David Letterman tries to make nice with Sarah Palin
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David Letterman spent a substantial portion of his "Late Show" Wednesday night offering up a mea culpa for jokes about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her family.
In the eight-minute segment, Letterman responded to statements from Palin and her husband, Todd, about jokes he'd made earlier in the week regarding Palin's recent trip to New York -- including a couple referring to 18-year-old Bristol Palin, whose pregnancy and subsequent breakup with the child's father has been news of its own.
What really got the Palin family incensed, though, was a joke about a Yankee game the governor attended with her younger daughter, Willow, who's 14. Letterman insisted that this joke -- "There was an awkward moment during the seventh-inning stretch, when her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez" -- was a reference to Bristol Palin. She wasn't at the game, though, which prompted some harshly worded statements from the Palins.
"Laughter incited by sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is ... disgusting," Palin said. Her husband added in his own statement, "any 'jokes' about raping my 14-year-old are despicable."
Letterman acknowledged that the jokes were over the line: "I recognize these are ugly. These are actually ugly. These are borderline." But he insisted that he was talking about Bristol Palin, and that he'd never make a joke about a 14-year-old girl.
"I don't think it's funny. I'd never think it's funny," he said. "... I can't really defend the joke -- I agree, unpleasant, ugly. But I'd never, never think this was funny to use a 14-year-old girl in a joke like this, for God's sake."
Here's the full video.
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Oh please, there's no apology necessary here. It's a joke. We're talking about a late night talk show here. I find it more offensive that Mr. Palin somehow got "raping my 14-year-old" out of this, and Mrs. Palin saw it as "sexually perverted" and referenced Letterman's age, as if it had any bearing.
Get over yourselves. You should be use to be the butt of the joke by now...
Comment on all you like about politicians, but their kids should be left alone. The children didn't ask for this.
Kermit - your name obviously indicates your lack of I.Q. Try to get your facts straight before you post garbage. Would it have been funny had it been Obama's 8 year old daughter? Uh, why not?
Celebrities' kids should be off limits, as far as jokes are concerned. It doesn't matter what their ages are. They didn't volunteer to be in the public eye.
Kermit:
You don't 'somehow' get rape out of the "...when her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez" statement? She's 14!!!
Paul, the only one with a lack of IQ is the nitwit Palin. Apparently she was the only one in the country that thought Letterman was referring to the 14-year old. Everyone with a brain knew he was taking a shot at the 18 year, who just so happened to get herself knocked up recently.
As for Obama's kid, everyone knows his daughters are 10 and 7, so yes that joke would be offensive and not because of Dems VS Reps, because neither one of his daughters has a track record of getting herself knocked up.
Listen carefully to his sarcastic words. This was NOT an apology and certainly lacked any sincerity.
I agree with Matt. That wasn't an apology at all. He just admitted that it was in bad taste. I find it absolutely mind boggling that anyone would defend Letterman in this. His intentions may have been to aim the joke at the 18 year old, but she was not at the ball game. The 14 year old was. Perhaps that was an honest mistake on Letterman's part, but the least he could do is say he was sorry. And all you people who are defending Letterman would be shouting for blood if that joke had been aimed at the Obama girls. And I would be with you. Children who have not done anything to warrant being the butt of jokes like this should be left alone.
Letterman, give it another try. This time say you are sorry.
Actually it is Pete that I was agreeing with.
Horrible "joke" and very lame "apology" --- Letterman behaved terribly here. His overly liberal slant is becoming more and more blatant, and it's making me turn the channel more and more often.