David Letterman Admits Giving Phony Apology for Palin Joke

We all know celebrity apologies can be as phony as a ’50s era science fiction film.

Still, when David Letterman offered up a mea culpa for a nasty, sexually charged joke aimed at Sarah Palin’s 14-year-old daughter back in 2009, it certainly seemed as if the gap-toothed talker might have his heart in the right place.

Turns out the apology had its ugly, pragmatic side. Here’s Letterman explaining the situation anew with Oprah Winfrey on “Oprah’s Next Chapter” program.

I’ll tell you why I apologized. I felt like Sarah Palin was somebody I wanted to continue to be able to make fun of and I felt like if I don’t apologize, if I don’t sincerely express my regret, I will not be able to go forward making fun of her. And truly, I felt bad for the 14-year-old. You know, that was just like, oh nice going, you got the wrong daughter. That was just dumb, stupid joke that fell into dumb luck and got worse.