ellen

David Letterman Thinks He “Stayed on Television Way Too Long”

As the former Late Show host told Ellen DeGeneres, “There’s more to life than [asking celebrities], ‘So, tell me about your pet beaver.’”

One week after Jay Leno made waves by commenting about the current late-night landscape, his former rival, David Letterman, has dropped a controversial opinion of his own. On Thursday’s Ellen, the former Late Show host got candid with Ellen DeGeneres: “Here’s the mistake I made: I stayed on television way too long.”

Letterman hosted his CBS late-night program—created after NBC chose Leno to host The Tonight Show instead of Letterman, though Letterman had hosted Late Night on NBC for over 10 seasons prior to Johnny Carson’s retirement—from 1993 to 2015. The comedian officially retired in May of that year; that September, current Late Show host Stephen Colbert took over the gig. As Letterman told DeGeneres, “It turns out nobody had the guts to fire me, and I should have left, like, 10 years ago. You want to make sure you have some energy to direct toward other things.”

Letterman currently hosts a talk show on Netflix, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. The series debuted January 2018 with a six-episode first season featuring extended interviews with guests including Barack Obama and Tina Fey, as well as some fieldwork. The series will return this year with a six-episode second season, on which Letterman said DeGeneres is slated to be a guest. As Letterman told DeGeneres, she appears to have a lot of energy to do other things—hosting awards shows, performing voice roles in films—even though she is also busy running her own television show. As Late Show host, he said, he did not have that same motivation. “All I cared about was myself. And then the show was gone, and so I had to realize, Oh, I’ve been looking through the wrong end of the telescope. There’s more to life than, ‘So, tell me about your pet beaver,’” said Letterman.

DeGeneres didn’t miss a beat before asking, “Who was the guest?!” Letterman’s reply? “Martha Stewart.

More Great Stories from Vanity Fair

—The incredible story behind the making of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

— The long, strange history between Fox News host Jeanine Pirro and Donald Trump

— Why L.A. parents are terrified about the college-admissions scam

— Your first look at the modern revival of Tales of the City

Cover story: Riding around with Beto O’Rourke as he comes to grips with a presidential run

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story.