https://www.gq.com/story/david-letterman-gq-video-cover-storyby Zach Baron
December 11, 2024
(David) Letterman is probably the most decorated and longest serving late night host in the history of television, a legacy he wears with his signature mix of pride, deflection, and self-loathing. I’ve interviewed a lot of people in my life. But I’m not sure if I’ve ever interviewed anyone quicker — with a joke, with a dodge, with a perfectly off-kilter anecdote — than David Letterman. At 77, he is still, improbably even to himself, working. Today, he launches something called the Letterman TV FAST Channel, on Samsung TV Plus, which is a collection of highlights from, and new commentary on, The Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman also still hosts a regular talk show on Netflix called My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. “I’m surprised that I’m still doing it at my age,” he told me. “On the other hand, I still get a kick out of what we’re doing. So what does that mean? I don’t know.”
In our conversation we talked about, well, nearly everything — the art of interviewing, the cost of showbiz on the soul, the impossibility of retirement, Letterman’s years of late night wars with Jay Leno, his influence and total aversion to nostalgia, his skepticism of fame (“If fame has crushed you personally, I prefer that kind of person than somebody who wears it well”), and much more.
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