John Oliver is the superfan who placed the now-notorious high bid on Russell Crowe’s “Cinderella Man” jockstrap.
He also bought a bunch of other “pointless Russell Crowe memorabilia” from the actor’s bizarre “Art of Divorce” auction a few weeks ago — and he’s offering it to a Blockbuster Video store.
“We seem to be rapidly losing something I didn’t even know we had,” he quipped, baffled by the store’s continued existence. So he set out to save it.
The HBO host explained that despite the once-mighty rental franchise filing for bankruptcy in 2010, a wee handful of brick-and-mortar stores still operate in the U.S. under independent ownership. A number of them are in the Land of the Midnight Sun, because the state’s spotty internet service hampers streaming (which led to the demise of the chain in the first place).
Enter Crowe’s “Art of Divorce” auction. Oliver revealed that it was he and his show who placed the $7,000 bid on the “leather groin protector from ‘Cinderella Man,’” among a slew of other items from the boxing biopic.
“It was 4 a.m. over here, and you know what happens when you start online shopping late at night?” Oliver asked. “This was very much one of those times. We didn’t just get a jockstrap, we got a bunch of pointless Russell Crowe memorabilia, and I can think of no more fitting place for them to reside than an Alaskan Blockbuster.”
Oliver showcased the jockstrap — as well as a satin robe and gym shorts from the 2005 film, Crowe and Denzel Washington’s director’s chair backs from “American Gangster,” a vest Crowe wore in “Les Miserables” and a hood from “Robin Hood.”
“To the manager of the only remaining Blockbuster in Anchorage, Alaska,” Oliver implored, “All of this ... is yours. Just call us in the next 48 hours and we will send it to you.
“And I really hope the internet is good enough up there for you to see this in time because if we do not hear from you in the next two days, I know a transportation museum in Scranton, Penn., that I’m sure can make room for a new exhibit.”
Source: LA Times