CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Back in May, 3NEWS brought South Texas residents a story straight out of a nightmare. Dozens of creepy dolls were found washed up on South Texas beaches by workers with Mission-Aransas Reserve.
That story caught the attention of HBO's John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight. And he was terrified.
"Burn them. Burn them now," Oliver said after a video introduction to our story on the dolls. "I hate those dolls, I hate them so much."
In the Last Week Tonight segment that ran online on July 3, called "Beach Dolls," Oliver said the show wasn't even supposed to run this week, but he wanted to do the extra segment because he "hates them so much."
"What does it want? What does it know?!" Oliver joked. "If it were just this one doll that had washed up, I would still be doing this video to alert people to a gigantic problem."
At the end of the 9-minute segment, Oliver said he wants to give Mission-Aransas Reserve a $10,000 donation in exchange for the remaining dolls so he can have them properly destroyed.
"Mission-Aransas Reserve, this is my firm offer to you. We will reluctantly buy all of the remaining dolls that you have... with a $10,000 donation to the Turtle and Marine Wildlife Rehabilitation Program," Oliver said. "I promise we will figure out the best way to destroy every last one."
With the dolls only going for a highest bid of $35 at auctions, this seems like a pretty good deal!
"That sounds really good to me because, you know, the Amos Rehabilitation Keep that rehabs the sea turtles, they're pretty much run on donations from the community, so $10,000 can go a long way and save hundreds of sea turtles, so I'm all about that," said Jace Tunnell, director of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.
Tunnell said he has not confirmed the generous donation is real, but is excited to spread the word of how trash ends up on our beaches.
On his broadcast, Oliver said he won't be returning until July 24, so it may be that long before arrangements for the donation can be made. 3NEWS will keep you updated.
Warning: This is a late night program that is not intended for young viewers. There is strong and suggestive language. You can watch the video in full here.