When Madonna appeared on Late Show with David Letterman on March 31, 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.[1]
Madonna's language and behavior—which was provocative, seemingly random at times, full of double entendres, and ended with a refusal to leave the set—caused a large public controversy.[2] 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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This was not Madonna's first or last appearance with Letterman. She was a guest on his talk show in 1988 with comedienne Sandra Bernhard.[3]
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. Letterman introduced Madonna right before she entered the set in this manner:
Our first guest tonight is one of the biggest stars in the world, and in the past 10 years she has sold over 80 million albums, starred in countless films and slept with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry,[4]
Paul Shaffer responded "she's your guest!...Come on, she's your guest!" to which Letterman responded, "everything's fine, just relax, will ya?" Madonna then 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. Madonna began smoking a cigar, and 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, uh, 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, referring to Madonna's short slicked-down hairstyle, 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 always (in Letterman's words - "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 attempted to deflect the obvious implication by asking 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 "Endo", a slang 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".
Madonna later explained her behavior as a failed attempt to make a stand against television censorship, and made up with Letterman by having him escort her onstage at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. In an interview with Bob Guccione, Jr. in Spin magazine in the fall of 1995, Madonna further defended herself: "You can show a person getting blown up, and you can't say 'fuck'? It's such hypocrisy. The fact that everyone counted how many fucks I said—how small minded is that?...The other thing that was ridiculous was that David Letterman knew I was going to do it. I talked to the producers of the show. Everybody was like, this will be really funny if you say 'fuck' a lot they'll just keep bleeping you. Well, I came out and started doing it, and David freaked out. The way he introduced me was derogatory, so my whole thing was, okay, if that's how you want to play it, you cannot beat me at this game."[5]
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."[6] The fax sent April 12, 1994, reads:
The incident was widely referenced in popular culture. For example, in an episode of The Critic titled "Sherman, Woman and Child", Madonna is featured as profane guest of Humphrey the Hippo.[8]
Following the incident, Madonna's appearances on Letterman did not end. 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." And 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 November 3, 2000, for her first sit-down interview with Dave since the notorious 1994 incident to promote her new album, Music. The two of them discussed the previous interview, with a deal of humor and objectivity. Madonna chalked it up as a part of her "rebellious period", while Dave admitted that he now understood how beaten up Madonna must have felt by the press during that time and that he contributed to that. Madonna then concluded that they were both having a "weak moment", which was met by laughter from both the audience and Dave. 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."[9] Madonna guested again on November 11, 2003 to promote her children's book, Mr. Peabody's Apples. Before she entered, Letterman stated he "just didn't want any awkward moments."
On January 11, 2007, Madonna appeared on Letterman to promote her latest movie, Arthur and the Invisibles. The two joked about the 1994 infamous episode. When David asked Madonna, "What do you think about all these celebrities such as Britney Spears, not wearing their underwear?", Madonna replied, "It's freezing outside. Maybe you can give them to Britney." Madonna appeared on the September 30, 2009 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman to promote her latest release the greatest hits compilation Celebration. During this episode, Letterman and Madonna again made light of her appearance on the show in 1994. The episode concluded with Letterman and Madonna going down the street and sharing a vegetarian pizza (minus cheese at Madonna's request) and martinis together.[10][11][12]
Fans of both Letterman and Madonna have urged CBS to release the episode on DVD. As of 2010, the show is only available as a bootleg from various websites like YouTube and file sharing networks.
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":
On April 8, 1994, Letterman had a Top Ten List titled "Top Ten Good Things About Having Madonna On Your Talk Show":[13]
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