In October 2009, veteran TV writer Nell Scovell wrote a piece for Vanity Fair taking her former boss David Letterman to task for his sexism, the toxic work environment he oversaw, and his show’s overwhelming exclusion of women and non-white staffers. Now, Scovell has written a follow-up piece. VF’s “Ten Years Ago, I Called Out David Letterman. This Month, We Sat Down to Talk.” sees Scovell and Letterman discussing his reaction to the original article. (It’s worth noting that it took Letterman a full decade to read it.)
The amazing thing is that Letterman actually apologizes for his shitty behavior. Despite the onslaught of stories that have come out in the #MeToo era, very few men have actually said “sorry” without adding a “but” immediately after, or whining about being persecuted a couple days later.
“I’m sorry I was that way and I was happy to have read the piece because it wasn’t angering,” Letterman told Scovell. “I felt horrible because who wants to be the guy that makes people unhappy to work where they’re working? I don’t want to be that guy. I’m not that guy now. I was that guy then.”
To be fair, though, it has been 10 years since Scovell called Letterman out — that’s a very long time to wait before acknowledging someone’s grievances. Still, she sees their conversation as a positive, and she hopes that more men speak honestly with those they’ve wronged without defensiveness or scorn.
“We need more dialogue so men can understand the difference between criticism and condemnation. And we need more dialogue so women can voice discomfort without fear of retaliation,” Scovell writes. “Of course, conversation won’t work in all cases. I have no interest in ever crossing paths with Jim Stafford [who sexually assaulted Scovell] again.” She continues, “Dave’s willingness to speak to me on the record is part of him making amends. His acknowledgment of mistakes and regret go out to those who were wronged. They also go out to the enablers and defenders of his behavior. That’s equally important.”
Of course, Scovell adds, simply saying “sorry” isn’t truly making amends. One has to mean it and own up the damage they inflicted. “Amends take effort and an honest assessment of one’s actions. Sometimes outside nudges help, too,” Scovell explains. “When [Letterman’s Netflix show] ‘My Next Guest…’ dropped in early 2018, I noticed that all the executive producers were men. I pointed that out in yet another article,” she revealed. “The next season, the show had a new production company and a diverse group of executive producers. (Tom Keaney, Dave’s adviser and one of those EPs, called to alert me to the change: ‘Dave listened to you,’ he said. ‘Great. Now tell him to lose the beard,’ I replied.)”
“Murphy Brown,” “Charmed,” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” are among Scovell’s many TV writing credits. She’s directed two TV movies, “Hayley Wagner, Star” and “It Was One of Us,” as well as an episode of “Awkward.” Last year, Scovell published her memoir, “Just the Funny Parts: … And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boy’s Club.”
