Before Maya Rudolph was a household name, David Letterman mispronounced hers, leaving the comedian feeling “embarrassed and humiliated” during an early career interview.
Two years after exiting “Saturday Night Live,” Rudolph landed her first leading feature film role in the 2009 comedy “Away We Go,” which led to her first-ever guest appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”
“I did not have a good time,” she said in an interview with WSJ Magazine published on Friday. “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. I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn’t strong yet.”
All these years later, Rudolph said she’s “gotten much better,” adding that, “when I’m uncomfortable, I try to be funny.”
A representative for Letterman told NBC News, “We must respectfully decline comment” concerning Rudolph’s experience on the late-night talk show, which aired its final episode in 2015.
At the start of the 2009 appearance, Letterman appears to fumble while introducing the comedian, seemingly adding an “a” to the beginning of her name. He subsequently apologized to Rudolph over the flub.
“I’m sorry that I mispronounced your name,” he told the comedian. “I’m just a boob. There’s no excuse for it. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologize.”
While Rudolph has yet to expand on her experience, she’s likely not the only star to have a less than favorable sit-down with the talk show host.
Last year, Letterman drew criticism on social media over a resurfaced clip from a 2013 interview with Lindsay Lohan.
At the time, he appeared to mock her drug and alcohol recovery, prodding a visibly uncomfortable Lohan with a barrage of questions about the tumult in her personal life, including her shoplifting and seeking rehabilitation treatment.
Amid the backlash, Letterman stayed silent. He currently hosts the Netflix interview series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” which dropped its fourth season on the streaming service earlier this year.