30 most shocking moments in Late Night history

30 most shocking moments in late night history

By Jeremy Dick | Jul 27, 2016

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 11: Actor Joaquin Phoenix, waves to the audience during his interview with Late Show host David Letterman during the Late Show with David Letterman Wednesday Feb. 11, 2008 on the CBS Television Network. This photo is provided by CBS from the Late Show with David Letterman photo archive. (Photo by John Paul Filo/CBS via Getty Images) /

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13. John Oliver buys and pays off $15 million in medical debt

John Oliver, the host of the HBO program Last Week Tonight, took on debt buyers in a 2016 episode of the show. He poked fun at how predatory money-seekers will buy debt from banks for cents on the dollar, hoping for a profit by aggressively coercing the debtors to pony up the money. But Oliver had a plan to fight back, in a way, against these grimy debt buyers.

Oliver literally created his own “debt buying company” and was able to come up with a deal to purchase about $15 million in medical debt for around $60,000. Noting that it was frightening to have that much power over the lives of roughly 9,000 people, knowing how he could legally harass every one of them for payment and just completely make their lives miserable, Oliver would go in the complete opposite direction.

Announcing that every bit of the debt would be forgiven, thousands of people were suddenly free of these unaffordable medical bills. The stunt brought a lot of public attention to the issue, and helped fuel the movements of charities looking to buy medical and student loan debts with the intention of writing them off.

Next: 12. Jay Leno takes over Jimmy Kimmel Live?

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