Madonna on Letterman
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| Madonna on The Late Show with David Letterman |
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 Madonna's appearance on Letterman was heavily censored. |
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| Run time | 20 mins (excluding commercials) |
| Host | David Letterman |
| Guest | Madonna |
| Country | United States |
| Network | CBS |
| First aired | March 31, 1994 |
When Madonna appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman in March 1994, her coarse language, including thirteen uses of the word "fuck", made the episode the most censored in American network television talk-show history; it also resulted in some of the highest ratings of Letterman's late-night career.
Madonna's language and behavior—provocative, seemingly random at times, peppered with four-letter words (mostly "Fuck" and "Shit"), full of double entendres, and ending with a refusal to leave the set—caused a public controversy.
The Federal Communications Commission received numerous complaints, echoing Letterman's remarks that "people don't want strong language in their homes on late night television".
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[edit] Details
When Madonna was a guest on the March 31, 1994 edition of The Late Show, it marked her first appearance on American television that year.
The singer entered the stage to the sound of her 1983 hit "Holiday", clutching a pair of her underwear, which she repeatedly asked Letterman to smell during the interview. Letterman, following up from events earlier in the program, asked her to kiss a man in the audience; Madonna refused. Letterman expressed admiration for her not succumbing to the pressure. As he moved to another topic, Madonna interrupted him, in an opening salvo soon to be indicative of the random provocations to come: "Incidentally, you are a sick fuck. I don't know why I get so much shit."
Letterman steered his questioning toward her private life and, in particular, the singer's reported relationships with several NBA players. Madonna replied with a series of sexual innuendos, commenting "that [overhead] microphone is really long"; Letterman responded by talking about her friendship with Charles Barkley. When Letterman abruptly changed topic and asked about her nose ring in an ambiguous way ("Did it hurt when you had that thing put in your nose?"), Madonna laughed and said "I thought you were going to ask me if it hurt something else..." which spurred a collective groan from the studio audience.
Prior to the first commercial break (which Madonna objected to, citing that she wanted to "break the rules" and not conform to the constraints of American network television), the star asked Letterman if he was wearing a "rug"; never missing the opportunity for a joke, the host replied by asking Madonna if she was wearing a swim cap.
After the commercial break, Madonna told Letterman that he had changed since her last visit, that he was no longer "cool" or challenging to his guests. Letterman asked her what was really bothering her; the star told the audience that she was angry that the comedian "periodically" made references to her sex life on the show.
When Madonna continued to swear, the director cut to an elderly couple from Appleton, Wisconsin in the audience, visibly shocked by Madonna's language; this was followed by a video montage featuring Madonna-related comedy monologues.
After a second commercial break, Madonna asked Letterman whether he had ever urinated in the shower, claiming it was an antiseptic to fight athlete's foot.
During the interview, Letterman asked Madonna if she had a boyfriend ("Are you currently interested in someone?"). She responded that she did, and when asked what his name was, she replied, "Dave." Letterman then asked her if she was talking about David Dinkins, former mayor of New York.
Toward the end of the interview, she also asked whether he had ever smoked "indo", a reference to marijuana. Looking uncomfortable, the host told the singer that he had no idea what she was talking about; Madonna called him a liar which led Letterman to make light of the embarrassing question by acting like Johnny Carson.
When Madonna refused to leave the set, there was jeering from members of the audience, including heckling to "get off". The home audience never saw Madonna leave her chair; instead, the show cut to a third commercial break, after which the singer was gone. Letterman said, "Coming up in the next half hour, Mother Teresa is going to drop by." He then looked at an index card and joked, "Oh, I see we've been canceled, there is no show tomorrow night."
Another guest, who was the United States Grocery Bagging Champion at the time, was scheduled to appear on the show that evening, but his segment was cut, due to Madonna refusing to leave the stage when her interview was over. The Counting Crows concluded the show with a performance of "Round Here".
[edit] Aftermath
During daytime promos broadcast the following day (announcing Charles Grodin as the upcoming guest), Letterman made an allusion to Madonna's appearance, saying, "Don't worry, she's not here."
Madonna's appearance became a source of material for days to come, particularly the following night, when Letterman joked about it in the monologue. When first guest Charles Grodin came out to greet Dave, he even brought out a pair of briefs, mocking Madonna's presentation of her panties during her own appearance. Grodin dropped his usual routine of playing an antagonistic guest, pretending to be confused by Madonna's appearance, and wondering if the show had a new set of guidelines he had to follow (for example, mandatory remarks regarding the size of the boom operator's microphone).
A week after her appearance, Letterman announced to the audience that Madonna was not there. Paul Newman stood up in the audience and started to walk out. When asked if he was a fan of Madonna, Newman replied "I sure as hell didn't come to see you, Letterman!" In a nod to Newman's appearance on the first edition of The Late Show, he had Letterman escort him to the theater where Cats was playing.
Immediately after the interview aired, Madonna told journalists that the producers of The Late Show encouraged her to swear throughout, knowing that the outrageous attempts to shock would attract a higher viewership and audience share - a view shared by comedienne Rosie O'Donnell, who is also a friend of Madonna; CBS denied these accusations.
Entertainment Weekly writer Ken Tucker characterized her appearance as a "way to keep her name in the papers in lieu of actually producing some sort of creative work".
In an apparent attempt to atone for her behavior on Letterman's show, Madonna made an impromptu appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno the following month. The singer portrayed a more solemn image.
"I'm not pleased with the way it turned out", Letterman told USA Today on May 9, 1994. "I'm not pleased with the way I handled it. I should have said, 'You say that word one more time and you're gone. That's it. Adiós.' And I didn't."
Some tied Madonna's "indo" comments to reports that, months before the show, she had smoked marijuana to get into character for her role in the 1993 film Dangerous Game.
In an interview with TV Guide in 1998, Madonna talked about the circumstances which she believed led to her behavior during the notorious interview:
- That was a time in my life when I was extremely angry. The press was constantly beating up on me, and I felt like I was a victim. So I lashed out at people and that Letterman was one of them. I am not particularly proud of it.
Robin Williams would later call it "a battle of wits against an unarmed woman".
At the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards, on September 8, Madonna was announced to present the award for Video of the Year. She came out arm-in-arm with an unannounced Letterman, to a wild ovation. At the microphone, Letterman told her, "I'll be out by the car. Watch your language," and then left. Madonna has made several appearances on Letterman's show since, the two now treating the incident with humor.
[edit] Other facts
This was not Madonna's first or last appearance on The Late Show:
- She guested on the talk show in 1988 with comedian Sandra Bernhard.
- Madonna briefly appeared in a 1995 episode when she brought Letterman candy and flowers for Valentine's Day. She then proclaimed that, "I'm a changed woman since I met you," to which Letterman excitedly exclaimed, "Yes!" Madonna then went on to add, "And I'm not going to say 'fuck' anymore."
- In 1998, Madonna appeared briefly to announce number three on Letterman's top ten list that night - Ten Things Beautiful Women Love About Dave.
- Madonna returned on 3 November 2000 for her first sit-down interview with Dave since the notorious 1994 incident to promote her new album, Music. Before the singer took stage to perform her latest single, "Don't Tell Me", Letterman jokingly admitted that, "I still have the panties. We had to put them in the vault upstairs, because people were trying to swipe them from me." An uncomfortable Madonna declared that, "I won't rise to that bait." [1].
- Madonna again appeared on The Late Show on 11 November 2003 to promote her series of children's books with the release of Mr. Peabody's Apples [2].
- Madonna appeared on Letterman's show two years later on 20 October 2005 to promote her album Confessions on a Dance Floor[3].
Fans of both Letterman and Madonna have urged CBS to release the episode on DVD. As of 2006, the show is only available as a bootleg from various websites and file sharing networks.
In a subsequent interview with USA Today, Letterman noted how Madonna sent him a fax on his birthday, shortly after the episode aired. "It was more of the same," he revealed. "'Happy fucking birthday. Have a nice fucking day.' I know she was trying to be funny about it."
Ironically, during her Re-Invention Tour in 2004, Madonna imposed a "cursing fine" on anyone caught swearing backstage.
During her early-evening set at Live 8 in July 2005, Madonna screamed, "Are you fucking ready, London?" to the crowd in Hyde Park, London. Just like CBS eleven years prior, the BBC, who were broadcasting the event, received a number of complaints.
[edit] Top Ten list
A regular feature of The Late Show is the popular Top Ten List. Madonna had a list of her own, in addition to the one that was a regular part of the show. Madonna ended up not doing the list prepared for her by the show's staff, complaining that it was not funny. Below is the original, unaired list:
"My Top Ten Complaints About Dave":
- 10. Couldn't vogue if life depended on it.
- 9. Always asking, 'Whatever happened to that nice Sean Penn?'
- 8. Stole his nickname "Material Girl" from me.
- 7. Before sex, always asks, 'Do you have any music for this, Paul?'
- 6. Can't fit entire Evian bottle down throat.
- 5. Driving isn't the only thing he does too fast, if you know what I mean.
- 4. His Top Ten lists keep getting lamer and lamer.
- 3. Calls the cops every time I break into his house.
- 2. Doesn't look good in a cone bra.
- 1. He is still a virgin.
On April 8, 1994, Letterman had a Top Ten List titled "Top Ten Good Things About Having Madonna On Your Talk Show":
- 10. The host can sit back, relax and let the censors do all the work.
- 9. It's just a pleasure to match wits with a genuine conversationalist of the old school.
- 8. For the first time, you truly understand why Sean Penn went nuts.
- 7. She'll frighten any remaining rats out of the theater.
- 6. 13 in a row, commercial-free obscenities.
- 5. Two words: free underpants.
- 4. Even the ghost of Ed Sullivan gets some action.
- 3. You get to spend more time with her than if you were just having sex.
- 2. Brings in that much sought-after dirt bag audience.
- 1. It makes your mom proud.
[edit] References
- Uncensored episode transcript from a fan's website
- USA Today article, May 9, 1994, from a fan's website
- TV Guide, September 17, 1998
- Top Ten Archive
[edit] External links
- Episode summary from tv.com
