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According to TVGuide.com, David Letterman’s lame joke about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and one of her daughters has prompted the Embassy Suites hotel chain to pull its advertising from the CBS website. The Hilton Hotels Corp subsidiary told the media outlet it did so because: “We received lots of e-mails from concerned guests We assessed that the statement that he made was offensive enough to our guests and prospective guests that we elected to take the ads down.” Embassy Suites isn’t an advertiser on Letterman’s Late Show or it would have pulled its commercials there, too. Dave has apologized. But many think that Letterman’s ratings have risen as a result of all the publicity, and that’s no joke.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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So Dave tells a classless joke demeaning women and his ratings go up? I know the numbers won’t lie, but is this due to people wanting to see a train wreak or have we really dropped so far into the gutter in this country that people telling disgusting jokes about teens attract viewers?
Oh Judith, how little you know about television. Dave wouldn’t get fired over saying anything bad about the president or his family. HELLLLOOOO? that’s what late night talk show hosts do. All of them. And they have been doing it for decades. Go back to your right wing websites. Why are you even reading this blog if you hate the entertainment industry so much? You crazy, bible thumping conservatives still have the upper hand in this country, so calm the heck down. Turn off your TV and go read the bible or something– plan your next protest outside an abortion clinic or think up ways to make sure your children don’t turn “gay”… don’t you have something better to do then read this blog? Get busy, honey.
He told a joke about an 18 yr old young woman who has a history of being sexually active and whose history was paraded throughout the country and in magazines during the presidential campaign and currently by her parents. Nevertheless, it should not have been exploited as a joke and was not even that funny. He apologized and explained he intended it for the elder daughter, not the minor, which still does not excuse the joke, but, which he had to clarify since the parents went from that joke of a sexual encounter of an 18 yr old to “rape” and “child molestation”, implying they would not want a minor child near Letterman. This is the outrage. This is what Palin does best: mischaracterize, distort, slander, escalate, exaggerate, triangulate, demean, ridicule, and sensationalize, and she has done it since her debut at the RNC convention (her coming out party), through the campaign, after the campaign, and even now. She loves conflict, creates it, and thrives on it and it is her “signature issue”. She leaves a trail of insult and injury behind, no matter where she goes. We know nothing about her position on energy, healthcare, ecomics, environment, education, poverty, foreign policy, domestic security, and, apparently she doesn’t either. She has not spoken to issues of Government, except to falsely claim even after clarification for her, that the Vice President is in charge of the Senate and can do anything he/she wants. We should have a clear indication of how her mind works, and doesn’t work. Clearly, she possesses a “hystrionic” personality, probably bi-polar, maybe even sociopathic. The dynamics of those disorders characterize every public interaction she has had. I have had managers such as this who caused havoc in the workplace, eliminated many good workers, and then, finally, had to be escorted out of the building by Security and Management because they botched the revenue line of business. Usually, these people know nothing about how to do the real job so they create conflict and appear to be “managing” conflict. This woman who allowed herself to be used to gain womens’ votes, the ultimate “token female”, is now the spokesperson for womens’ rights and womens’s dignity? This woman who enabled the scenario wherein her daughter engaged in sexual activity without contraception and paraded this daughter all over the country, then, engaged in a very public conflict with the estranged fiance and father of her grandchild? She is hardly the ideal role model for propriety, restraint, and appropriateness, nor for the rights of her own daughter much less for young women all over the country. She is emotionally unstable, not fit to govern a country, and tiresome in the headlines she makes. Face it. She cannot seem to get along with anyone; there is conflict wherever she goes, with whomever she interacts. If we needed confirmation that she is a divisive person and a liar, an exaggerator, this episode is all we needed, in my opinion. At best, she was not even able to enjoy a period of time in which she could have been the real victim by responding respectfully and with graciousness and credibility and allow the consequences to fall naturally where they belong, on the jokester. Instead, she has escalated it into such another circus, as the ringmaster, that she has triangulated and, has ended up in a worse light than that of the one who started the whole thing.
Meanwhile O’Reilly, in his own “Christ-like” manner, calls for the death of people. The fuckin’ “God party” hard at work. Bullshit.
It’s unfortunate that this serious issue has turned into a conservative vs. liberal issue.
The true issue is getting marginalized.
The joke was heinous as are the endless spray of misogynistic jokes on late night. Men exploiting women for big dollars as usual. Men assuming women will take it like good little girls, as usual. Men predictably hurling feminist insults as usual. As if believing in social equality is a dirty thing.
While it’s welcome and overdue to see NOW arousing from slumber, and this issue getting rightful attention, it is unfortunate that it comes from a polarizing figure whose politics overshadow the issue.
Similarly offensive jokes directed at other groups would never be permitted. Nor would a similar joke directed at Obama be permitted, but that is partly because of the racial aspect not the gender aspect. Don Imus, anyone?
You “boycott Embassy” posters are lame. Has the suspicious whiff of Late Show and/or CBS organizing this behind the scenes. Like any of you regularly stay at the Embassy Suites regardless.
Palin did not “parade” her daughter around. Her family appeared as did the families of all the political candidates. She didn’t do an up close and personal like Obama did.
Recognizing defensible Palin points doesn’t make one a Palin supporter. It makes for balanced thinking, so save your hysteria and political dogma.
Likewise, criticizing Letterman doesn’t mean you dislike him or his show. (But, please, all these late night shows need to shake up the writing staffs a bit and inject some different viewpoints.)
For the all the commotion, the “joke” wasn’t even funny. If you’re gonna be heinous, you’d best be funny. Letterman’s writers are offensive and lazy. However, Letterman himself is an intelligent, talented man who has gone off the rails these past few years. Hopefully, this event will recharge him and America can have the old Dave back.
I’m none of those things you claim I am, rightwingsux, but thank you for showing everyone else the unmitigated hate that spews from your kind. Perhaps others who call themselves libeal will denounce you, as they should any fanatic, of any political stripe.
As for late night comedians always skewering the Presidents, I suggest you tune into the late night airwaves again: they don’t “go after” Obama at all. They’re terrified to. And my point still stands: if Dave had made this “innocent” joke at the expense of Michelle and the kids, he would have been fired immediately, if not outright lynched. This is the double standard at work in this country.
Letterman’s comments were far worse than anything Imus ever said. Double standard?
Comment by mrbaker — June 16, 2009 @ 9:22 am
This statement only exemplifies what a racist apologist right wing sack of shit you are & nothing else.
Wow. Some of you people crack me up. Show me a list of companies that you give business to, and I’ll point out the plethora of unethical practices they take part in. And it’ll be more along the lines of third-world child exploitation; not making a business decision to avoid negative publicity. So get of your high horses and stop acting like you have some principled reason to boycott Embassy unless their website ads really meant something to you.
This whole situation has been blown out of proportion by Palin and her crazy fans, and now all the Letterman fanatics are making a case for looking the most silly. Unbelievable.
Conservatives are the biggest whiners ever! Talk about weak. They want to dish it out about how tough they are but they’re just babies that need their pacifiers.
Hiltons no longer own Hilton Hotels.
Get this – hundreds, perhaps thousands, of protesters are gathering outside CBS-New York demanding Letterman get fired. Downplay it all you want, these types of movements are how people lose their jobs. What a giant step back for free speech. It’s a dangerous time to be in entertainment, esp. comedy if this continues.
I’ve heard Leno make similar bad taste jokes, that didn’t even make sense. I guess because virtually no one under age 60 heard the offending line it wasn’t a problem. And can anyone tell me SNL doesn’t do jokes just as offensive all the time?
Letterman went above and beyond the call of duty, and the second apology was not necessary. What he did not understand is that the “outrage” over the joke was completely feigned. One look at scarah’s ear to ear grin on the today as she joyously said the word ‘rape’ could have told him that. That Mark Shields was misinformed about the joke isn’t a surprise. He’s a very old man. He wouldn’t get it anymore than I’d be entertained by his anecdotes of listening to Tommy Dorsey at the Copa.
I plan on boycotting embassy suites, it’s a bedbug and roach-laden scumhole anyway. The Hilton family gave us hollywood’s biggest VD spreader Paris Hilton. How dare they pretend to be offended after unleashing Baron Hilton’s (a big gop donor) diseased, snatch-flashing spawn onto the front pages of tabloids everywhere?
All of you die hard liberals make me sick. I am sure that Embassy Suites would be happy that do not stay in their hotels. Nobody likes a crybaby sissy…
By the way, I am an independent that voted for Obama.
as a woman, i have to say i was not at all offended by the joke. sure, it’s a little sexist, but it pales in comparison to the sexist social norms…and part of a comedian’s job description is to offend…give letterman a break.
and if bristol palin wants to put herself in the spotlight, campaigning for abstinence or whatever she’s doing, she can be a target. the joke was obviously meant to be about her.
That photo of Dave makes me nostalgic for Buddy Ebsen.
Regardless of whose side you’re on, here we are talking about Dave and not that putz Conan (God I miss Johnny more than ever). Dave should be satisfied with these developments.
Too little,too late.
Though dave apologized to Palin,he should’ve apologized to A-Rod too.
Yet despite the apologies,already protestors on the net are pushing forward to Dave to be pulled off of CBS. One New York lawmaker was upset over what he said. But I did watch his apology last night. Advertisors will pull from a program when the heat is turned on.
Where is Alex Rodriguez in all of this? He was slandered.
The wispy white hair. The dangling turkey neck. The ashy wrinkled parchment skin. Comedy hosts don’t have to be handsome, but damn, they shouldn’t look like walking corpses either.
The rightwingers are right about one thing- Dave mostly got away with this because the target of the joke was someone the public hated.In fact, most of the figures the rightwing are pushing forward as their representatives- Limbaugh and Cheney and co.- are widely and thoroughly disliked by the general populance. Not some “Leftist Media Elite”- THE GENERAL POPULANCE.(Rush and O’Rielly love to brag about their ratings, but they’re only large compared to others in their little niches- the overwhelming majority of people simply ignore them completely.) Now, the general public DOESN’T hate Conservatives or conservative ideas- but they DO hate these meanspirited and hypocritical self-aggrandisers that have hijacked the Republican Party.
Whoa! How many advertisers did O’Reilly lose after he blasted away at Dr. George Tiller until he was finally murdered?? Sure Letterman can be a lame, late night jokester at someone else’s expense. He didn’t get anyone murdered though.
The people who think that this was in ANY way about Sara Palin somehow defending her daughter must be the same idiots who thought that stunt with Bruno at the MTV Awards was done without Eminem’s full cooperation. Get your heads out of your asses. This was about Sara Palin seeking publicity, NOTHING else. To think otherwise makes me wonder how, with your limited intellect, you manage to work a computer let alone be media savvy enough to find your way to DHD.
Last I checked, David Letterman is a COMEDIAN. His job description is pretty simple: be funny. Not sensitive, not polite…. FUNNY. And you know what? That shit was funny!!! Maybe not to you, maybe not to everyone, but obviously to quite a few of us. Know what that means, my ideologically challenged friends? That he did his job very nicely. I, for one, refuse to apologize for what I find funny. My laughter doesn’t need your permission. If you choose to be offended by it, fine… that’s YOUR right. Don’t laugh, don’t watch, whatever feels best in your humorless little minds. What you don’t have the right to do, is try to enforce some sort of defacto censorship on what others find funny. And before getting all indignant and whining “We’re not CENSORS!” consider that when you call for Letterman to be fired over ONE joke (or a thousand, for that matter) that you are quite exactly that.
When Malibu Barbie (and come on: you KNOW she looks like a slutty flight attendant) trots out her unwed teenage mother daughter as a spokesperson for teen abstinence she and her family get exactly what they deserve. There is no debating that she’s raised one daughter who’s a slut (and hey, that’s cool! I love sluts! A slut is just a woman who owns her sexuality much to the horror of weak men… just too bad mom didn’t teach her about the importance of birth control) is it such a stretch to imagine that she’s raising another?
The only unfunny thing in this whole debacle is that Dave felt that he had to apologize at all. God knows I hope he and his writers turn the full strength of their wrath on Mrs. Palin directly from now on until her very name is as much of a punch-line as Dan Quayle.
Wow, just think: if America were just a bit more racist, and modern medicine weren’t able to keep McCain from expiring in office, this woman would have been President.
Why has nobody made THAT movie?
I’m none of those things you claim I am, rightwingsux, but thank you for showing everyone else the unmitigated hate that spews from your kind. Perhaps others who call themselves libeal will denounce you, as they should any fanatic, of any political stripe.
As for late night comedians always skewering the Presidents, I suggest you tune into the late night airwaves again: they don’t “go after” Obama at all. They’re terrified to. And my point still stands: if Dave had made this “innocent” joke at the expense of Michelle and the kids, he would have been fired immediately, if not outright lynched. This is the double standard at work in this country.
Comment by Judith — June 16, 2009 @ 10:38 am
Your obvious racist hatred for President Obama may compel you to insinuate he & his family are never the brunt of jokes, but it merely reinforces your own bigotry & stupidity. Of course you don’t cite the NY Post cartoon depicting the president as a violently shot to death ape or the “Barack the Magic Negro” video; or the slur directed @ Mrs. Obama as early as yesterday (http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/15/south-carolina-republican-compares-michelle-obama-to-escaped-gor/). & these aren’t offhand jokes by a late night comedian. These are racist slurs delivered by a national newspaper & leaders of the Republican Party.
Your hypocrisy is as disgusting & ugly as your other hideous attributes you insist on displaying in this post & many others.
“… part of a comedian’s job description is to offend”
ummm
“David Letterman is a comedian. His job description is pretty simple:be funny. Not sensitive, not polite….Funny.”
Jay Mace
I’m sorry I missed the part in the official Comedian’s manual that said being offensive,impolite and insensitive is a requirement of the job.
But let’s go with that, so if the president has fried chicken or watermelon some night we’re going to start hearing a bunch of racist jokes about Obama,Michelle and the daugthers?
No? But..but…it’s a comedian’s job to be offensive?
If Bristol Palin is fair game because she appeared with her mother at campaign functions while still a minor,so did the Obama girls. So their fair game to right?
I mean come on,Bristol may be of age now but the jokes were even coming when she wasn’t.
What about Chelsa Clinton? Adult,campaigned for her mother, where are the jokes?
Gee the silence is deafening.
Hey, Nano Patridge:
Get this….outside of the Ed Sullivan Theater….at no time were there more than (wait for it) 50 protestors. 50. Please feel free to check. Hardly a movement.