PBS/HBO
Another of John Oliver and Last Week Tonight’s harebrained yet equally genius schemes has come to fruition, as the long-running HBO series successfully convinced Bob Ross’ estate to sell off one of his paintings for the benefit of PBS.
During season 12 finale of the award-winning series, Last Week Tonight shined a light on the federal government’s attacks on PBS, particularly as it relates to slashing its funding.
In an effort to get some much-needed money to the Public Broadcasting Service, John Oliver made a plea to the estate of Bob Ross to auction off one of his famed paintings for charity.
John Oliver and Last Week Tonight convinced Bob Ross’ estate to auction a painting for PBS, sells “Cabin at Sunset” for over $1 million
Ross’ estate ultimately obliged, as his “Cabin at Sunset,” which he painted on a Season 10 episode of PBS’ The Joy of Painting in 1986, was sold at auction for $1,044,000 after 35 bids earlier this week. The proceeds of the auction will go to the Public Media Bridge Fund, which is assisting local public broadcasters in temporarily finding new funds in the wake of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s closure.
Oliver and the Last Week Tonight team also auctioned off many of the odd artifacts they’ve accumulated over the years, the most famous of which being Russell Crowe’s jockstrap from the movie Cinderella Man.
“We’ve actually accumulated a bunch of weird artifacts on this show over the years that we could definitely auction off to raise some much needed money. I am proud to announce last week tonight’s first ever auction in aid of public media. This is real!”
Oliver said on the show.
Some of the other biggest sellers were two VIP tickets to a taping of Last Week Tonight and to be featured in a graphic on the show, which sold for just over $100K, a trip to New York to meet Oliver ($51,600), and a signed case of “SauvignJohn” wine for $13,025.
“Other items included Russell Crowe’s jock strap (purchased by during season 5 of the show, as part of Crowe’s ‘Art of Divorce; auction in which Crowe sold his personal belongings to pay for his divorce”), which earned $21,000; and “Mrs. Cabbage Oliver” (“John Oliver’s on-screen wife, married during an on-screen wedding officiated by Steve Buscemi. Part of ‘Last Week Tonight’s’ season 9 segment on AI-generated art in which John marries a cabbage in the studio”), which scored a bid of $11,111.”
“Also: A large, gold-plated re-creation of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s balls (“Sculpture of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s scrotum, part of the season 12 segment on presidential libraries”) landed $25,500, while five wax Presidents of the United States ranged from $6000 (Bill Clinton) to $3,333 (William Henry Harrison). Golden Adidas sneakers (“Gold sneakers John Oliver promised to wear in a season 2 episode if scandal-ridden FIFA President Sepp Blatter stepped down”) picked up $5,148.” [via Variety]
This is not the first Ross painting to be auctioned off for the benefit of American Public Television, with “Cliffside” (1990), “Winter’s Peace” (1993), and “Home in the Valley” (1993) selling for a combined $662,000 earlier this month.