Editing David Letterman (section)

== Notable exchanges and incidents ==

=== NBC and Johnny Carson ===
In spite of Johnny Carson's clear intention to pass his title to Letterman, NBC selected Jay Leno to host ''The Tonight Show'' after Carson's departure.<ref>{{cite news| work=The Independent|date=January 24, 2005|title=Johnny Carson, king of late-night chat, dies at 79| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/johnny-carson-king-of-latenight-chat-dies-at-79-488063.html| access-date=July 6, 2009 | location= London}}</ref> Letterman maintained a close relationship with Carson through his break with NBC. Three years after he left for CBS, [[HBO]] produced a made-for-television movie called ''[[The Late Shift (film)|The Late Shift]]'', based on a book by ''The New York Times'' reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Leno for the ''Tonight Show'' hosting spot.

Carson later made a few [[cameo appearance]]s as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance was on May 13, 1994, on a ''Late Show'' episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a [[Top Ten list (David Letterman)|Top 10 list]] segment. In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used them in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president [[Peter Lassally]] (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it."<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.deseret.com/2005/1/24/19873404/tv-critics-genuinely-fond-of-carson| title= TV critics genuinely fond of Carson | date = January 24, 2005 | first = Scott D. | last = Pierce | access-date = May 31, 2022|work = Deseret News}}</ref> Letterman would do a characteristic Carson golf swing after delivering one of his jokes. In a tribute to Carson, all the opening monologue jokes during the first show after Carson's death were by Carson.

Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor".<ref>{{cite news| work=Fox News| title=Letterman Gets Jokes From Carson| date=January 20, 2005| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/01/20/letterman-gets-jokes-from-carson.html| access-date=May 19, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924162747/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/01/20/letterman-gets-jokes-from-carson.html| archive-date=September 24, 2015| df=mdy-all}}</ref> During the early years of the ''Late Show''{{'}}s run, Letterman occasionally used some of Carson's trademark bits, including "[[Carnac the Magnificent]]" (with [[Paul Shaffer]] as Carnac), "Stump the Band", and the "Week in Review".

=== Oprah Winfrey ===
Oprah Winfrey appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's ''Late Night'' on May 2, 1989. After that appearance, the two had a 16-year feud<ref>{{cite news|last=Bauderap |first= David |url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/free-lunch-behind-16-year-letterman-oprah-feud/news-story/30577be0bbc81d0c6d731bd5a39a75b3 |title=Free lunch behind 16-year Letterman, Oprah feud |work=News.com.au |date=October 1, 2010 |access-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref> that arose, as Winfrey explained to Letterman after it had been resolved, as a result of the acerbic tone of their 1989 interview, of which she said that it "felt so uncomfortable to me that I didn't want to have that experience again". The feud apparently ended on December 2, 2005, when Winfrey appeared on CBS's ''Late Show with David Letterman'' in an event Letterman jokingly called "the [[Super Bowl]] of Love".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tv.yahoo.com/show/32704/news/urn:newsml:tv.ap.org:20070830:people_winfrey_letterman__ER:1759 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070906075743/http://tv.yahoo.com/show/32704/news/urn%3Anewsml%3Atv.ap.org%3A20070830%3Apeople_winfrey_letterman__ER%3A1759 |archive-date=September 6, 2007 |publisher=[[Yahoo!]] |title=Letterman to appear on 'Oprah' }}</ref>

Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in a ''Late Show'' promo aired during CBS's coverage of [[Super Bowl XLI]] in February 2007, with the two sitting next to each other on a couch watching the game. Since the game was played between the [[Indianapolis Colts]] and [[Chicago Bears]], the Indianapolis-born Letterman wore a Peyton Manning jersey, while Winfrey, whose show was taped in Chicago, wore a [[Brian Urlacher]] jersey.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_i5we6MB-w| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216011733/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_i5we6MB-w| archive-date=2007-02-16|publisher=YouTube|title=Dave and Oprah's Super Bowl of Love}}</ref> On September 10, 2007, Letterman made his first appearance on ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'' at [[Madison Square Garden]] in New York City.

Three years later, during CBS's coverage of [[Super Bowl XLIV]] between the Colts and the [[New Orleans Saints]], the two appeared again in a ''Late Show'' promo, this time with Winfrey sitting on a couch between Letterman and Leno. Letterman wore the retired {{Abbr|No.|Number}} 70 jersey of [[Art Donovan]], a member of the Colts' Hall of Fame and a regular Letterman guest. The appearance was Letterman's idea: Leno flew to New York City on an NBC corporate jet, sneaking into the [[Ed Sullivan Theater]] during the ''Late Show''{{'}}s February 4 taping wearing a disguise and meeting Winfrey and Letterman at a living room set created in the theater's balcony, where they taped their promo.<ref>{{cite news| title= How the Letterman-Oprah-Leno Super Bowl Ad Came Together | url= http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/how-the-letterman-oprah-leno-super-bowl-ad-came-together/ | publisher=Media Decoder | date=  February 7, 2010 | access-date=February 8, 2010 | first= Bill |last=Carter}}</ref>

Winfrey interviewed Letterman in January 2013 on ''[[Oprah's Next Chapter]]''. They discussed their feud and Winfrey revealed that she had had a "terrible experience" while appearing on Letterman's show years earlier. Letterman could not recall the incident but apologized.<ref>{{cite news| title=  Letterman On 'Oprah's Next Chapter': 'I'm Sorry' (VIDEO) | url= https://www.huffpost.com/entry/letterman-on-oprah-david-letterman_n_2427870 | work= HuffPost | date=  January 12, 2013 | access-date=May 31, 2022 | first=Joan | last=Podrazik}}</ref>

=== 2007–2008 writers' strike ===
''Late Show'' went off air for eight weeks in 2007 during November and December because of the [[2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike|Writers Guild of America strike]]. Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, was the first company to make an individual agreement with the WGA,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2692 |publisher=Writers Guild of America West|title=e-mail 12-28-07 "Letter from the Presidents: To Our Fellow Members"|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102203501/http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2692 |archive-date=January 2, 2008 }}</ref> allowing his show to come back on the air on January 2, 2008. In his first episode back, he surprised the audience with a newly grown [[beard]], which signified solidarity with the strike.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-01-02-late-night-strike_N.htm| title = Late-night shows return fully bearded&nbsp;— with and without writers| author = Gary Levin| work = [[USA Today]]| date = January 3, 2008| access-date = January 17, 2010}}</ref> His beard was shaved off during the show on January 7, 2008.

=== Palin joke ===
On June 8 and 9, 2009, Letterman told two sexually themed jokes about a daughter (never named) of [[Sarah Palin]] on his TV show. These included a joke that Palin's daughter had been "knocked up" by MLB player [[Alex Rodriguez]].<ref name="NOW">{{cite news|url  =http://www.now.org/issues/media/hall-of-shame/index.php/television/letterman-palin-daughter| title = Letterman "Jokes" About Palin's Daughter| author = Lisa Bennett| publisher = [[National Organization for Women|NOW]]| date = June 11, 2009| access-date = April 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615051330/http://www.now.org/issues/media/hall-of-shame/index.php/television/letterman-palin-daughter|archive-date=June 15, 2009}}</ref> Palin was in New York City with her then 14-year-old daughter Willow, and none of her other children were at the game, but her 18-year-old daughter [[Bristol Palin|Bristol]] was the one who was pregnant. It was therefore unclear which daughter the joke referred to.<ref name="NOW"/><ref name="Palin vs. Letterman – ABC News" />

In a statement posted on the Internet, Palin said, "I doubt [Letterman would] ever dare make such comments about anyone else's daughter" and that "laughter incited by sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is disgusting."<ref name="Palin vs. Letterman – ABC News">{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/06/palin-vs-letterman|title=Palin vs. Letterman|author=Caitlin Taylor|work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=June 11, 2009|access-date=April 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216043242/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/06/palin-vs-letterman|archive-date=February 16, 2012}}</ref> On his June 10 show, Letterman responded to the controversy, saying the jokes were meant to be about Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, whose pregnancy as an unmarried teenager had caused some controversy during the [[United States presidential election of 2008]]. "These are not jokes made about [Palin's] 14-year-old daughter ... I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl."<ref name="Palin vs. Letterman – ABC News"/>

His remarks did not end public criticism. The [[National Organization for Women]] (NOW) released a statement supporting Palin, noting that Letterman had made "[only] something of an apology."<ref name="NOW"/> When the controversy failed to subside, Letterman addressed the issue again on his June 15 show, faulting himself for the error and apologizing "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."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR2009061503131.html|title=One Pregnant-Teen Joke Too Many? Angry Palin Gets Letterman to Apologize|author=Paul Farhi|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 16, 2009|access-date=April 27, 2012}}</ref> Rodriguez demanded an apology for implying that he was a child molester. Letterman never specifically apologized to Rodriguez.<ref>{{cite web|last=Washow |first=Don |url=https://www.adn.com/politics/article/rod-demands-apology-letterman-over-palin-joke/2009/06/16/ |title=A-Rod demands apology from Letterman over Palin joke |work=Anchorage Daily News |date=2009-06-16 |access-date=2022-02-06}}</ref>

=== Al-Qaeda death threat ===
On August 17, 2011, it was reported that an [[Islamic militants|Islamist militant]] had posted a death threat against Letterman on a website frequented by [[Al-Qaeda]] supporters, calling on American Muslims to kill him for making a joke about the death of [[Ilyas Kashmiri]], an Al-Qaeda leader who was killed in a June 2011 drone strike in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-davidletterman-idUSTRE77G6K520110817| title=Militant makes death threat against David Letterman| work=Reuters| date=August 17, 2011| access-date=August 18, 2011| first=Jill| last=Serjeant}}</ref> In his August 22 show, Letterman joked about the threat, saying "State Department authorities are looking into this. They're not taking this lightly. They're looking into it. They're questioning, they're interrogating, there's an electronic trail—but everybody knows it's Leno."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/letterman-responds-to-death-threats-in-monologue/| date=August 22, 2011| title=Letterman Responds to Death Threats in Monologue| first=Bill | last=Carter| newspaper= The New York Times| access-date=August 23, 2011}}</ref>