- John Oliver beat out a local bakery to buy the inventory of a closed Red Lobster at auction.
- Oliver offered to buy the bakery new equipment if they would make a cake in his likeness.
- The “Cake Bears” are selling out quickly, with all proceeds going to local food pantries.
A small family-owned bakery in the Hudson Valley ended up purchasing thousands of dollars worth of new kitchen equipment after a hilarious feud with John Oliver.
During an episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” airing Sunday, Oliver recalled that the back-and-forth began with a stunt he pulled on his show in which he auctioned off the entire kitchen equipment of a closed Red Lobster in Kingston, New York.
Oliver even recreated Red Lobster himself, exclusively producing the chain’s divine cheddar biscuits.
However, local media outlet News 12 reported that Oliver beat out another suitor.
Eric Deising, the 59-year-old owner of Deising’s Bakery in Kingston, left a sign at the now-closed Red Lobster asking about flattop and convection ovens, News 12 reported.
“John is better than me in every way,” the bakery owner told media about missing out on the equipment.
“Look at that cake bear’s ass.”
Oliver responded to the reports on his show on Sunday, saying that The Last Week had donated all of its Red Lobster equipment and had never purchased the items Deising had requested in the first place.
But Oliver issued a challenge: if the baker could make and sell a bear-shaped cake with Oliver’s face on it, he would give Deising’s new oven as a gift.
“Excuse me, but look at that Cake Bear butt,” Oliver said of Daithings’ former confectionery offering. “There’s cake in that.”
Deising responded to the situation in an altruistic spirit.
According to News 12, on Monday the bakery began selling “cake bears” with Oliver’s face attached in edible paper.
Peter Deising, the bakery’s other owner, told Business Insider that the treats have been a big hit, selling about 100 of them per hour, for $8 each.
Deising said he plans to donate 100 percent of Cake Bear’s profits to a local food pantry, People’s Place.
He added that despite requests for delivery from around the world, Cake Bears will only be available in stores until Sunday.
Peter Deising told BI that kitchen equipment, estimated to be worth several thousand dollars, was due to be delivered on Thursday.
A representative for “Last Week Tonight” declined to comment.
