In last night's big segment on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, host John Oliver proved how easy it was for companies to buy and sell off (and buy and sell, and buy and sell) individual's debt – by starting a company and buying and forgiving nearly $15 Million of debt in the biggest giveaway in television history.
“Any idiot can get into it,” he said of the debt-buying business, “and I can prove that to you because I'm an idiot and we started a debt-buying company. And it was disturbingly easy.” After a long segment explaining the problems (and horrors) with this business – a must-watch for everything – Oliver explained how he bought the medical debt and personal information of about 9,000 people. It's an especially heavy episode, particularly for those who are dealing with debt, but Oliver manages to keep his trademark blend of anger and humor throughout the whole 20 minutes.
It eventually culminates in what Oliver says is the largest television show giveaway in history – almost double the $8 Million in cars that Oprah famously gave away in cars – as he pushes a button to forgive all $14, 922, 261.76 of debt. Watch the clip below.