Letterman Apologizes, June 15 (Video)

Tonight's Late Show with David Letterman could be entitled: "Letterman: The Apology."

On Wednesday, June 10, Letterman addressed the issue of his disgusting, twisted, sick jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughters.

Transcript and video here.

Obviously, Letterman's smart ass remarks and his non-apology didn't quell the uproar.

A protest is being organized for late tomorrow afternoon at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Letterman tapes his show. More details at FireDavidLetterman.com.

I don't know if Letterman's June 15 apology will alter plans for the protest; but this time, Letterman didn't dance around the issue.

From the New York Times:

David Letterman directly apologized to Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughters on his program Monday night, saying he took responsibility for a joke that had offended Ms. Palin, her family and her supporters.

Mr. Letterman opened the desk portion of his show with the apology, in which he said he wanted to say he was sorry to “the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke.” Two weeks ago on his “Late Show” program on CBS, he had joked about Governor Palin’s attending a Yankee game with her daughter.

...Last week Mr. Letterman somewhat defiantly said that there was a misperception going on and that he would never make a sexually charged joke about a 14-year old. But he never expressly explained that he had inadvertently confused the two Palin daughters.

Monday he acknowledged that as the host of the program it was his responsibility to get the joke right.

As I wrote previously, about his June 10 remarks:

Letterman didn't take any responsibility.

He acted as if he had been judged unfairly....

Letterman continues to do damage to himself. He seems very stubborn. He's not funny anymore. His ugly and demeaning jokes overshadow any bits of witty, enjoyable material. He's bitter and twisted. If he has always been like that, I didn't recognize it years ago. I think he's changed.

I don't know why Letterman decided to really apologize tonight.

I don't know if he was sincere.

I suspect the audience was told not to laugh, that Dave was going to be serious. That was a departure from Letterman's June 10 clarification, when he was mugging and still going for cheap laughs. The audience obliged with hearty laughter and applause.

Actually, I think CBS is milking this controversy for all it's worth. Letterman has become the Donald Trump of late night TV, only instead of feuding with Rosie O'Donnell, Letterman is going after Sarah Palin and her children.

In the end, this matter is about three things: Money, money, money.

When advertisers start jumping ship, it's time to get serious.

I think Letterman's explanation, that it took Leftist Mark Shields' comments on PBS to make him realize how despicable his behavior has been, is rather sad.

The man is clueless. Did he really not understand until then? Can he really be that immature? Is he really so self-absorbed that he didn't get why people are upset and disgusted by his inexcusable treatment of Sarah Palin and her children?

Although he did apologize tonight, Letterman still was playing the victim card with all his "intent" and "perception" crap.

Yes, he took responsibility and blamed himself for the misunderstanding.

But this isn't just about a misunderstanding. This is about a relentless pattern of disrespect that goes far beyond the "knocked up" joke. That was the final straw.

Letterman and his writers come up with ugly, ugly stuff.

I used to be a diehard Letterman fan. That ended years ago, toward the end of the last century. I can't watch him anymore.

For the record, I don't think Letterman should be fired, just as I didn't think the remorseful Don Imus should have been fired.

There's no way in hell that CBS would ever fire Letterman anyway. In fact, he's being rewarded with a contract extension, and $30 million a year to do what he does.

$30 MILLION!

If Letterman committed a double murder like O.J. Simpson did, I think CBS would stand by their man.

Transcript

DAVID LETTERMAN: All right, here – I’ve been thinking about this situation with Governor Palin and her family now for about a week – it was a week ago tonight, and maybe you know about it, maybe you don’t know about it. But there was a joke that I told, and I thought I was telling it about the older daughter being at Yankee Stadium. And it was kind of a coarse joke. There’s no getting around it, but I never thought it was anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure in fact that she is of legal age, 18. Yeah. But the joke really, in and of itself, can’t be defended. The next day, people are outraged. They’re angry at me because they said, ‘How could you make a lousy joke like that about the 14-year-old girl who was at the ball game?’ And I had, honestly, no idea that the 14-year-old girl, I had no idea that anybody was at the ball game except the governor and I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani … and I really should have made the joke about Rudy.

(Laughter and applause)

But I didn’t, and now people are getting angry and they’re saying, ‘Well, how can you say something like that about a 14-year-old girl, and does that make you feel good to make these horrible jokes about a kid who’s completely innocent, minding her own business,’ and, turns out, she was at the ball game. I had no idea she was there. So she’s now at the ball game, and people think that I made the joke about her. And, but still, I’m wondering, ‘Well, what can I do to help people understand that I would never make a joke like this?’ I’ve never made jokes like this as long as we’ve been on the air, 30 long years, and you can’t really be doing jokes like that. And I understand, of course, why people are upset. I would be upset myself.

And then I was watching the Jim Lehrer Newshour – this commentator, the columnist Mark Shields, was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl, and I thought, ‘Oh, boy, now I’m beginning to understand what the problem is here. It’s the perception rather than the intent.’ It doesn’t make any difference what my intent was, it’s the perception. And, as they say about jokes, if you have to explain the joke, it’s not a very good joke. And I’m certainly –

(Applause)

Thank you. Well, my responsibility – I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception. And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood. It’s my fault that it was misunderstood.

(Applause)

Thank you. So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much.

(Applause).

Video.