No joke: Last night’s Late Show with David Letterman was such a superb hour of television, from his opening monologue to his goofing around with guests Steve Martin and Martin Short, that it reminded us all over again how invaluable he is.
Letterman made what was more than just another apology: He re-framed what has become an out-of-control media sensation and put it in a humane perspective. While initially peppered with rueful jokes — “I got into my car this morning and even the navigation lady wasn’t speaking to me”; ”Chilly outside my house this morning; chilly inside my house” — his monologue concluded and he went to his desk.
From there, he made the public apology to his wife, Regina Lasko, that EW reported earlier, saying that “She has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it’s your responsibility, you try to fix it. And at that point, there’s only two things that can happen: either you’re going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you’re going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me.”
He also apologized to his staff “for, once again, putting up with something stupid I’ve gotten myself involved in.” “No, I’m not having sex [with staff members now]. Those episodes are in the past.”
But then he defended himself, reminding viewers he was “the victim… of a felony extortion, a separate part of the equation.” Which was to say: Yes, I made a big personal mistake, but there’s another person who actually broke the law. I was blackmailed. “You can’t be victimized by criminals,” he concluded forcefully.
Then Steve Martin came out and said that this controversy, “proves that you’re a human being.” He paused. Then: “We weren’t really that sure before.”
Martin then went on to be very funny both by himself and with pal Martin Short. The moments when Short sat in Martin’s lap for “our old ventriloquist routine” were exceedingly funny. Letterman even made a cutting ad lib: “You spend one more minute on his lap, you’re gonna get blackmailed.”
There is no one in late night television with the range of knowledge, the approach to interviewing, and such an intangible mixture of comedic skill and self-revelation. We should take a moment to step back and realize that Letterman is just as great a performer as his hero Johnny Carson and his influence Steve Allen. It’s time for those calling for his head to calm down and let the man do his job, the job he does as no one else does, and no one will ever do as well again.
What did you think of last night’s show?
For more on David Letterman:
David Letterman apologizes to his wife on tonight’s ‘Late Show’
I noticed on Friday’s show-which was taped Thursday-there was a flirty female guest and he seemed awkward with her. By contrast he seemed back to his old self interviewing Lea tonight. Kissed her hand at the end of the interview. He has really improved so much in the interviewing aspect of his show over the years.
Thank you Ken for articulating such a clear response to Dave’s handling of this situation. I hope Dave can hang in there through this scandal and not let this blackmailing bully and his idiot lawyer stop him from doing his job. Dave has been there for his audience through some very tough times and I will be there for him through this. He is one of my favorite people on TV and this scandal does nothing to change that for me. I wish only the best for Dave and his family.
There is a name for what he did at best. Sexual Harrassment. If someone the entertainment industry didn’t like say…. Bill O’reilly had a private room in his studio for bedding his female staff, we know every woman’s organization would be all over this.. this double standard hurts the real cause to sexual harrassment. Dave created a sexually complex work environment where sleeping with the boss got you air time on a national show. He is a misogynist he should be treated that way.
There’s a name for what you did and it’s libel. The definition of sexual harassment requires “unwanted” sexual advances or when rejection of sexual advances affects one’s employment, etc. So far I haven’t heard of an employee coming forward and accusing Dave of sexual harassment, implying that any relationship was consensual. Do you have inside information or are you just unaware of the definition of sexual harassment? If you don’t have inside information then Dave’s conduct shows selfishness and poor judgment, not sexual harassment.
May I remind you that the woman is not crying harrassment; they seemed to have had a consensual affair. The only person who should be p*ssed at him is his wife. Now let it go!
“sexual harrassment?” BALONEY
It’s not sexual harrassment unless she considers it so. You’re like all the rest of the do-gooders who can’t keep their noses out of others’ business. Or maybe everyone should seek your approval for their every move.
how do you know about “Dave’s workplace environment”? Yer talking through yer hat like a Republican stooge.
Just – go ‘way.
“Misogynist” Are you serious?! Stop with that crap!
KEH, your comment comparing Bill O’Reilly to Letterman left out an important fact: no one has accused Letterman of sexual harassment, but O’Reilly has been sued for sexual harassment.
Couldn’t have said it better!
I’m prejudiced, I admit. I love Dave. That said, I thought he did a great job last night. I think Monday night was harder than Thursday night was for him. Not knowing what to really expect from the audience, you could almost feel the sense of relief he felt following the applause when he first appeared on stage. I thought his monologue was great and his extended apology later was spot on. And how terrific was Steve Martin, joined later by Martin Short. They were the perfect guests.
I remember being sort of depressed for a time in college & the only thing I recall laughing about was Dave dangling from his armpits on a set of parallel bars. He’s been my favorite ever since!
What a great story – thank you for reminding us all of the power of comedy and the gift that people like Dave, Johnny, Conan and even Jay give us. How many people have gone to bed with a smile because of them?
Especially some of his staffers, apparently.
Very heartfelt, nice comment.
The show was definitely entertaining, but even the quote that you mentioned serves to take blame off of Dave for his actions:
“You spend one more minute on his lap, you’re gonna get blackmailed.”
I feel that he just sees what he did as some embarrassing slip up, instead of as the kind of action that could devastate his kids and his wife.
His show might be funny, but I think the guy is sleazy.
And just for the record, since people like to bring politics into this, I’m a democrat, and I feel the same way about all those politicians who cheat on their spouses and deeply hurt their families in the process.
Maria, he wasn’t married and didn’t have a child when this was happening. Should we all go back and apologize for every person we all had sex with before we were married?? He’s apologizing to his wife b/c she has to deal with all the hoopla of it NOW. She wasn’t married to him then.
So your problem is he doesn’t seem repentant enough? He just got done apologizing (on air) to his wife… something he, by the way, in no way should be required to do on the air. You wanted him to mope for the entire show? (Not that he hasn’t done that before.) How about he does his repentance at home where its needed and be a talk show host in public?
Oh my yes, a man had sex with someone not his wife. What a shocker, never heard of that before. Guy oughtta be lynched.
Oh big deal, he had relations with a woman outside his relationship. Yes I’d be mad if it happened to me, but it’s DAVID LETTERMAN… come on, he’s wonderful. And how do we know that his relationship wasn’t off and on in previous years? Details that we don’t know, only that his interns had the utmost respect for him and loved their job, and this is in the past.
There is, of course, the very real possibility that some of the staff members who Letterman had sex with felt pressured to do so for fear of losing their jobs, or in order to get ahead by pleasing their very powerful boss. In which case, Letterman is guilty of sexual harassment and should be held accountable. I’ll hold off on letting him off the hook until all the facts are known and would suggest we all do so in the name of equality and freedom from sexual intimidation.
I agree. In any workplace, with any boss/employee situation, sexual relationships need to be considered with a careful eye. There’s so much potential for abuse of power there. There’s a reason why so many companies have policies against it.
Oh please. We know who these women are – one was a peer, the other was the assistant, who clearly had no trouble moving on from the experience – until her crazy ex-boyfriend got involved. Calling this harassment makes a mockery of the people who are actually harassed.
In my opinion, making the assumption that it’s definitely NOT workplace harassment is what makes a mockery of people who are harassed.
I agree with Q – not only that, the assistant’s boyfriend is a producer so she clearly has no issues having sex with mulitple people in influential positions on the show. And Karen, I think making the assumption that all women who have sexual relationships with men in the workplace makes a mockery of women and makes them look like victims. Face it, some people have relationships at work. Dave cheated on his girlfriend and a greedy man tried to profit from it. Does Dave possibly deserve to lose his wife? Sure. His job? No.
You’re right Evan – there is the POSSIBILITY that this was harassment. But we don’t know. No “victims” have come forth making that claim. So we don’t need to be making that claim for them. Not only are people innocent UNTIL proven guilty, they’re especially innocent before they’ve even been accused of a crime. We can disapprove of Letterman morally, but not legally. If a victim comes forward to accuse him of harassment, then that’s different. Until then, we need to assume he’s innocent of any crimes (although guilty of bad morals, of course).
Well said!
i second that. good points!
Evan you are making this up. I wish everyone would stop making up facts in this case. CBS has said emphatically there have been no complaints of harrassment. The two women involved – one was a reported “peer,” the other’s identity is known and she is reportedly “mortified” that her ex-bf blackmailed Letterman over her. Theres IS NOT “very real” possibility he harrassed anyone – the evidence is overwhelmingly that HE DID NOT.
As the defendant’s lawyer stated, we have heard David Letterman’s side of the story. My guess is there is much more to the whole story than what has been told so far.
The defendant’s lawyer is trying a “blame the victim” strategy. Trying to get people to forget what his client allegedly did and make it look like Letterman was a horrible pervert who deserved whatever he got. He’ll try to say Letterman had tons of secrets, and when he found out the the defendant had access to some lurid info, Dave contacted him and offered to buy it. It will all be played out that Letterman was the villian. That’s what the defendant is paying his lawyer to do.
So he’s guilty until proven innocent?
Beat me to it.
‘holding off til all the facts are known”.
By whom?
You?
Why would you be privvy to “all the facts”? Why would any of us commenting here?
We won’t get all the facts. Beause …it’s none of our business.
I turned the monologue off before he finished. I was really taken aback by his decision to make this all into a smirky, smarmy joke. Didn’t he say on Thursday that he wouldn’t be talking about this again? That’s all last night’s show was – IT. The “apology” to his wife seems a little lame in light of how much FUN Dave is having with all of this. And I’m sure the ratings are huge. By any chance, did Kanye’s manager have anything to fo with this?!?
Those who would equate Letterman to an elected official, are you for real? Letterman is an entertainer. Unlike a politician he did not ask the public to put their trust in him, get you to support him by portraying himself as moral, or a “family man.” He made no promises to the public and his only implied “promise” was to be funny. He is. End of story.
Agreed!
True enough but…as an entertainer, he lives and dies by RATINGS – is it rally that different than an election? What if,when the dust settles on this scandal, Letterman’s ratings slide and Conan’s rise? Isn’t that pretty much the voice of the people spaking?
Yes, and then his show will be canceled. Simple.
(or for those who live in politics 24/7 – he won’t be re-elected)
Yup, I agree.
Obviously the situation is not the same as that of a public official in terms of scope of influence…but still, Letterman’s entire career is based on popular opinion.
He got clobbered by Leno for 15 years. Ratings??? Ratings haven’t mattered really in 15 years. The previous week he beat Conan. If Leno moving to 10 pm has taught us nothing its that he can draw virtually nothing and still make CBS money.
please. The public is far more judgemental regarding politicians (most of the time) than they are entertainers. Mel Gibson, Matthew Broderick, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meg Ryan, Robert Downey Jr…the list is endless. Drugs, affairs – Broderick even KILLED someone in a DUI! All have flourishing careers. Dave had consensual sex before he was married. Wow.
and how can we forget Polanski…he got an Oscar AFTER being charged with raping a child! Dave’s indiscretions are nothing compared to these people.
you are asking if ratings for a TV show are categorically different from votes in an election? really?
TorontoTom, TV ratings are very different from an election. Letterman can’t raise my taxes, start a war, approve health care coverage, set education standards, fix roads and bridges, etc.
BTW, Letterman’s ratings are going up since this “scandal” broke.
He doesn’t “owe” the public anything. That being said, people may choose to not watch a show whose host cheated on his spouse. And I can respect that.
He did not cheat on his spouse, he cheated on his girlfriend.
What no one has mentioned is that Dave didn’t cheat on his WIFE. He only married her this year. They have been DATING on and off for years. Were these affairs carried on during the off years? Who knows? It’s not like he’s sleeping with his staff now and cheating on his wife.
Agreed!
true, dat
His monologue made me think he’s been reading the comments to all these posts: starting jokes on Sanford, Spitzer, et al, then trailing off… A renewed (tongue-in-cheek) apology to Sarah Palin. I gotta say, I was surprised Dave talked about it so much, but it really would have been the giant elephant. I thought he handled it well, and I was glad he reminded everyone who the criminal is in this whole thing.
“…starting jokes on Sanford, Spitzer, et al, then trailing off…” – A one-night thing, or how it’s going to be from now on? Can he keep kicking other people in the nuts for their own peccadilloes?
The EW comments section is always amusing, I must admit. Be it Jon Gosselin, David Letterman, whoever, whenever the cheating scandal du jour comes to light, you get the predictable moral outrage on here, where people are shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, that husbands cheat on their wives, which ranks up there with the sun rising in the East on the revelations scale. Coincidentally, everyone posting comments of that nature has names like Maria, Jennifer, Sally, Bertha, Ethel, Polly, and Sarah. Hmmmmm methinks thou dost protest a bit much? Maybe a little bit of projection here, or overcompensating insecurities shining through? I’m gonna let you in on a secret: most of these wives know. Be it entertainers, NBA players wives, wives of CEOs, they know. They are GOING to get cheated on. Its the price you pay to be with a guy like that, and they are willing to pay that price because 20 mil a year goes a longggggg way towards smoothing things over. Sorry to be the bearer of hard truths on here.
True dat!! When you marry a celebrity, its a business move more than a love move. Unfortunately, cheating comes with the territory.
Hutchy, to me its nothign to do with “moral outrage”. Its the double standard the media uses when treating celebrities they like versus ones that they dont like. Like some previous posters have asid, if this was Bill O’Reilly or Glen Beck, dont think he would be getting off this easily. Letterman is a comic who has spent his entire career making fun of men who were involved in these types of scandals all the while knowing he was doing the same kind of crap in his own life. Nothing I hate more than hypocrisy.
But Matt, I don’t see how there’s a double standard. This HAS already happened to Bill O’Reilly and he DID get off easy. He was even accused of a crime – sexual harassment – whereas Dave is only (for now) accused of bad moral judgment. And O’Reilly did get off easy – you don’t see him sitting in jail now, do you? He didn’t lose his show, did he? He didn’t lose too many viewers, did he? He got all sorts of attention for a while, like Dave is now, and then eventually it blew over and he “got away with it,” just as Dave is. How is it a double standard?
What “scandal?” For cripe’s sakes, an unmarried adult man had consensual sex with some adult women. SO WHAT? What in the world is the scandal here?
That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read.
I love it. I just love it. I love how Dave Letterman can have sex with employees and all is forgiven a week later, and he gets a standing ovation and a heap of accolades showered upon him by no less a voice than Ken Tucker, while Kanye West indulges in a stupid, selfish, impulsive interruption of a sunshine teen and EW is happy to capitalize on the story with 9 separate headlines in the course of two days, and then roast marshmallows over the bonfire of his name.
I love it.
In the minds of most of these people there is no comparison. Ignorance is harder to forgive than honesty is.
If he was never blackmailed do you think Letterman would have confessed, more like forced honesty to me
But the only person who deserved a confession was his wife… How many people go around “confessing” their infidelity to the public? Why would they?
Letterman didn’t need to confess to the public. His personal life is his own. He only talked about his personal life because of the blackmail. He filed a criminal complaint, and rather than have the defendant or the tabloids bring the story out, he chose to take control of the story and tell it himself. But if he hadn’t been blackmailed, he didn’t need to tell the public anything.
He was blackmailed. He went to authorities. He is the victim in that.
To sleep with employees is a dangerous thing to do. There have been no complaints or lawsuits from any of the employees so far. That should say something. Will there be an opportunistic person on or formally on his staff who will take advantage of this – probably.
Dave is a comedian. He makes jokes about all this becauase that is what he does. That is who he is. I believe he knows how serious all of this is. If you don’t think he is taking this seriously because he is joking about it on his show, you don’t know Letterman, you don’t know what comedy is, or where it comes from.
That should say something? Like what? That they don’t want to bring down a media firestorm on their own heads, perhaps? That they were paid off?
“You people who don’t like the jokes just don’t understand comedy!’ You know, you’re right! Sexual misconduct? HILARIOUS!
Thank you, Ken Tucker.
On the topic of last night’s Letterman, did anyone stick around for Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers? I was expecting some lame ‘funny’ song but they did a great job I went and got their CD today. I would’ve never thought Steve would play bluegrass…and be good at it.
Monologue was absolutely brilliant. Perfect guests and the whole show reinforced my belief that Letterman is a broadcasting genius.