Photo: Kathy Hutchins & Lev Radin / Shutterstock
This is not a good look.
By Audrey Jaber — Written on Feb 24, 2021
A now-viral 1998 interview between David Letterman and Jennifer Aniston has resurfaced and left fans feeling horrified.
The clip features the late-night talk show host sucking on the hair of a visibly uncomfortable Jennifer Aniston.
"Forgive me if this is rude. I just want to try one thing," Letterman says, before moving incredibly close to Aniston, grabbing the back of her neck and putting a tendril of her hair into his mouth.
Aniston tries to squirm away from Letterman, shrieking, "What are you doing?"
As if that's not bad enough, the video is not over yet.
Anniston comments on how shocked the audience looks and mentions that the interview is something she will never forget.
"Well, you scared the hell out of me," says Letterman, mimicking sucking on her hair. "All of a sudden you scream." To that, Aniston is left apologizing.
The interview then transitions to a more appropriate discussion on her movie promotion, but Aniston continues to fidget uncomfortably.
"You're still traumatized by that hair deal, aren't you," says Letterman, before joking about getting her into "some kind of twelve-step program" to help her get over the incident.
The clip — which was posted to Twitter on February 16 — has already amassed over thirty-eight thousand views and many angry replies.
"How this was even acceptable baffles the mind and conscience," one commenter wrote.
"That is so creepy and disgusting," another said. "What a misogynistic thing to do to a woman."
This isn't the first time in recent weeks that Letterman's past on-air behavior has come to light.
In fact, there seems to be no shortage of uncomfortable videos featuring Letterman acting disrespectfully towards a female guest.
A 2013 interview with Lindsay Lohan resurfaced a few weeks ago for the same reason.
In this video, Letterman starts the interview by asking, "Aren't you supposed to be in rehab now?" Though Lohan points out that this topic was not discussed in the pre-interview, Letterman continues his line of questioning.
In yet another attempt to steer the conversation in a different direction, Lohan mentions that she and Letterman have discussed her troubles with addiction in the past.
Letterman, who claims not to remember this past conversation, responds, " Now I'm the one who's having the blackouts…I ought to be in rehab."
In 2004, it was Christina Aguilera's turn to be sexually objectified by Letterman.
The interview starts with Letterman calling Aguilera "terribly exotic." He then turns the entire interview into a conversation about her piercings, repeatedly asking, "Where are you pierced exactly?"
Like Aniston and Lohan, Aguilera is left asking Letterman for a change in subject, to which she is denied.
The resurfacing of these videos leaves viewers questioning how these undeniably creepy interviews were ever allowed to happen.
Despite the now-obvious issues, Letterman hosted late-night talk shows for over 30 years.
These videos are undoubtedly difficult to watch, and continue to raise questions about appropriate on-air behavior — especially behavior from someone like Letterman, who is technically in a position of power.
Of the 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show that he hosted, just how many others feature utterly inappropriate and misogynistic interviews?
Audrey Jaber is a writer living in Boston, Massachusetts. She covers a variety of topics for YourTango, including news and entertainment.