John Oliver Just Made $15 Million Worth of TV History

Sunday’s installment of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver turned his attention to debt collection—an industry that he noted causes more complaints to the Federal Trade Commission than any other. It also operates with a shocking lack of oversight and limitation. After delivering a typically thorough breakdown of how the industry is legally allowed to harass borrowers, Oliver staged the biggest one-time giveaway in TV history.  He bought $15 of medical debt from over 9,000 people. And then he decided to give it all away in the biggest giveaway in television history, even managing to out-do Oprah Winfrey whose biggest giveaway totaled a mere $8 million.