Letterman Stuns Audiences Into Silence With Sexist Joke

David Letterman isn’t known for particularly respectful behavior toward women. The married late-night host admitted to a series of affairs back in 2009, and has publicly atoned for some of his slip-ups since then, but a recent mistake proves that in terms of attitude, he’s still the same old Dave. The Late Show host was taking questions from fans at the Ed Sullivan Theater on Monday, as per usual. A college staffer kicked things off, asking the funnyman what advice he would give to this 2015 graduates. According to a source, Letterman fired back: “Treat a lady like a whore, and a whore like a lady.” The joke apparently fell flat, and Letterman tried to recover by urging a new generation of grads to “eat a lot of salad” and always be nice, said the source. The one-liner certainly isn’t an original; it’s credited to the 1930s screenwriter Wilson Mizner (a spokesman for Letterman responded by saying: “I can’t confirm the accuracy of that). That doesn't really matter though. The point is that it was offensive, and totally inappropriate — and if Letterman doesn't realize that, then it's definitely time to retire.