John Oliver’s public feud with the city of Danbury, CT started ugly but ended on a high note, with thousands going to charity. During Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver announced that he had visited the city for an unveiling ceremony of the newly renamed John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant.
It all started when Oliver unleashed an angry rant on Danbury during an episode of his show in August. This led the city’s mayor, Mark Boughton, to propose naming their sewage treatment plant after the comedian because they were both “full of…” well, you know.
Oliver responded to Boughton with a proposed $55,000 in donations to local charities, in exchange for a sign reflecting the name change. Local businesses added an additional $45,000, in support of the cause.
Earlier this month, Danbury City Council approved the name change, provided Oliver would attend an unveiling ceremony.
“Yes, I went to Danbury, home of the Danbury Railway Museum, their self-proclaimed World’s Tallest Uncle Sam, and now the single-greatest sewage plant in the continental United States,” Oliver revealed on his show Sunday. “It was even more beautiful than I had imagined.”
Oliver showed up to the ceremony wearing a makeshift (and delightfully-goofy) protective suit, complete with rubber gloves, plastic bag torso and clear plastic cube head covering.
“There is a reason that this sewer plant means so much to me, and that’s that - it represents everything that we need the most right now,” Oliver said at the ceremony. “Because think about it: this place takes the worst that humanity can produce, and transforms it into something that we can live with. And now more than ever, there’s something inspirational in that.”
“Because at the end of this awful, awful year, what could be more important than evidence that if we want to, we can come together, overcome our differences, and sort our [expletive] out,” Oliver continued. “Mr. Mayor, I could not be more proud to have my name on your [expletive] sorter.”
Truly, John Oliver is number two in Connecticut.
(PHOTO: Getty Images)