There are no mistakes: Late artist Bob Ross‘ happy trees are about to once again help out public broadcasting. On last week’s 2025 finale of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” the host convinced the Bob Ross estate to auction another of the PBS TV stars’ paintings to support public media. And it has paid off: Ross’ “Cabin at Sunset,” which he painted on a Season 10 episode of PBS’ “The Joy of Painting” in 1986, had fetched around $1,044,000 after 35 bids.
As bids closed on Monday night at midnight ET, this represented a new auction record for a Bob Ross painting. Earlier this month, Bonhams Los Angeles auctioned off three more of Ross’ “Joy of Painting” works, to support American Public Television — the company that continues to distribute “Joy of Painting.” On Nov. 11, “Winter’s Peace” (1993) sold for $318,000, while “Cliffside” (1990) went for $229,100 and “Home in the Valley” was sold at $114,800. All told, those three paintings nabbed $662,000 — and are now dwarfed by this new figure.
On the show’s Nov. 16 episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver detailed how the decision by the Trump Administration and Congress to eliminate $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting earlier this year has severely impacted radio and TV stations, particularly in rural areas. That’s why the show launched “John Oliver’s Junk,” a website with 65 items (most from the show) that were up for bid to support public broadcasting — including “Cabin at Sunset.”
All told, the auction raised nearly $1.54 million for the Public Media Bridge Fund, which is assisting local public broadcasters in temporarily finding new funds in the wake of the CPB closure.
The Bob Ross painting was, of course, the majority of that sum. But other major items included a chance for someone’s photo to appear in a graphic over Oliver’s shoulder during an episode (as well as two VIP tickets to a live show taping), which fetched $100,025. A trip to New York to meet Oliver netted $51,600, while a signed case of “SauvignJohn” wine grabbed $13,025.
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Other items included Russell Crowe’s jock strap (“worn by Russell Crowe in the major motion picture Cinderella Man and later purchased by ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,’ 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 of ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ if scandal-ridden FIFA President Sepp Blatter stepped down”) picked up $5,148.
“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,” Oliver said on last week’s show. “I am proud to announce last week tonight’s first ever auction in aid of public media. This is real!” Proceeds will go to the Public Media Bridge Fund, which is assisting local public broadcasters in temporarily finding new funds in the wake of the CPB closure.
In the case of the Bonhams auctions, those three paintings were part of 30 Bob Ross works that will be sold over the next year, with American Public Television directing all of its proceeds to support public TV stations across the country.
From Variety US