Madonna On Late Show With David Letterman - Details

Details

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.

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,

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 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".