Maya Rudolph has called out David Letterman over a 2009 appearance on his show The Late Show with David Letterman which left her feeling “embarrassed and humiliated.”
In an interview published by WSJ. magazine, Rudolph recounted how she “did not have a good time” on the show.
“He said my name wrong, and I just sat there, like, I grew up my whole life in love with you. And now my heart is broken. And I’m sitting here embarrassed and humiliated,” she said.
“I didn’t know how to handle it,” she continued. “I didn’t know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn’t strong yet.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Rudolph discussed her struggle with interviews and red-carpet appearances during the early days of her career.
“It would always feel like someone was stealing my soul,” she explained. “That’s where, over the years, I created a persona to protect myself.”
The comedian added, “I’ve definitely gotten much better. When I’m uncomfortable, I try to be funny.”
And get this: despite all the incredible roles she’s absolutely nailed, she still doesn’t consider herself a celebrity.
“I know I’m a working actor and people know who I am, but I don’t feel like a celebrity, because that word means something else today to me,” she said.
“There are a lot of different types of celebrities these days and a lot of self-made celebrities where people are famous for being famous, and that isn’t what I do.”
Rudolph concluded that nowadays, her main focus is on being a mama.
“Believe me, I am not a Pollyanna who’s like, I smile all day, every day. I get stressed out, I get pissed off, but I learned I could make a choice for myself, and it’s liberating,” she said.
“Maybe people who’ve worked as long as I have make other choices and have nicer cars. I don’t know, but it’s so important for me to [try to] have that balance.”
Love you, Maya. Fuck you, David.
