Jun 15, 2009
Letterman – A Real Apology This Time
After a week of talk about whether or not Late Show Host David Letterman is outrageously funny or painfully out-of-touch, he finally apologized to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, her daughters and family. The original “joke” on June 8 opining that Palin’s daughter was “being knocked up by Alex Rodriguez” during a Yankees game was followed two days later by a half-hearted attempt at an apology, which was more like a defensive play with a few self-deprecating audibles. While better late than never, Monday’s apology was as heartfelt as Letterman can get, and maybe that was the plan.
Like the recent Domino’s video fiasco, Letterman’s apology was over-the-top late. By any public relations or crisis management standards, the timing was nearly unrecognizable to the original transgression. As professionals, we counsel our clients and employers to genuinely and effectively begin the healing process of a crisis as soon as harm or even the perception of harm is realized. Customer (and fan) relationships involve trust, authenticity and appropriate timing.
The original 47-second Letterman clip caused much discussion about boundaries, genders, ages and laws. Debate is a good thing. And although belated, Letterman’s apology should be accepted.
Yet who’s to say what roles, if any, web sites like Fire David Letterman, organized boycotts of CBS advertisers, anti-Letterman events outside studios and/or the current multi-million-dollar contract talks between the late night host and CBS played in all of this? Timing is everything.
Excellent blog! I had not heard that Letterman apologized. Better late than never, I suppose, even though as you point out, he is over-the-top late.
I’m not a PR practitioner, but I think David Letterman’s “joke” was very wrong and imbecile.
As the father of young daughters, I found no humor in Letterman’s “joke”. He probably got pressure from the higher ups at CBS to “apologize like you mean it” because we’re starting to feel the heat.
Even after seeing Letterman’s apology on the nightly news (can’t stay awake long enough to watch his show not that I ever will now), I still don’t think the guy gets it. He kept rambling on about which Palin daughter was being referenced – the one older or younger than 18. What does that matter? Bad taste is bad taste.
Letterman’s attempt at humor using the words “knocked up” regarding a child who’s never done anything to him was just another slam at Palin. There are two things going on here. One is the acceptance of vulgar so-called entertainment. Comments like Letterman’s contribute to the moral decline of this country. The other thing is the open attack on conservatives from liberals. If Letterman made the same “joke” about one of President Obama’s daughters or his wife, the late night host would be out of a job, and people would be screaming hate crime.
Let me say at the start that I did not see Dave Letterman telling the “joke,” or his subsequent “apology,” but the first question that comes to mind is whether the joke was created solely by Letterman, or by one of his joke writers? The next question is who saw the jokes, including this one, that he would tell that evening? Perhaps no one, but if that is the case, then it would seem wise to have some person(s) review them before airing not with an eye toward censorship, but to offer a second opinion regarding appropriateness, good taste, network and advertiser standards (I can only hope that such things still exist) and just plain common sense. Had Letterman thought about the joke for 24 hours before airing it, would he have still said it? I would like to think not for such a “joke” that speaks volumes about the teller’s integrity. Yes, I know that the late night talk show biz is very competitive and occupied by large egos, but the greatest of them all was Johnny Carson, who seemed to do OK without stooping to truly hurtful and tasteless material. When, after years of derogatory jokes about the legendary Las Vegas singer Wayne Newton, Mr. Newton asked to come onto the show and confronted Carson he received a sincere and heartfelt apology from him. Mr. Letterman need only look to Mr. Carson, whose job he wanted so badly, to learn how it is done.