After seven days and more than 170 bids, the huge lighted sign that’s hung on the set of CBS’ 11-year-old The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is off the charity auction block.
Bidding on the 12′ x 8’6″ x 9″ sign, which says “The Late Show With,” closed a little after 11 p.m. ET Wednesday night. The winning bid: $102,100, or $400 per square inch.
The winning bidder now must arrange for pickup from the Ed Sullivan Theater between June 1-5, a little over a week after the cancelled Late Show signs off for good.
Stephen Colbert added the sizable piece of memorabilia to the ongoing “Everything must go!” “clearance sale” on April 22, during the show’s most recent “Late Show Home Shopping” segment.
“Buy this,” he said during the segment, “and, like me, you can have The Late Show hanging over your head for the rest of your life.”
Colbert’s former boss and good friend Jon Stewart was on hand for that announcement, sweetening the lot with an autographed The Daily Show coffee mug. Not to be one-upped, Colbert tossed in a signed Late Show mug, then announced bidding would start at $19.99.
The Late Show sign, which sits on a 23″ base, did not fetch the charity auction’s largest single bid so far. That honor goes to a pair of VIP tickets to the Late Show‘s Thursday, May 21 series finale, which sold earlier this year for $111,100.
Proceeds from the Late Show auction benefit chef José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen. For those who “don’t want in on the auction but want in on the action,” a commemorative “The Last Show with Stephen Colbert” T-shirt can simply be purchased for a flat $40. Between the thousands of tees sold, and now the boffo bid on the sign, the grand total raised thus far has surpassed $1 million.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is currently on its final week-long hiatus. On Monday, May 4, it kicks off its final three weeks of original episodes, including a May 5 sit-down with former President Barack Obama. No other guests for the 12-episode farewell stretch have been announced yet.
