Letterman: No One Consulted Me About Replacement

In an extensive new interview about his impending sign-off from late-night TV, David Letterman reveals to the New York Times that he had no say in choosing his replacement. "Not my show," he explains. "When we sign off, we’re out of business with CBS. I always thought Jon Stewart would have been a good choice. And then Stephen [Colbert]," who, of course, ended up being the choice. But, Letterman continues, he also thought, "Well, maybe this will be a good opportunity to put a black person on, and it would be a good opportunity to put a woman on. Because there are certainly a lot of very funny women that have television shows everywhere. So that would have made sense to me as well."

He says he wasn't consulted at all, and notes it bothered him a little at the time. "Just as a courtesy, maybe somebody would say: 'You know, we’re kicking around some names. Do you have any thoughts here?' But it doesn’t bother me now. At the time, I had made the decision [to leave] and I thought, OK, this is what comes when you make this decision." He says he thinks it will be "very interesting" to see what Colbert does with the Late Show, and adds that he hasn't given him any advice: "I don’t think he needs—he’s not a kid. He’s not a beginner. He’s had pretty good success." Click for the full interview. (More David Letterman stories.)