David Letterman apologizes for censoring comic Bill Hicks in 1993

January 31, 2009

Friday night David Letterman proved that he is a class act, and that the broadcasting industry could profit from his example.

Over 15 years ago, Letterman and his producer at the time, Robert Morton, chose to delete from “The Late Show” a controversial bit by astringent comedian Bill Hicks.

Hicks was scheduled for “The Late Show with David Letterman” on October 1, 1993, it would be his twelfth appearance on the show. However, Hicks’ performance was removed from the pre-taped broadcast, perhaps the only time a comedian’s taped routine had been completely deleted before the broadcast.

Hicks voiced his rage and feelings of betrayal to John Lahr of The New Yorker in a hand-written 39-page lette. Letterman said at the time that he regretted how Hicks was treated, but the comic was never invited back. Hicks later died from pancreatic cancer with his parents at his side on February 26, 1994.

Last night, Letterman not only played the never before aired 1993 segment, but he also publicly apologized in person to the late comic’s mother, Mary Hicks.

“Let me again apologize for the heartache and sadness my decision caused your family,” Letterman said to Mrs. Hicks.

“I appreciate you saying that,” she said.

“I know I can’t make up for the damage that was caused” he added, “but I do hope that this makes it up symbolically to you.”

Before playing the comics un-aired routine, Letterman said he had not seen the performance since 1993, so he warned the people in the audience that the material might be a bit dated.

You can see the video here.

Letterman apologizes

Letterman Apologizes — Again — to Governor Palin and Her Family

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.

David Letterman apologized to the Palin family from his “Late Show” desk on Monday night.

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.

The joke, in which Mr. Letterman seemingly confused Willow, who is 14 and attended a Yankee game with Governor Palin that week, with Bristol, who is 18 and an unwed mother, had to do with the Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez impregnating Ms. Palin’s 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. “I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception.”

He also insisted he was confused about the daughters. “I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani,” Mr. Letterman said. “I should have made the joke about Rudy.”

The issue has been seized upon by supporters of Ms. Palin, who have called for everything from a boycott of Mr. Letterman’s advertisers to his outright firing. They have planned a rally for Tuesday at Mr. Letterman’s theater on Broadway in Manhattan.

Some media commentators said that Mr. Letterman was keeping the controversy alive for the sake of ratings, but he seemed to make a special effort Monday to get the apology right. He even taped it a second time after he mistakenly referred to Bristol Palin once as “Brooke” in the first effort.

CBS executives said Monday that they had exercised no pressure on the late-night star to offer any apology and that they had seen no real impact on advertisers from the protests.

One advertiser, Embassy Suites Hotels, sent word to Ms. Palin’s supporters that it had ceased advertising on CBS’s Web site and did not want to be associated in any way with Mr. Letterman’s comments.

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