John Oliver Secretly Visits Danbury For Sewage Plant Renaming

DANBURY, CT — John Oliver made good on his promise to visit Danbury for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the sewer plant named in his honor.

That event, closed to the public and press last week, ended Sunday night's episode of HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." It featured the comedian, dressed in a costume that borrowed equally from both a hazmat worker and a space ranger, striding heroically up to the plant.

The protective garb was necessary, he explained in a voice-over, "not only because of the pandemic, but because I was in Danbury, Connecticut."

Oliver's journey to Danbury began in August when he invited the city's residents to "come get a thrashing from John Oliver, children included," during a segment on jury selection in Connecticut. Mayor Mark Boughton, who vowed the next night to come "hard" after Oliver, did just that, vowing to name the city sewage treatment plant after the comedian.

"Why?" Boughton asked in a Facebook video. "Because it's full of [expletive], just like you, John."

When the mayor later walked the threat back, calling it a "joke," Oliver told his audience there was nothing he wanted more than an eponymous poop processing plant. He pledged to donate $55,000 to local Danbury charities if Boughton kept his promise. The mayor then said he would accept the cash and rename the plant only if Oliver showed up in person for the dedication.

But before any of that could happen, there was the matter of City Council approval, which the name-change did not receive until 10 days ago.

During his show Sunday, Oliver said he watched the council meetings on Zoom "with bated breath." The comedian played a clip in which council member John Esposito explained that, while he could "appreciate the humor during a time when we all could use a laugh," he would vote against the renaming because of the insult to the community and the threat Oliver made to the city's children.

Oliver called Esposito's response "fair," but pointed out that the comedian in actuality presented no threat to anyone, having "the physical presence of al dente spaghetti."

"If I was a boxer, then my weight class would be 'not-detected,' and my entrance music would be Norma Jean's 'Please Don’t Hurt Me.' " Oliver said. "I am fragile."

The City Council would go on to vote 18-1 for the renaming, which Boughton said put the ball back in Oliver's court.

Even before City Council approval, "Last Week Tonight" had begun making donations to Danbury teachers' projects on the Donors Choose crowdsourcing site. The comedian had named that cause, along with the Connecticut Food Bank and the ALS Association, as the charities he would favor with his $55,000 donation.

Boughton had also begun selling personal tours of the sewage plant for $500 apiece. Union Savings Bank, Savings Bank of Danbury and Newtown Savings Bank began organizing a fundraiser, and had donated $45,000.

On Thursday, Boughton said that Oliver has accepted the city's offer to attend the ribbon-cutting, an event that would be off limits to the public due to pandemic restrictions.

On his show Sunday, Oliver told his audience about his visit to Hat City, "home of the Danbury Railway Museum, their self-proclaimed world's tallest Uncle Sam and, now, the single greatest sewage plant in the continental United States."

The sewer plant, the satirist enthused, represented "everything that we need the most right now."

"Because think about it, 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 [expletive] out."