David Letterman finally apologizes….albeit a crappy one that has this ridiculous line:
It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault. That it was misunderstood.
Yup, big misunderstanding. As Jeri says in the below video, “honest officer, I didn’t know she wasn’t 18!”
Here is the whole thing:
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…” (audience applauds) “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 those 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 – ” (audience 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.” (audience applauds) “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.” (audience applause)
Still pathetic, still lame, and the perv should go. The simple fact that he felt it ok to tell a joke about her kids like that is the problem. You don’t find it happening about Obama. Nor Biden. The MSM, including these late night shows, are in the tank for the left so they wouldn’t dare.
Via Hot Air comes this great question:
What really motivated Letterman to do this? Sincere remorse? A cynical play for more ratings? Or the simple fact that he was starting to lose sponsors over it?
And even better video of Mrs. Thompson today on with Neil Cavuto:
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“David Letterman finally apologizes….albeit a crappy one…”
Man I just finished posting about this and it could be the brother of this post. Awesome vid by the way. In fact, I am going to steal it.
I highlighted this line myself:
“It doesn’t make any difference what my intent was, it’s the perception”
It’s good the masses didn’t take this one laying down. Too bad our top brass wasn’t more visible.
Don Imus was FIRED for making an offensive off the cuff remark after he apologized nearly as many times as Trent Lott did.
David Letterman’s joke was a prepared joke, written by writers and likely reviewed by him prior to presentation. He made a conscious decision to do this.
And yet he gets a pass?
Why? Because he’s a big lib and we don’t hold them to the same standard that is daily demanded of the rest of us!
You know, if you look at Dave at the right angle, he looks like Quagmire from Family Guy 🙂
giggity, giggity, … giggity goo !!!!
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check out this on the People’s Cube….TOO FUNNY!!!
http://thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=3575
This is no more of an apology than the first attempt. As a matter of fact, it is just a rerun of that pathetic excuse.
CBS needs to fire Letterman.
Shock is not humor. Humor ought to uplift (Bill Cosby) or give insight (Will Rogers) or help someone cope with the trials of life. Humor is not about demeaning, but for Letterman, that is what it has become. Letterman has demonstrated he is not a decent human being, not a principled man and certainly not concerned about anyone other than himself. It is sad that humor has devolved to such a level.
Ol’ Dave is a pathetic bully; always has been, I thought. Mean, not funny, just mean, and the audience who thought he was funny need to look at themseves in a mirror. Dave is much, much too sly/smart to believe his crap was ever intended as humor, ever. A punk and a bully.
Excellent post. I said the same thing about his apology, but I focused on this line:
“It doesn’t make any difference what my intent was, it’s the perception”
He is trying to say he was victimized. Great video too, maybe I’ll steal it…
This was as sincere as Paul Newman’s apology in Judge Roy Bean:
“I could have called you low-born gutter sluts, but I didn’t. I called you whores, and for that, I apologize.”
And still no work from A-Rod?
I wonder if the Steinbrenners told him to keep himself out of the news and just focus on the game. Good advice.
Sounds like he had to break out the tap dancing shoes, again. Letterman will never really apologize for his “joke”. That is a sure thing. He may hem and haw about it but it will never be an apology, because he has a lack of personal accountability. He is a “comic”. I was checking the TV Guide Channel yesterday and the gang on the panel show were all in support of Letterman. I guess these folks aren’t yet parents.
Were it my daughters being referred to, Mr. Letterman could possibly have a bad day. Where I grew up behaviour such as his was usually rewarded with a pounding. That’s what we called it back then. And Mr. Letterman is in dire need of a pounding. There is no gettin around that.
“It doesn’t make any difference what my intent was, it’s the perception”
The terms “Slutty” and “Knocked Up” were used with the intent to be mean and nasty thinly disguised as humor.
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I agree with the majority of all posts on this site, but not this one.
I feel lettermans apology is both legit and heartfelt. Granted he is a very liberal man, but that does not mean that he cant feel remorse for a mistake he made or had been naive about the severity of his words that night.
I think CBS losing Embassy Suites over the crass jokes and the non apology may have had a bit more to do with it. He played around with it for what, a week before he finally took it serious. His final, halfbaked apology did not show remorse IMO, he was still using excuses….intent vs perception…pffft.
I reckon that Letterman overstepped the line and that politicians kids under 16 should be left out of it. I suspect that they made a cheap joke in regards towards Bristol – and either didn’t know or choose to ignore that it was Willow at the game and not Bristol. I certainly don’t think Letterman was promoting rape. Either way he apologised – even if it was somewhat weak.
@Steve
Really – Bill Cosby and Will Rogers? How old are you? I don’t think humour has to have shock value but a lot of jokes (including good ones) are at the expense of someone. I think life would be rather dull if the only jokes were just those suitable for all the family.