Well, Jay Leno didn’t waste any time taking advantage of the David Letterman controversy. His first joke last night? “If you came here tonight for sex with a talk-show host, you’re in the wrong studio.”
“I have never had sexual relations with any of my staff,” Leno said — and then a drummer in his band stalked offstage, feigning anger, as though he was a wronged lover. Bandleader Kevin Eubanks played along: “Jay, you’re messin’ around on me?”
Switching to the Letterman’s extortionist, Leno said, “This guy was a producer for 48 Hours. It coulda been worse; at least he wasn’t a producer for ‘To Catch a Predator.’”
Did Jay Leno just call David Letterman a predator? Or did he mean the producer? If I have to ask, doesn’t that mean it’s not the best-constructed joke?
Later in the show, during a panel discussion, guest Arianna Huffington was determined to squeeze in a jokey comment: “If you’re going to be have sex with people who work for you, you have to be David Letterman.”
Over on The Tonight Show, Conan O’Brien refrained from any Dave remarks, but that genial loose-cannon Drew Carey, Conan’s first guest, came out and said merrily, “Man, I would hate to be on opposite Letterman tonight with all that sex stuff.” “No comment,” said Conan quietly.
Mid-way through his Late Night monologue, Jimmy Fallon said, “There’s a new book out called Why Women Have Sex that has a list of the 237 reasons why women have sex, and Letterman knows the top ten.” Get it, get it?
And on Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher said, “I’ve never had sex with members of my staff — the guests, yes, of course, but not the staff.” He also said, “Hey, next to Roman Polanski and Mackenzie Phillips’ dad, I think Dave looks pretty good.”
I didn’t hear any Letterman jokes from Jimmy Kimmel.
Finally, as I wrote earlier, Craig Ferguson had taped his Friday show on Thursday before the Letterman news broke.
What do you think of the Letterman jokes?
Comments (1-30) of 366 Add your comment
What goes around, …….! Old adage . . . fits perfectly!!!!!
I don’t see it as “hypocrisy” when a talk show host makes jokes — that is what is expected of them; part of why we watch them, especially if they’re good at it.
From all appearances, Dave really has no “scandal” — unless we know otherwise, he was DATING these women. If you work with someone for years and develop a personal relationship — who’s to tell you that’s wrong?
Meanwhile, don’t forget Jay Leno’s last “Tonight Show” — he pulled back the curtain and revealed how his own staff had been breeding like bunnies through the years!
Also — most jokes about the situation don’t seem to have been at Dave’s “expense” — seems like now he gets to be joked about as a ladies’ man — doubt he’d mind that.
David Letterman should be fired. He is a dirty old angry man who viciously attacks others, but is doing exactly the same to his staff because of his great power over them. This situation is not done yet.
How can you say that he is exerting any power over his staff when you have virtually no knowledge of the incident. He won’t be fired and he shouldn’t be. In our country we have this huge puritanical high horse and maybe we should hop on off of it and stop worrying about Letterman does with his penis.
Letterman can’t be fired; he’s the boss. Unlike the situations with Leno, O’Brien, & Kimmel, his show is an independent production not owned by the network. He owns the production company (Worldwide Pants).
I think we should all wait and see what the timeline is of these “affairs”, and also see what the real story is. When one is single, is it called an “affair” if one has sex with another single, consenting adult? I don’t think so. And if Dave and his current wife were just dating then, off and on, what’s wrong with that?
Let me get this straight, a President of the United States gets a hummer while in office and doesn’t get fired, yet lets rush to fire some late night talk show host. Are you sure you’re not just jealous that you don’t work for Dave? You need to re-examine your priorities if you are this worked up over David Freaking Letterman.
idiot
Here we go, an old grown up man had consenting sex with two of his employees, yeah BIG TIME! In all the offices out there, stuff like this occurs. The real big news is that another grown up d-bag wanted to get 2 million dollars to keep his mouth shut! Stupid and childish much?
How come Leno, Fallon and others try to take advantage of Dave on this? He’s not a predator, he’s human and is facing some private issues. Don’t crucify this man who acted just like a lot of others. I’m sick of this America where people are either sex addict either gay. Get over it!
So, the “edgy” Conan and Kimmel wimped out but the milquetoasts, Leno and Fallon, showed the courage to go after him like they would have with anyone else.
I agree with you. If it had happened to any one of them including Conan or Kimmel, Letterman would have done an entire monologue about them. What wimps.
Conan has respect for Letterman b/c he showed support for Conan when Conan first started on Late Night, Fallon is terribly unfunny and would grasp for any straws to get a laugh – have you seen his show? its awkward and why does drew barrymore keeps showing up?
Not at all. Dave has gone out of his way to help those guys.
Only Leno has he taken jabs at…for obvious reasons.
I doubt if Letterman would have jumped on the situation if any of his competitors were in his place. He has no problem making fun of politicians, especially those who lie or are hypocrites. But making fun of his competitors being blackmailed doesn’t seem likely.
Letterman, whatever you think of him, is the victim of extortion here. This story isn’t about the fact that Letterman, when single, engaged in consentual sex with other adults. It’s about blackmail. Letterman was the victim of a crime.
Or you could choose to say that the two smartest guys decided not to say anything. Which I find interesting.
I agree – it shows class
Letterman is a gap-toothed hypocrite.
Conan and Kimmel wimped out…probably because Kimmel and Conan may have had liaisons unknown to the public in the past, or had marital problems, etc. (Kimmel is divorced).
I agree with Chris that it comes across as classy and respectful to not mention the scandal. Letterman is well respected by most of the other players in late night TV, thought of as a mentor of sorts. Part of it could also be Conan trying to keep his audience tuned into his shown, since Dave competes at the same hour. Conan probably regretted that Leno discussed this an hour earlier on the same network, likely sending viewers over to CBS.
or it shows they may be doing the same thing!
Shows class? Are you serious. Conan and Kimmel make fun of every politician and every other celebrity caught in adulterous affairs but not Letterman? Wimped out.
Agree – there should be some kind of ‘honor among thieves’ code of conduct between these guys. Conan and Kimmel did the right thing, and Leno was his usual, bottom-feeding self.
Yes, someone who’s truly funny like Conan doesn’t have to go after low-hanging fruit like certain less original late-night hosts, who have been regurgitating the same tired schtick for years. And I don’t think Letterman would have made similar jokes about any of his peers. Remember the restraint he showed after Hugh Grant was on his show post-Devine Brown?
The question is why did they wimp out? Could they be hiding skeletons in their closet themselves?
Any adult has things, however minor, they would prefer not be known to the rest of the world. No one should delight in the “revealing” of another person, lest we want to be revealed ourselves. And I’m not just talking about late night TV hosts — it goes for all of us here. Scandal is an attraction, yet who are we to judge another.
Are you kidding? Conan has a long-standing respect for Letterman. I am surprised that Kimmel didn’t say anything however.
Kimmel has the exact same respect for Letterman as Conan. He has said so in many interviews.
David Letterman is the reason Conan has a job. Letterman was the original alt-viewers late night host back in the eighties against the more straight-laced guys. Conan is smart enough to know this and had always voiced how much he has respect for the guy. I wasn’t surprised he kept his mouth shut.
One word: class.
Al, you nailed it! (No pun intended.) Any politician or CEO would’ve gotten the same treatment, so Leno was just being consistent. I missed his monologue, but just wish his other recent spiels had had a bit of the “edge” he evidently exhibited last night.
Politicians deserve to be made fun of when they say they are family values people and are actually cheating on their spouses. But Dave is not a politician, and he doesn’t hold himself up as a role model. He was the victim of a crime, extortion.
Sorry Lois, but you’re glossing over something important. Yes, Lettermans’ being extorted and that’s a crime. But why is he being extorted? Because he had sex with women on his staff. That is in the least unprofessional and inappropriate. And at it quite well could also be considered sexual harassment or worse. Bosses have power over the people who work for them. Even if you’re a celebrity it doesn’t give you the right to wield that power in a way that gets women to sleep with you. There’s a reason why most companies have rules about people fraternizing with their staff. Common sense tells us that it is grossly inappropriate – Letterman is a victim but he’s a victim of a crime that he set himself up for due to his stupidity.
MikenaJ, you are making assumptions about Letterman. There have been no allegations of harassment or coercion on Letterman’s part. Yes, he was stupid to have relationships with women who worked on his staff. But that doesn’t mean he brought the crime on himself any more than a woman can be said to have brought a rape on herself for wearing a short skirt, or a bank could be said to have brought a robbery on itself for having only one guard.
Your comment reminds me of when my car was stolen a few years ago. Friends and co-workers told be that I was stupid to have a Honda Accord because they were the most stolen car; that I was stupid to have moved into a place without a garage because parking on the street was asking for it to be stolen; that I was stupid to think that locking my car did any good because it didn’t have an alarm. So parking my locked Honda Accord outside my house was just asking for it to be stolen. All of these comments came after my car was stolen.
When did it become OK to blame the victim?
Why would Conan launch a duel with Dave? It would just draw more attention to Dave’s show for a response, which obviously Conan doesn’t want to do since they air at the same time. Dave’s reputation is damaged enough, no need to mention it.
I agree with Andrew. I also think that it has to do with Conan and Kimmel having the same time slot as Dave. It’s just too risky for them to loose viewers.
Conan has long stated that Letterman is a mentor and hero of his. I can totally understand why he said, “No comment.”
Kimmel said the same thing about Letterman.
agree, Dave is the King of Late Nite, and Coney and Jimmy know who is the best, u never hear anyone saying they idolized Jay and hoped to follow in his career? And seriously I’d do Dave over Jay any day any time LOL (with a side of Conan!)
Conan is a class act, that’s why we love him!
Exactly, Conan’s just an all around good guy. No one ever says anything bad about him, except that childish mayor in Newark.
The whole Newark thing is being done in jest.
What should really be going on in your minds is this: Has any of them ever worked for Letterman?? wink – wink
utterly untrue. It’s not courage to go after a competitor when it amuses the masses. courage is behaving as you think right.
Letterman will endure. And he should have been savvy enough not the lady with whom he had sex trap him; apparently, she has a relationship with the producer who was arrested for blackmailing Letterman. Dave gave that lady a lot of air on his show, and bragged about how well she had done in law school — hope she will be indicted too. But David will endure. We love him.
You are an idiot!
Good comeback!
No, you love him. I can’t stand him.
Glad to see you’re still alive, Margaret. I’d heard you sat down on some railroad tracks and waited for the train.
Stephanie didn’t do anything wrong. She wrote about her affair in her diary and Halderman found it and made copies. I know if I was sleeping with David Letterman I would record every detail in my diary! So Stephanie didn’t do anything wrong. She was paying Halderman $1500 per month to share his house, but she moved out recently. He had probably been sitting on the copies of the diary for a while, and after she was gone he went insane and thought he could pull of this scheme, but it was a lost cause to begin with. The so-called dirt wasn’t really that dirty.
i just find that kinda funny. in this day and age, what adult woman writes about sleeping with someone in a diary?! come on now! she’s not 14!
fancypants, Stephanie probably called it a “journal” not a diary so it would sound grown up and important.
Hypocrisy is live and well! Conan O’Brien and Bill Maher both relentlessly raked Bill O’Reilly over the coals during his sexual harassment problems. But when it comes to Dave Letterman, Conan is silent and Maher makes light of the whole thing. Give me a @#$%$#@ break!
Letterman is not accused of sexual harassment dimwit!! O’Reilly was not the victim of an extortion attempt numbnut!!
You are an idiot. You pick apart the symantecs in my post! The point was the hypocrisy not the problems for either man you big flamer!!!
Well, Bill O’Reilly isn’t Conan’s direct rival, and it’s more a matter of professional courtesy.
And it’s not hypocrisy, hypocrisy is Mark Sanford, who is staunchly anti gay-marriage, defended the Defense of Marriage Act, and can’t keep the sanctity in his own marriage. Also, Bill Maher is more of a political comedian, rather than a pop culture comedian, Bill O’Reilly, in his Fox-News manner, is more of a political figure than a pop-culture one.
JI…to use your favorite phrase, “You are an idiot!”
There are no semantics (note the correct spelling – Symantec is a brand of computer protection software) in your post. Letterman has never held himself up as an example of righteous and unsullied behavior. As a matter of fact, he’s always kept his private life, well…private. There have been no allegations made public that any of his liaisons with his female employees was coerced.
O’Reilly on the other hand…’nuff said about his circumstances, eh?
Hypocrisy score: Letterman – 0, O’Reilly – a gazillion
I respect Conan and Jimmy for their class, and highly respect Dave for his candor. The infidelity issues belong to him and his wife – it’s nobody else’s business. Leave it alone.
I don’t think it’s hypocrisy. Leno’s taking shots because he’s been a target of Letterman’s abuse for years. As for Fallon, I’m sure he’s just happy anybody’s talking about his show.
How has Letterman abused Leno?
I have to laugh. abuse? Leno is not funny and he has no class.
Johnny Carson favored letterman over lame ass leno.
“How has Letterman abused Leno?”
You’re kidding, right?
And Conan has always seemed uncomfortable about conflicts with rivals. The whole thing seems pretty consistent.
I totally agree. Conan JUST got “The Tonight Show” gig, and why would he want to jeapordize that with some tasteless joke that would make people laugh for about .2 seconds, rather than his own brand of humor? Conan has always been about the humor found in himself and life, so…
But I do agree, it is weird the number of hosts who did joke about Letterman v. the number who didn’t.
JL: By claiming there’s been an act of “hypocrisy,” it implies that Conan and Maher were presented with two equal situations, and behaved one way in the first situation and differently in the second situation. They did not: the first situation (Bill O’Reilly) was a case where a political pundit was accused of doing something ILLEGAL, sexual harassment. The second was when a comedian is being extorted for having consensual s-e-x with someone. Furthermore, that comedian is a friend and peer. I don’t see how the differential treatment by Conan and Maher even remotely constitutes hipocrisy
Letterman’s vice was to have a sexual relationship with a subordinate, not adultery. He wasn’t married at the time, so he committed fornication, not adultery.
I doubt his wife is OK with it just because it happened before they were ‘married’–they were together for the last 20+ years so I’m sure she feels cheated on…
Letterman was the victim of a crime. O’Reilly was the perpetrator of a crime, for which he paid a big chunk of money to make the charges go away.
The difference is this: Bill O’Reilly props himself up as a moral authority. Dave, on the other hand, is always self-deprecating. One other big difference: O’Reilly was sued. Maybe Dave wasn’t because his sexual relationship was consensual, not coerced.
Nice to see that the ones that can’t say anything constructive resort to calling others stupid!
I never was alone with that woman!
No one has accussed Letterman of Sexual Harrasment. It seems highly unlikely the former assistant was involved in the extortion attempt. If she wanted to complain she could have sued Dave and easily obtained money from him without it being considered extortion. Thus this is NOT sexual harrassment people. Bosses are legally allowed to have sex with subordinates. There is no law which in any way prohibits that if its consensual. The fact that a company policy may prohibit it has nothing, nothing to do with the law.
The level of stupidity is amazing!!! Did you even read the previous postings? The original comment was about hypocrisy not harassment!!!
Quote “his sexual harrassment problems” unquote. Why equate the two scenarios as being the same, (which is what you do when you refer to only these two particular scenarios and then call the differing treatment ‘hypocrisy’), if you don’t actually consider them to be the same. Maybe you should review before you post …. and maybe it isn’t hypocrisy, but a different scenario.
Yeah, I was thinking about the level of stupidity when I read JL’s posts.
OK, this JL guy is officially a moron – no matter how many times any of us tries to explain the flaw in his thinking, he is never going to understand it.
Jl, you need to read the postings. Then you’ll see that people explained that there was no hypocrisy, because Letterman & O’Reilly had very different situations. Letterman was a VICTIM of extortion, and O’Reilly committed harassment.
I wasn’t aware that there was a formal requirement that a sexual harrassment suit had to be filed before talk show hosts could make jokes. Everyone is talking about this but Cocnan and Kimmel are silent.
Did they joke about Bill Clinton? Yes
Did they joke about Newt Gingrich? Yes.
Did They Joke about Bill O’Reilly? Yes.
Did they joke about Pat O’Brien? Yes.
Did they joke about Jim McGreevey? Yes.
Did they joke about Mark Sanford? Yes.
Did they joke about Charlie Sheen? Yes.
Did they Joke about David Letterman? No.
Everyone of the people mentioned, except Letterman, did something stupid, hypocritical or illegal. Letterman was the victim of a crime. Why do you equate his situation with the others?
The problem with this is although it is good source material for comedy. My worry is that these guys need to be careful as they say they have never, because it will be worse for them. At least Letterman had the courtesy to be honest even in his disarmingly humorous way.
I wonder if Dave slept with some of his underage guests? He does seem a bit sleazy with his smacking lips and comments about young girls. He truly is a dirty old man.
Wow — you made a giant leap from consensual sex to statutory rape.
He is not a dirty old man; do some research before you pull stuff out of thin air.
Example on how to drag someone’s name through the mud with innuendo and not much else: “I wonder if Simon has sex with dogs? He does seem a bit sleazy with the way he jumps to sexually deviant opinions with no evidence to go on. He truly is a sleazy pervert.”
I would be willing to bet the trolls who are coming out of the woodwork with their all-knowing pronouncements about Dave have never even watched his show. But that sure doesn’t stop them from being self-proclaimed experts on his character.
Frankly dj, I’m frequently amazed at how the US is so divided down political lines. The bias of followers of one political fan group towards another group seems entrenched. Particularly so for your (I’m assuming your US) conservatives. I’m thinking that the trolls here are conservative fans due to their regurgitation of the tag ‘hypocrisy’ – as it seems to be a tag that is being suggested mainly by the right-leaning sections of the US media at the moment.
Now don’t get me wrong – if Letterman did actually bully his staff into sex, or (as has been suggested by the trolls) had sex with minors, or cheated on his wife outside the boundaries set in their marriage, then I’d be the first in line to be calling him an immoral pig. Sex with co-workers – stupid, but not illegal. Given that we spend at least a third of our working days with co-workers they tend to be the people we’re most likely to have sex with. But as far as I’ve heard there’s been no suggestion of workplace harrassment, no indication as yet that the relations took place while he was married. The whole initial reaction from the US public just makes me want to shake my head. Mainly because we have a saying that whatever the mood is like in the US it’ll probably be in my country within 5 yrs – and if this is where my own country is heading then … well ….
The fact that you imagine sex with underage girls says a lot about you.
Simon, your imagination is what is sleazy.
JI, you are an absolute moron. No one can tell what you’re arguing. Letterman’s cool. People like him. O’Reilly’s a loser just like anyone who defends him. Anyway, the two incidents are apples and oranges. I’m not sure someone of your lower intelligence though will comprehend the differences.
Thanks Jeff. I was going to make the same observation about JI, but you’re right, he won’t get it.
Lars, everyone knows you agree with Jeff because you are a racist. You don’t think that a black man like me should have an opinion in America.
Wow, Jl-you actually managed to out-stupid yourself.
Is JI a relative of Kanye’s?
David Lettermen is NOT a dirty old man. He is just a man. It’s not like he is the only celeb in the world, or everyday guy, for that matter, who thinks with his **** instead of his head at times. The holier than thou attitude of some of these posters is annoying. Get over yourselves.
I dont think hes a man… more of a dog who can’t keep his one eyed willy in his pants. ‘nough said.
“a dog who can’t keep his one-eyed willy in his pants”. Isn’t that a description of 90% of the male population?
And Kate wonders why she can’t get a date.
I have no trouble getting dates Edwin. How? Because I have an understanding that 90% of the male population can’t keep their one-eyed willies in their pants.
As a female, once you realise this it goes a long way to freeing you from all those confidence-lacking thoughts…
The way Letterman flirts with his female celebrity guests has always made me uncomfortable. It’s just a little too much.
Funny how they flirt right back … and occasionally flash him their t_ts. He ain’t the handsomest man, but there is something about him that many women like!
JI, I get what your’e saying and I agree. I think about the tasteless sex jokes about Palin and her daughter and think – what goes around…
Letterman made a joke about Palin’s daughter getting knocked up, because she had been knocked up. And we know she was knocked up because Palin dragged her around everywhere and talked about Bristol and her baby daddy Levi. Palin was the one who lied about Letterman and said he joked about her underage daughter.
Letterman made fun of Palin’s daughter for something she had actually done. Palin then ripped Letterman through the mud, lying about what he said, and making him look like a pedophile. He apologized to Palin, but she never apologized to him for the lies and despicable accusations she made about him. She is shameful.
He’s not the only one who made fun of her daughter’s pregnancy. When the story first broke, all of the comedians made fun of it so please don’t act like he’s the only one who made jokes about Palin. Besides, he’s a comedian. Not a politician
Conan looks up to Letterman and says he is a good friend, so I respect his decision to leave him alone. I would do the same for one of my friends. It’s called loyalty.
i think the major difference between the letterman story and, say, bill o’reilly is that letterman engaged in a consensual,legal, adult relationship that was brought to light by the woman’s former lover (he stole her diary and was using that.) the woman has nothing to do with it. whereas, bill o’reilly sexually harrassed a woman, who then complained, who then got fired, who then sued for wrongful termination. sure, what letterman did may not have been the smartest thing, but it wasn’t wrong. some shows refraining from talking about it doesn’t show hypocrisy. (also, don’t know if this is true, but elsewhere on the internet it is being reported that conan is a witness to the case, which may impact what he says on air…)
Drink the Kool-Aid Noam! Unless you are Letterman or O’reily’s lawyer you are speaking out of your @#$ crack. It does not matter what either man did or didn’t do!!! The hypocrisy of Letterman is making fun of other people’s moral failings over the years when he had all these skeletons in his own closet. Letterman is just as bad as the far right politicians that preach family values while they are cheating on their wives!!!
Over the years Dave portrayed himself to his audience as a one woman family man many, many times. And he used that moral high ground to pummel politicians and other celebrities who were failing morally in his monologue. That is the hypocrisy! If anyone can’t see it, it is because they refuse to see it!!
I also like using the word “hypocrisy” an awful lot. I also like throwing hissy fits on the interwebs.
They’re all just people, no matter their politics or leanings. Everyone screws up, and everyone hopes no one finds out about their shortcomings. Except me, of course.
Welcome to human nature.
If you are prepared to take on people on high moral ground make sure you walk on that same high moral ground, otherwise you are an open target to everyone. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”
How is Letterman, when single, engaging in consentual relationships with adult women, a skeleton?
Letterman NOW portrays himself as a loving dad, but he was never portraying himself as a one-woman man. Rather, he has portrayed himself as a man who never wanted to get married again, and who thought other guys looked up to him because he resisted being tied down (yes he said that).
So far these relationships are reported to have happen before his son was born when he was not married. He had a long-term girlfriend but who knows what the rules were in that relationship was. And Letterman’s wife worked for him and the girlfriend before that did too. He’s always fished off the company pier — as most SINGLE people do — especially workaholics.
The two women id’d still have affection for him. There is no real scandal here, that’s why he had no problem going to the police so quickly after the threat.
Clearly, you’ve never watched the show, JI. Letterman rarely talks about his family, perhaps correctly assuming it is none of our business. To state that he’s used his status as a “one woman family man” as the basis for his platform is laughably inaccurate. And news flash — a comedian’s JOB is to make jokes. A politician’s job is to set policy and live by whatever moral code he’s supposedly espousing. And that is what makes the two situations so different, and why Dave is no hypocrite.
Hey Emily, bite me! You are probably one of the women he was sleeping with!
very classy JL…and with that comment you lost all credibility you schmo!
You said it, Angela. Clearly, I’ve gotten myself into a war of words with an unarmed opponent.
I feel the Letterman jokes are in poor taste and totally classless.
“Did Jay Leno just call David Letterman a predator? Or did he mean the producer? If I have to ask, doesn’t that mean it’s not the best-constructed joke?”
I think maybe it’s just you.
No Jim, I think it’s you.
Tucker is anti-”‘Late Nite’ Leno”.
I thought the To Catch a Predator quip was a good joke since it lent itself to a couple interpretations.
No, John, I think it’s you.
There is nothing wrong with a joke that doesn’t have an exact point. Humour doesn’t have to be so literal. Just laugh or don’t Ken, but don’t disect about it.
Actually, in this case, semantics are important. Did Leno (and his writers) just call his old rival a predator, or the bottom-feeder who tried to blackmail him?
And if it were meant to be open to interpretation, each interpreter will then have a perception of where Leno stands on the issue.
Current-event-based monologues aren’t really the place for some sort of vague, avant-garde-ish absurdism.
And I’m certainly not going to pass immediate judgment on Letterman until more facts come to light?
Was it a moment of weakness? A multi-year thing? When did his wife find out?
Ultimately, as the contract of marriage is between those two (and God, if such is your belief), then only the contract holders get to decide where it goes from there.
But, of course, this is the internet, where instant opinions can be thrown around by libelous half-wits and crazoids in the most anonymous way possible.
Like this right here.
And, of course, we throw around the word “hypocrite” so much it’s lost meaning, even for the few who seem to understand the definition.
It’s a fundamental human trait, kids. Go through history, go through work, and look in the mirror. Whether we’re trying to roast a celeb who mocked other celebs, or whether we’re yelling at the guy who cut us off while we’re changing lanes without signaling, we’re NONE of us completely pure.
I’m not sure it really counts as “avant-garde-ish absurdism”. I laughed exactly because it wasn’t clear exactly who he was talking about or what he meant – at the end of the day neither of them is a predator in the sense of To Catch A Predator (as far as we know).
I am quite positive that Leno doesn’t want us to know where he stands on the issue, and what does it really matter? It was a comedy monologue, not legal proceedings.
It was just a cheap, easy gag and that’s obviously all my low-brow sensibilty needed.
The joke actually does not make any sense.
I have always liked Letterman but he always seemed a little smug when cracking jokes about others who had sexual scandals. By promoting himself as a family man, while mercilessly skewering others for their sexual failings, he is a hypocrite. It doesn’t matter whre your political leanings fall.
“but he always seemed a little smug when cracking jokes about others who had sexual scandals.”
Definitely one of the reasons why I started skipping his monologue and dumb skits a few years ago…he just comes off as smug. His interview style and line of questions can be hot or really COLD and obnoxious.
At least the producers are wise to book some great musical acts.
Finally a person of intelligance made a post. Well said.
Letterman isn’t having a “sex scandal” he’s the victim of a crime.
When has Letterman portrayed himself as a family man. He talks about how much he loves his son. But when talking about his wife and marriage, he usually makes negative comments. He has never acted in favor of marriage.
I think they’re cruel, and a little tasteless. He admitted he has done wrong, and that he’s sorry. He has said some cruel things about other celebrities, but it doesn’t mean others should do the same.
He’s sorry it has been brought out in public. He’s sorry he now has to face the consequnces of his actions. He’s sorry that he’s now the butt of the jokes. He’s sorry that the members of the Dave Letterman Herrum now realize they were not the only ones. He’s just plain sorry period.
You’re right, Kevin. No-one who’s ever had to come clean with the public over matters that are none of our business has ever actually been sorry.
So what if he had the foresight to declare it in front of a live audience, to come clean with an overly judgmental populace so eager to cut down anyone famous that the backlash could ruin his career? So what if modern society is quicker to condemn than the media is at getting facts straight and getting them out there?
Sure, most of the people taking in this information read at a third-grade level and need a calculator to process single-digit equations, but for the time being, they all get to be “better” than a celebrity.
I mean, he obviously wanted to keep this quiet, the way he went to the authorities and helped catch the guy instead of just paying him the money.
And so cowardly of him to break the story during a taping of his show.
I wonder if he tearfully asked his audience to keep their little secret. God only knows how he’s going to tell his wife.
Oh, wait. He almost certainly did.
Hell, he may have even talked to her about how he was going to go public. Maybe he even has her support, because maybe all of this nonsense happened years ago.
By the way, it’s spelled “Harem”, assuming you mean what I believe you mean.
And yeah, if you’re going to be smug and judgmental in a written forum, spelling counts.
LETTERMAN was the one to bring this out in the public. He admitted that when single, he had relationships with women who worked on his staff. So what? Letterman’s actions aren’t the story, it’s the actions of the man who tried to get $20 million out of Letterman that’s the story.
Sorry, I meant $2 million.
Actually he didn’t say he was sorry for his actions or say he had done wrong. No victim has yet to be revealed in this story.
Gwen, a victim has been revealed – Letterman is the victim of a crime.
Even though he did nothing illegal (as far as we know), I’m sure Dave was expecting the others to joke about him. I think the fact that they didn’t shows class & loyalty. Maybe it will catch on.
Except I think Jay took a little too much enjoyment from the situation. He’s never really shown that much class anyway – have never really liked him. The fact that Conan didn’t, even though Dave’s been beating him in the ratings and it would have been the perfect opportunity, made me like him even more.
I totally disagree, I think that leno was just joking about the current news situation. Letterman is the one who usually is all over other people’s sex scandals and moral wrong doings. Letterman is the one who is classless, but I do think Conan is just a good guy.
Don’t hate either one of them, but when Letterman copped to screwing around w/ his underlings and got a big laugh from his audience, I found that kind of disturbing.
the fact that anyone cares that a dude cheated on his wife is beyond me.
They weren’t married at the time. See, just another commenter without the facts.
i don’t care, next story
I’m sure that while the criminal case is proceeding the DA has asked Dave to refrain from commenting, but I’ll bet a dollar to a donut that once this is all over Dave will be crackin’ wise about himself. After all, he’s know for his self-depreciating humor.
Why is the Letterman story news. It’s not that interesting. It’s not like he did something wildly inappropriate. He had relations with a staff prior to being married right? This story is boring and obviously after Kanye’s incident there doesn’t seem to be much to talk about.
It is usually the Sanctimonious Hypocrites whom choose to voice their opinions the loudest. Is it your right to pass judgement? We have many people (men & women) in positions of power and influence that have done things similar or worse than this and yet they are still admired & respected. I actually admire Letterman for not caving in and for coming forward with it prior to any news releases. His companion/wife has been with him for a very long time I don’t think she is a clueless woman what she choose to allow is entirely her decision. Politicians are suppose to be above reproach are you saying the same applies to comics?
No I am saying it applys to everyone! Politicians, comics, teachers, busdrivers. I think the best way I have ever heard it said: Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
The principle applies to everyone: don’t cast critisims at others (jest or otherwise) about issues that you have yourself!
Late night talk show hosts are not meant to be moral guides for anyone. They are out there to poke fun and entertain. Why would the Letterman scandal be immune from that? It didn’t seem to me that any of them were making personal attacks at Letterman himself, just the situation he is in. If Conan doesn’t want to jump into the fray that is his choice.
Really, old Dave had never spared public figures gotten in similar s**t so why he should be exempt from biting jokes and scrutiny.
AMEN TO THAT!
When has Dave made fun of victims of crime? That’s what he is, a crime victim. Because the rest of it that Dave dated women before he got married. Is that some kind of shocker?
I guess none of you women think a boyfriend should remain faithful to that relationship.
No. We think his faithfulness, or lack of it, is between Letterman and his wife.
Most “Jokes” have some derivation in fact and in Letterman’s case, the facts are the facts. I get more “News” from the Daily Show than the major networks. Surprised though that the staffers didn’t sue for workplace harassment… or maybe that’s a soon to be cover-up exposed.
I bet you’re just creaming your jeans waiting for that to happen.
No one ever filed a harassment complaint because he never harassed anyone. He took these girls to the movies for heaven’s sake. He wasn’t just sleeping with them. They were actually dating.
I bet you’ve never dated anyone!
Dave can dish it out, and he can take it…I bet he’ll be making jokes at his own expense to help diffuse the situation…I wouldn’t worry about him too much…He’s tough, he’s been around a long time, he’s got smart lawyers, and CBS wont give him an trouble…I look forward to seeing what Monday brings…
My biggest complaint is that none of the jokes have been funny. Then again, Maher, Leno and Fallon have never been funny before, so why should they start now?