, the one Oliver purchased throughout Crowe’s “Artwork of Divorce” sale, to Mrs. Cabbage Oliver, his hilarious on-screen “spouse” from the AI artwork bit. There’s additionally a gold-plated reproduction of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s testicles from that presidential library spoof.
Up for grabs are also the golden Adidas sneakers Oliver swore he’d put on if Sepp Blatter ever stepped down, 5 wax U.S. presidents, VIP taping tickets, and a wine assortment cheekily titled Cabernet SauvignJohn.
Oliver spent an enormous chunk of the episode breaking down why public broadcasting really issues. He identified that these stations do far more than individuals understand. They provide multilingual reveals, ship emergency alerts, and sometimes maintain native investigative reporting alive.
By slashing the CPB price range, he defined, stations will find yourself leaning more durable on nationwide content material from large cities like New York.
