Comic offers $55,000 to make it so

John Oliver has welcomed plans to name a sewage treatment plant after him –and even offered a $55,000 bounty to help grease the wheels.

Officials in Danbury, Connecticut, recently announced plans for the dubious honour in retaliation for a routine mocking their city on his HBO show.

But when mayor Mark Boughton said it was just a joke, Oliver challenged him  follow through, dangling the donation, equivalent to around £41,000 -  to local charities as incentive.

Boughton, below, announced his plans for the renaming on Facebook earlier this month, saying the honour was ‘because it’s full of crap just like you, John.’

In was payback for a seemingly random rant about the town during a Last Week Tonight segment about how juries ended up with a racial bias because the selection process could deliberately overlook whole communities. 

‘If you’re going to forget a town in Connecticut,’ Oliver joked, ‘Why not forget Danbury? Because – and this is true – fuck Danbury!’

He went on to list a few facts about the city and told all its residents: ‘You’ve got a standing invite to get a thrashing from John Oliver, children included. Fuck you!’

But when he found out that Boughton had no plans to go through with the renaming plan, the comic redoubled his tongue-in-cheek attack.

Speaking on this Sunday’s edition of Last Week Tonight, he said: ‘Wait, so you're not doing it? Aw fuck you, Danbury.

‘You had the first good idea in your city's history and you chickened out on the follow through. What a classic Danbury move. 

‘Listen, I didn't know that I wanted my name on your factory but now that you floated it as an option, it is all that I want.’

Oliver said if the plant wasn’t renamed in his honour, her  would make charitable donations to rival towns including Waterbury and Torrington.

Boughton officials are now considering the offer.

Published: 1 Sep 2020