By now you’re assuredly aware of Russell Crowe‘s divorce auction, which took place last night and apparently raked in nearly $4 million. To a crowd of people who justify a socialist revolution by their very existence, Rusty sold a bunch of his prized personal possessions, which included odd movie memorabilia among the standard rich guy art assets and dad guitars.
The one asset which attracted the most attention leading up to the event itself was Crowe’s leather jockstrap, which he wore during the filming of Cinderella Man. For the discerning collector who desperately wants to own something which was at some point pressed firmly against Russell Crowe’s nuts.
Rusty himself said it was a bit of a gag inclusion during an appearance on Good Morning Britain:
It was my jock strap when I won the heavyweight championship of the world as the character James J. Braddock in the film Cinderella Man. I put it in the collection as a piece of whimsy and a bit of a gag. Funny enough, it’s garnered a lot of attention.
It was expected to fetch between $500 – $600, but last night it sold for a staggering $7000, suggesting that it went to someone who unfortunately does not deserve their money and needs to have it seized by the state immediately.
Who bought it? Not anyone present at the event, that’s for sure. It sold by telephone bid, meaning it was purchased by someone who feels comfortable buying used underwear over the phone – narrowing it down to approximately 80% of Reddit users.
But here’s a wildcard for you: was it bought by John Oliver, of Last Week Tonight fame? On the episode which aired on March 18th, Oliver made a brief aside during a segment about Mike Pence to mention Rusty’s divorce auction – and the jockstrap in particular.
There’s absolutely no free sources of this video online in Australia, but let me transcribe it for you:
It is called Russell Crowe: The Art of Divorce. It’s real, and it’s amazing. You can buy items such as this leather jockstrap used during the filming of Cinderella Man. Will we be stupid enough to bid on that? I don’t know. Why don’t you ask one of our five wax presidents?
The five wax presidents Oliver is talking about here were involved in a previous episode, in which Last Week Tonight really did obtain the objects in question. The fact that this was a bid from someone not actually present in Sydney solidifies the possibility.
It really was a brief aside in this episode, but a few fans this morning have clued into what might have happened here.
https://twitter.com/nearlysarcastic/status/977709322418511872
I will be so disappointed if @LastWeekTonight was not the winner of this real and amazing auction item https://t.co/h4VkMXCDY0
— Libby Newman (@chambersnewman) April 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/moviemazz/status/982615257590857729
Maybe this is just wishful thinking. Perhaps the human mind is incapable of comprehending that someone was genuinely willing to pay seven large for a battered leather jockstrap for reasons entirely unrelated to comedy. That is a dark, dark possibility.
Guess we’ll find out soon.
