John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant

In a 2020 episode of his show Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver went on a tangent where he made fun of the town of Danbury, Connecticut. He ended the short rant by saying that anyone from Danbury had “a standing invite to come get a thrashing from John Oliver.”

Danbury’s mayor Mark Broughton responded with a tongue-in-cheek statement. that they’d name their sewage plant after him because it was “full of [expletive], just like you, John.”

Oliver took the mock beef next level and said he’d donate $55,000 to local charities if Danbury genuinely named the plant after him and hung a sign designating the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant. Danbury got the last laugh and agreed.

The plant was renamed in October 2020, and John Oliver himself attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and shared a video of it in a follow-up segment on Last Week Tonight. “This place takes the worst that humanity can produce, and transforms it into something that we can live with,” Oliver said. “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 shit out.”