John Oliver closed out the final Last Week Tonight episode of 2025 with a blistering – and at times heartfelt – look at the fallout from the Trump Administration’s decision to eliminate $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The cuts, passed earlier this year, have hit local public TV and radio stations especially hard, with rural communities facing the steepest losses.
So Oliver and his team decided to step in. On Sunday night, the host announced “John Oliver’s Junk,” a new online auction featuring 65 bizarre, beloved, and downright unexpected items pulled from the show’s 12-year history. The goal: raise money for the Public Media Bridge Fund, created to help local stations stay afloat in the wake of the CPB shutdown.
And the biggest attention-grabber so far?
An original 1987 Bob Ross painting, Cabin at Sunset, which, as of press time, had already reached $51,000.
Inspired by the Bob Ross Estate
Oliver revealed that the idea for the auction came from the Bob Ross estate, which recently sold three Ross originals to support public broadcasting. That effort brought in $662,000 – and sparked the late-night show’s plan to do something similar.
“We’ve accumulated a bunch of weird artifacts on this show over the years that we could definitely auction off to raise some much-needed money,” Oliver said. “This is real!”
The auction runs through November 24.
The Strangest Items Are Also the Most Iconic
Fans of Last Week Tonight will recognize several infamous props among the auction listings.
- Russell Crowe’s jockstrap from Cinderella Man, which Oliver famously purchased during Crowe’s “Art of Divorce” auction
- Mrs. Cabbage Oliver, the cabbage Oliver “married” in a season nine segment about AI-generated art
- A gold-plated sculpture of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s testicles, from a season 12 piece about presidential libraries
- Five wax presidents, used in various political segments
- Golden Adidas sneakers, which Oliver once promised to wear on-air if FIFA’s Sepp Blatter resigned
Other offerings range from a trip to New York to meet Oliver, to a VIP set visit, to a case of the show’s custom Cabernet Sauvignon, appropriately named Cabernet SauvignJohn.
There’s even a chance to appear in a framed background photo on Oliver’s desk during a future episode.
Joel McHale Joins the Show for a Throwback
Oliver’s longtime friend and Community co-star Joel McHale also appeared in the episode. A flashback to 1999 showed McHale hosting a pledge drive for Seattle’s PBS station – hilariously unable to stop referencing Mr. Bean. Fittingly, McHale autographed a DVD set of Mr. Bean, which is also on the auction block.
A Dire Picture for Public Broadcasting
Much of the episode focused on the consequences of defunding the CPB, which has supported public broadcasting since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law in 1967.
“Public media has been truly innovative in reaching underserved audiences,” Oliver said, highlighting early closed-captioning efforts and multilingual programming in Haitian Creole, Navajo, Vietnamese, and more.
He argued that accusations of “liberal bias” are often rooted in discomfort with factual reporting on race, LGBTQ issues, and American history – concerns long cited by conservatives as justification for cutting public media funding.
Oliver warned that without federal support, local stations risk shutting down or relying heavily on national content. That shift, he argued, undermines the very purpose of public broadcasting: providing local communities with essential reporting and programming.
Why the Cuts Matter
Oliver pointed out that:
- Many rural communities depend on public radio for emergency alerts and missing-persons notifications
- Local stations often conduct the only investigative reporting in their region
- Last Week Tonight itself frequently relies on public media research, including in segments on HOAs and juvenile justice
He also emphasized how little the U.S. traditionally invests in public media compared to other democracies. Even before this year’s cuts, federal funding amounted to less than $1.60 per capita, while countries like the UK, Norway, and Sweden contribute nearly $100 per person.
“Research shows a positive correlation between the strength of public media systems and the health of democracies,” he said. “And instead of fixing the system long-term, Congress has put local stations in a dire situation.”
A Call to Action – and a Bit of Hope
Oliver closed the episode by acknowledging that structural solutions – like adopting a tax or licensing fee to protect public media from political swings – are unlikely anytime soon. Until then, he said, stations need immediate support to survive.
And that’s why Last Week Tonight is auctioning off a decade’s worth of bizarre memorabilia: to help keep public broadcasting alive, one jockstrap, cabbage bride, and gold-plated presidential sculpture at a time.
