David Letterman sat down recently with Oprah Winfrey and opened up about various topics, despite the fact that the pair had a famous, longtime dislike for one another.
The late-night host talked about the sex scandal that rocked his show (and reputation) and threatened his six-month old marriage to former show staffer Regina Lasko, admitting that he hurt a lot of people and is still regretful. He also says he has a “low threshold for embarrassment”, which prompts a little barb about therapy.
“I want to be the person I always thought I was and probably was pretending I was,” he says. “I hurt a lot of people… I’m not looking to blame anybody. I’m looking to find out why I behaved the way I behaved.”
Letterman also speaks out about his longtime television rival, Jay Leno, calling him “insecure”.
“He has a way…he’s an unusual fellow. I’ve never met anyone quite like Jay. And I will say—and I’m happy to say—that I think he is the funniest guy I’ve ever known. Just flat out, if you go to see him do his nightclub act, just the funniest, the smartest, a wonderful observationist and very appealing as a comic. Therefore, the fact that he is also maybe the most insecure person I have ever known…I could never reconcile that,” he said.
The episode airs on Sunday, January 6th, at 9 p.m.