The final results are in for an auction launched on the 2025 finale of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to benefit public media. As reported by Variety, items including a record-setting Bob Ross painting and a bidet signed by GWAR’s Blöthar the Berserker raised a total of nearly $1.54 million dedicated to assisting local public broadcasters by the time bids closed on Monday night.
Last Week Tonight launched the auction following a November 16th episode in which Oliver blasted the Trump administration’s decision to cut $1.1 billion in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The auction proceeds will go to the Public Media Bridge Fund, which provides grant money to local public broadcasters in need.
Much of the total money raised came from a winning $1.04 million bid on “Cabin at Sunset,” a Bob Ross painting from Season 10 of his PBS show, The Joy of Painting. This set a new auction record for one of Ross’ works, zooming past the $318,000 that “Winter’s Peace” fetched earlier this month.
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A recent Heavy Consequence interview with Blöthar, where he extolled the virtues of public broadcasting, was featured in the episode. As a result, a bidet signed by Blöthar was included among the available items auctioned on the website John Oliver’s Junk. The final price is currently unknown, but the winning bid was at $6,000 the last time we checked.
Other notable items in the auction included a chance for the winner’s photo to appear in a graphic over Oliver’s shoulder during an episode ($100,025), a New York trip to meet the host ($51,600), a gold-plated recreation of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s balls ($25,500), and Russell Crowe’s jock strap from Cinderella Man ($21,000).