In a creative response to federal funding cuts, a popular television host has launched an online auction featuring some of his program’s most bizarre memorabilia. The goal is to generate urgent financial support for community-based public media stations across the country.
The star item of the sale is a piece of cinematic history with a peculiar backstory: the athletic supporter worn by actor Russell Crowe during the filming of the 2005 boxing drama Cinderella Man. The show originally acquired the item several years ago for $7,000. In the current auction, bids for the jockstrap have already soared beyond $20,000.
The auction benefits a newly established emergency fund for public broadcasting. The initiative comes after legislative action moved to strip approximately $1.1 billion in planned funding from the national public broadcasting system.
The auction catalog reads like a surreal inventory from the show’s history, featuring 65 lots that blend commentary with comedy. Highlights include a cabbage the host famously “married” in a past season, currently commanding a $10,000 bid, and a large-scale artistic rendering of a former president’s anatomical sculpture, which was featured in a segment about presidential libraries. Another lot is an autographed bucket containing dolls that once washed up on a beach.
During the auction announcement, the host framed the funding cuts as part of a broader pattern of controversial administrative decisions, suggesting public confusion over governmental authority. He emphasized that while a permanent, structural funding solution is the ideal goal, the immediate situation for public media is critical and requires direct action.
The host pointed viewers toward two paths for support: making a direct donation to a specific local station through a dedicated website, or participating in the auction itself. The sale offers the public a chance to own a piece of television history—from a legendary film prop to a signed bucket of beach toys—while contributing to a cause aimed at keeping local news and educational programming on the air.
The inventive fundraiser underscores the high stakes for public broadcasting and the unconventional methods some are employing to defend it.
