David Letterman recently apologized to ex-Late Night writer for sexist behavior
In 2009, former Late Night writer Nell Scovell penned a Vanity Fair article that accused her former boss David Letterman of skewing the show’s hiring process in favor of white men, and of creating a “hostile work environment” for women. Scovell was the second female writer ever hired on the popular CBS series.
On Wednesday, Vanity Fair published a new article by Scovell sharing an update on her original story. She writes that she met with Letterman recently, a decade after her initial piece was published, to discuss what she wrote — even though Letterman admitted to never having read it all those years ago.
Letterman said, “You know, the other night I read the piece that you wrote 10 years ago,” Scovell writes. “And I thought, Holy s—, this is so disturbing and, sadly, a perspective that I did not have because the only perspective I had was in here.… I’m sorry I was that way and I was happy to have read the piece because it wasn’t angering. I felt horrible because who wants to be the guy that makes people unhappy to work where they’re working? I don’t want to be that guy. I’m not that guy now. I was that guy then.”
Scovell writes in Vanity Fair that she and Letterman discussed a lot of things that were on her mind, including Letterman’s affairs with subordinates at CBS that led to a blackmailing scandal which put his marriage in jeopardy. She added that Letterman said he didn’t read her original article because he was focused on saving his marriage.
He said, “It just feels horrible now to hear these stories of women who I thwarted knowingly or largely unknowingly, unwittingly,” writes Scovell. “I regret it, you know?”
EW has reached out to a representative for Letterman for comment.
This story and its headline have been updated with further clarification.
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