David Letterman Makes Sleazy Comments About Sarah Palin's Daughter

[Nathan]

No there wasn't. There was only a 14 year-old girl who has to go to school now being the "girl knocked up by A-Rod" in a comedy sketch. 14 is a very delicate time for most girls. The implication is she was "fucked in a dugout". And peers can be vicious. The poor child. Personally I'd rather be privately raped than publicly fucked.

It isn't even about Letterman anymore. Now that poor kid has to endure "How was A-Rod?" for the rest of her teenage life, while she's just developing that thick second skin we all finally get.

Humiliation might not be rape, but it fucking hurts. It can be soul destroying. The children of the politicians are not politicians. They have not voluntarily entered the public forum. They've been dragged into it. Therefore they should be off limits to the media.

First:

Evster! You're back! Yes!

Second:

I couldn't agree more. This was just a pathetic, tasteless remark of Letterman's and it should not be allowed to fly. It's sad, too, because I used to like Letterman for a while, when I found out he was a Bill Hicks fan (Bill Hicks is the greatest comedian of all time) and a friend of his (Hicks had been on the show 11 or more times in his career). And Letterman sometimes surprise me. But this was just low. I don't like Sarah Palin and I'm so glad she didn't end up in office, but this was too far.

I agree that the family of politicians should be off limits to the media, including Sarah Palin's.

[eternal light]

How is this shocking? Ever since Palin's daughter became knocked up in the public eye, graced the covers of magazines, swooned with Oprah..yadda yadda yadda, how is this off-limits?

Coming from the same spectrum of those who need to know everything about everyone's personal lives..ahh..American voyeurism continues to thrive.

The dumbing down of society continues.

It would have been off limits in terms of civil rights if David Letterman had been serious and if Bristol Palin was not considered to be a public figure.

For many of us, it is off limits in terms of our social expectations of others as far as their being polite and considerate.

[marolyn]

And has anyone noticed the irony of the "slutty flight attendant joke". He used the term "slutty" without hesitation, but refrained from saying "stewardess", because that would be politically incorrect and offensive.

no...that would appear to disregard all of the "slutty" male flight attendents...

[kirchzep27]

in regards to the joke, it was off the wall. i havent followed the whole story, but it seems -palin has got some more air time and so has -dave. which is all bullshit ofcourse anyway.

[DeepBlackZeppelin]

Women contribute to it to. There are millions of women who willing exploit themselves. Look at any magazine cover. or watch any tv or movie. Those women are not forced to do what they do.

And more and more men are treated badly and disrespected as well. I have talked about it in the past the amount of male bashing that goes on. Women look at men as sex objects too.

I know, what much can we do about it? Are we going to censor what can be said? I completely understand what you mean by the fact that women can contribute to an oversexualized society as well. It's just so enforced that all women [not teenage girls, though the truth is many of them love to be lascivious too] are so innocent and are so victimized by a sexualized society, when many women love to dress in a revealing way and commit such acts, by their own accord.

Now that's not such a bad thing, sex is one of our most primal and natural instincts. But to take advantage of someone in that way is not right at all. However, is our oversexualized media, with the contribution of women, really contributing to more and more people being taken advantage of? If so, how does that explain the vast number of victims who've gone through sexual assault in the far past before the influence of media?

Yes, some of the things people say are disgustingly and horribly offensive, but that's been going on with comedians for a while, and they have the right to say that. People have already made many obscene child abuse and statutory rape jokes in the public already [such as in comedy tours with examples such as Bill Burr], but it gains so much attention and sympathy only when a famous person is involved. [deja vu to Miley Cyrus vs. Jamie Foxx]

Don't get me wrong, I strongly dislike jokes with exploitation of children very much, but where do you cross the line on what is allowed to be just said in the media, especially comedy? Free speech can go both ways in the sense that people can express opposition, but should someone, even with jokes that many people are disgusted by, be silenced? [Have you not seen shows like Family Guy, children are disgustingly exploited all the time, way worse than this case, in the name of comedy, but it's still allowed, as well as it should be allowed]

There's a great episode of Law and Order: SVU called "Obscene" that covers exactly this topic, with many of the similar details, with obscene sex jokes said about a sixteen year old actress on the radio and Lewis Black's[great comedian] character arguing vehemently about free speech, while angry parents want the show canceled off the air.

[eternal light]

Here is the problem.

One, he named a person specifically.

Two, he said something embarrassing about her and broadcasted it to a public audience with millions of viewers.

Three, the embarrassing statement was untrue.

Four, one could argue that the children are off limits and therefore considered to be private persons.

Five, hypothetically, if he had been serious, they could taken an action against him based on defamation.

He got into somewhat of a grey area with his statement and wanted to clarify that he meant no harm to anyone's reputation, that he simply made a bad joke.

He apologized to show good will and to prevent them from taking any futher offense.

His apology was necessary from a practical viewpoint to prevent damage.

[DeepBlackZeppelin]

Okay, you made it a bit clear now, eternal light. I was a bit hazy and I thought it was like the case on the one episode of SVU that I mentioned.

It's so incendiary when it comes to free speech, unbelievably incendiary.

It's like you're allowed to say what you want in this country, but....[a million other restrictions]

I still stand by what I said earlier purely about tasteless jokes and free speech.

[eternal light]

Okay, you made it a bit clear now, eternal light. I was a bit hazy and I thought it was like the case on the one episode of SVU that I mentioned.

It's so incendiary when it comes to free speech, unbelievably incendiary.

It's like you're allowed to say what you want in this country, but....[a million other restrictions]

I still stand by what I said earlier purely about tasteless jokes and free speech.

Yes, I think that maybe his management may have been playing it safe trying to balance the two issues, the right to free speech and the right to protect people from defamation.

They may have gently suggested that he prepare an apology in his own words meant to convey his good wishes and then reviewed for any possible editing. Once approved, he could then make it public. That could explain why it took a few days before he apologized.

And I agree about the right to free speech.

If he had made the joke less personal that would have helped a lot, perhaps if he had referred to all the attractive women at the game rather than just one person as the subject of the joke.

[DeepBlackZeppelin]

Yes, I think that maybe his management may have been playing it safe trying to balance the two issues, the right to free speech and the right to protect people from defamation.

They may have gently suggested that he prepare an apology in his own words meant to convey his good wishes and then reviewed for any possible editing. Once approved, he could then make it public. That could explain why it took a few days before he apologized.

And I agree about the right to free speech.

If he had made the joke less personal that would have helped a lot, perhaps if he had referred to all the attractive women at the game rather than just one person as the subject of the joke.

I understand what you mean.

But of course, this type of media circus will happen over and over.

Next, Jay Leno said blah blah blah about Selena Gomez.

And then a few months later,something like.....Johnny Depp said blah blah blah about [insert teen celebrity because I sure as hell don't know many]

and then, Miley takes another scandalous picture, blah blah blah

[eternal light]

I understand what you mean.

But of course, this type of media circus will happen over and over.

Next, Jay Leno said blah blah blah about Selena Gomez.

And then a few months later,something like.....Johnny Depp said blah blah blah about [insert teen celebrity because I sure as hell don't know many]

and then, Miley takes another scandalous picture, blah blah blah

Yes, so much of it is mainly about free speech.

In this situation though, some of the elements for defamation were present. It seems that the network's management may have preferred to do a bit of damage control just in case any problems were to arise further on up the road.

[XerSizNRite]

Olive Garden yanks Letterman ads (June 19, 2009)

David Letterman is out of the Olive Garden family.

The "When you're here, you're family" restaurant chain has pulled its advertising that was scheduled to air this year during "The Late Show," reports Politico, because it's not happy with how Letterman acted regarding his jokes about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter.

"We apologize that Mr. Letterman's mistake, which was not consistent with our standards and values, left you with a bad impression of Olive Garden," Sherri Bruen, the company's guest relations manager, writes in an email to a Letterman critic.

Despite Palin's accepting the talk show host's apology for his inappropriate comments, Conservative radio host John Ziegler has been spearheading a campaign to get Letterman fired. A small protest was held Tuesday outside of the "Late Show" studios.

Ziegler has also compiled a list of the show's advertisers, among them Olive Garden, on his Web site, FireDavidLetterman.com.

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=415365&gt1=28103

[Mary Hartman]

Top Ten Reasons David Letterman Can Cut On Sarah Palin

1. Sarah Palin is daft.

2. See 1.

3. Sarah Palins daughter is daft.

4. Sarah Palin slaughters moose to prove she's daft.

5. Sarah Palins husband is daft.

6. Whichever idiots elected thy daftness as governor is daft.

7. Alaska is daft as it really belongs to Russia anyhow.

8. Her dressing like a secretary is daft.

9. That birds nest on her head is daft.

10. She's ran as a rebublican, that's all the daft shit we need for a decade or so.

[Mary Hartman]

i am so overwhelmed by the irresponsibility of dumbass letterman, i never even stopped to ponder how this may all roll out in willow's young teenage life, which is already compromised being the daughter of a politician, and one that has taken a beating from the media, no less.

i watched matt lauer's interview with sarah palin on friday, and i absolutely agreed with everything she had to say regarding the letterman drama....with that "joke" he is perpetuating this unacceptable "thread in our culture", as she put it, that its okay to exploit women and children.

i don't know how we got here as a culture, after all that has been done with women's rights, we are still looked at as sexual objects and disrespected by men. this frightens me as the mom of a daughter. i know my son will never have to deal with this kind of unfairness in his life...but my daughter will come across it time and again. its a sad truth. and let me say this, it all starts with how we raise our sons....and if i do anything as a parent, i am teaching my son to show kindness and respect to all people, but women in particular.

I believe you have who to blame for this melo drama on backwards. Letterman does this all the time. We laugh or don't laugh and the next day most people don't even remember what Letterman said.....

However.

This girls mother (Sarah) decides to exploit her daughter and press every button she can find to push her personal agenda with Letterman and get PUBLICITY. She has done this at her families expense just as she has in the past and it would have all been forgotten as a joke if she had not pitched fits to promote herself.

[Evster2012]

Personally, were I Palin I'd have told my daughters this:

In life, people will say stupid, hurtful things. Sometimes maliciously. Sometimes out of sheer lack of taste. These things do NOT define you. You define yourself. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but some dumb joke by a talkshow host should never hurt you. If this man wants to tell jokes on an eighth grader level to entertain his audience, so be it. He only lowers himself. Not you. Pity him his lack of sophistication, his inability to discern what his writers provide as appropriate or not, or his basic lack of class. And if he chooses to apologise for the poor taste of his joke, so be it. If he is coerced by his superiors, I say let him save it. You're the children of a public figure, and you can never take it as it defines who or how you are.

That's what I would tell my girls.

I would not make it a media incident that puts my girls any further on the media radar. I would refuse to validate it with any further comment. I would make no demands on Mr. Letterman to issue a public apology. I would expect him to figure that out for himself. And if not, let that define him. Not my children.

I'll be running for Mayor of Maple Street in 2012. Beers are on me.

[TypeO]

I'll be running for Mayor of Maple Street in 2012. Beers are on me.

gots my vote