Over 12 years ago, Oprah Winfrey made television history by giving nearly 280 of her audience members a brand new Pontiac sedan, a stunt that totaled over $8 million. However, John Oliver, host of HBO talk show “Last Week Tonight,” has outdone her by doing something even cooler for people across the country .
On Sunday’s episode, Oliver explained that American households are roughly $12 trillion in debt with $436 billion of it being more than 90 days past due. The point of his segment was to show the simplicity and sleaziness of the debt-buying business.
“Debt buying is a grimy business and it badly needs more oversight,” he said. “As it stands, any idiot can get into it. And I can prove that to you, because I’m an idiot. And we started a debt-buying company. And it was disturbingly easy.”
He revealed that his show founded their own debt-buying company named Central Asset Recovery Professionals, Inc., or “CARP, after the bottom-eating fish.” He then revealed that he bought a $15 million medical debt portfolio for a minimal fraction of the price at $60,000.
John Oliver then broke Winfrey’s decade old record by using the portfolio to forgive the medical debt of 9,000 people, making television history.
He excitedly proclaimed “I am the new queen of daytime talk!”
You can watch the segment and his epic celebration in this video below.
Simply amazing.
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