“It’s Just Money Laundering”: Chase Briscoe’s Offer to Sell Million Dollar Banana Leads to Hilarious Reactions

NASCAR Cup Series regular Chase Briscoe recently broke the internet as the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver reacted to one of modern times’ most hilariously confusing art installations. The soon-to-be Joe Gibbs Racing driver reacted to “Comedian”, an art piece by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan that consists of a banana duct taped to a white wall, which has been invoking mixed reactions online.

As weird as it may sound, the aptly named art piece has been evaluated to be worth $1-$1.5 million at an upcoming auction at the renowned fine-art auction house, Sotheby’s in New York. Referred to as “profound and provocative” by Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art David Galperin, the artwork will go live for auction on November 20, 2024.

Seeing the proceedings around the same, Briscoe reacted to the news in hilarious fashion and wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Whoever is interested in this at auction I can do it at a fraction of the cost, you’ll be getting an amazing bargain!” joked the future #19 Toyota driver.

Whoever is interested in this at auction I can do it at a fraction of the cost, you’ll be getting an amazing bargain! https://t.co/Ve32SaBEL2

— Chase Briscoe (@chasebriscoe) November 17, 2024

Fans did not hold back as they piled in with their thoughts on the peculiar installation. “That’s gotta be the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. $1 million for a banana duct taped to a wall,” wrote one fan, voicing his slightly confused skepticism. “I’m interested!! instead of boring grey duct tape can it be hot pink,” joked another.

One follower took a cynical approach to what the auction could mean and said, “It’s just money laundering,” whereas another chimed in with amusement writing, “I don’t know, man. That banana’s gone five years without going brown yet. Probably was grown with water from the fountain of youth. That’s what you’re paying for.”

Delving deeper into the strangely humorous “Comedian” art piece

Once you peel back the initial reaction of confusion and amusement that Cattelan’s creation invokes in a person, several art school professors believe the installation to be a satirical joke on the modern-day art collector where the creator is urging people to invest in the same, while also creating massive buzz on social media.

“It’s not that interesting of an idea,” said Chloé Cooper Jones, the assistant professor at the Columbia University School of the Arts about the strange piece and what the artist aims to provoke out of the viewer via its means.

No matter how one views the “Comedian” it certainly invokes a polarizing yet humorous response from people from all walks of life, the NASCAR fraternity included.