John Oliver’s Bob Ross auction raises more than $1.5 million for PBS

There are no mistakes: the late artist Bob Ross’s happy trees are about to help the public broadcaster again. During last week’s 2025 finale of “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” the host convinced Bob Ross’ estate to auction off another painting of the PBS TV stars to support public media. And it paid off: Ross’s “Cabin at Sunset,” which he painted in a Season 10 episode of PBS’ “The Joy of Painting” in 1986, had fetched about $1,044,000 after 35 bids.

As bidding closed at midnight ET on Monday evening, this marked a new auction record for a Bob Ross painting. Earlier this month, Bonhams Los Angeles auctioned three more of Ross’ “Joy of Painting” works in support of American Public Television – the company that continues to distribute “Joy of Painting.” On November 11, “Winter’s Peace” (1993) sold for $318,000, while “Cliffside” (1990) went for $229,100 and “Home in the Valley” sold for $114,800. All told, these three paintings fetched $662,000 – and are now eclipsed by this new figure.

On the Nov. 16 episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver explained how the Trump administration and Congress’ decision to cut $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting earlier this year has had serious consequences for radio and TV stations, especially in rural areas. That’s why the show was launched”John Oliver’s junk,” a website with 65 items (most from the show) that were bid in support of the public broadcaster – including “Cabin at Sunset.”

All told, the auction raised nearly $1.54 million for the Public Media Bridge Fund, which helps local public broadcasters temporarily find new funds in the wake of CPB’s closure.

The Bob Ross painting was, of course, the largest portion of that amount. But other top items included the chance to have someone’s photo appear in an image over Oliver’s shoulder during an episode (as well as two VIP tickets to a live show taping), which raised $100,025. A trip to New York to meet Oliver netted $51,600, while a signed case of “SauvigJohn” wine netted $13,025.

Other items included Russell Crowe’s jockstrap (“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 in an on-screen wedding officiated by Steve Buscemi. Part of ‘Last Week Tonight’ Season 9 segment about AI-generated art in which John marries a cabbage in the studio”), which drew a bid of $11,111.

Also: A large, gold-plated recreation of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s balls (“Sculpture of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Scrotum, part of the Season 12 segment on Presidential Libraries”) fetched $25,500, while five wax Presidents of the United States ranged from $6,000 (Bill Clinton) to $3,333 (William Henry Harrison). Gold Adidas sneakers (“Gold sneakers that John Oliver promised to wear in a Season 2 episode of ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ if scandal-plagued FIFA President Sepp Blatter resigned) fetched $5,148.

“We’ve collected some strange artifacts at this show over the years that we could certainly auction off to raise some much-needed money,” Oliver said during last week’s show. “I am proud to announce last week’s very first auction tonight for the benefit of the public media. This is real!” The proceeds go to the Public Media Bridge Fund, which helps local public broadcasters to temporarily find new funds after the closure of the CPB.

In the case of the Bonhams auctions, these three paintings were among thirty works by Bob Ross that will be sold over the next year, with American Public Television devoting all proceeds to supporting public television stations across the country.