Barbara's no longer at the Producer's Podium; that position has been taken over by Nancy Agostini. That's likely why there was no reaction shot.
I would tend to think that little of Rosie's rants came into the decision for Dave to tell Gaines' story; rather, I think he found it funny and, with Barbara's ok, shared it for broadcast. On Jan 8, 1:22 pm, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > I got behind on my Dave watching last week, and only saw one of them (with > Tina Fey, who I still have a thing for, and got rewarded for it by seeing > her talk about her boobs) last night. I think this was the Thursday show. > Right before the Top Ten list, Dave told a little story (I paste below the > description from the Wahoo Gazette): > > ****************http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/the_wahoo_gazette/ > "And while last second changes to the Top Ten are being made, Dave decides > to tell another story. There is a female Late Show staffer who happens to > be a lesbian. She was hailing a cab the other day. A cab stops for her > and before she gets in, she turns and kisses her partner goodbye. She > hops in the backseat and the cabbie quickly turns and asks, "Are you > French?" " > **************** > > In his actual telling of the story he mentioned Barbara Gaines by name, > though they did not cut to a shot of her standing what I guess is only 20 > feet away at that little producer's podium. He also elaborated more than > the above reflects, on her lesbianess. He has done things like this on > occasion, and it may have just been a space filler to let them get the Top > Ten list ready (Dave often seems to share anecdotes from his day that just > strike his fancy for some reason, often with no discernible reason. I did > wonder if it was more intentional than that - perhaps to again publicly > identify himself with the several lesbian, gay (and, I think he has a > transgendered) employees, or if it was a response, in Dave-logic, to > criticism he got from Rosie O'Donnell before Christmas. I don't think that > was discussed here, but she apparently got pissed at a joke he told in > early December after she announced she was getting engaged. I did not think > it was that funny a joke, but the main thing I recall thinking when he told > it was "is Rosie O'Donell still a pop culture reference? What's next, a > Ricki Lake joke. But apparently thought it was just short of hate speech. > > I read a lot of stories about Rosie's overreaction, but nothing about a > response from Dave or his camp. > > Below are some links and excerpts illustrating Rosie's reaction: > > ****************http://www.shewired.com/box-office/2011/12/12/rosie-odonnell-fires-ba... > > "Rosie O'Donnell has fired back at fellow comedian-talk show host David > Letterman's jokes about her engagement, commenting on his recent sex > scandal and suggesting he might be antigay. > > Last Tuesday night, following the announcement of O'Donnell's engagement to > Michelle Rounds, Letterman joked, "The woman she is marrying, her fiancee, > was driving ... and her car broke down. And guess what happened? Rosie > pulls up right behind her in her tow truck." > > Friday night on OWN's *The Rosie Show*, O'Donnell wondered what prompted > Letterman to resort to making such a stereotypical crack. "Why is that, > Dave?" she asks. "Why? I don't remember making fun of you when you had sex > with all your interns, Dave. I didn't do that. I didn't make fun of your > rampant, throbbing heterosexuality, did I Dave?". O'Donnell then riffed on > a familiar Letterman trademark—his top ten list—when she gave her top five > reasons why she refuses to appear on his show. Included among them are: > "Dave, when you had that heart surgery, you shouldn't have told the doctors > to take out the whole thing" and "Not only do you appear to be antigay, > you're anti-tow trucker."" > ***************** > ******************http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/rosie-odonnell-letterman-tru... > > "So here I was getting nothing but support and love from the general public > and then I go into work and the writers said, "Did you see the Letterman > thing?" They played the clip for me and I was kind of shocked. > > Now, do I think David Letterman is a homophobic guy? No. Do I think those > jokes had homophobic undertones? Yes, I do. Because that is just a way to > mask the word 'dyke.' > > "Rosie pulled up with a tow truck" and "She's also now the defensive coach > of the Brooklyn Sabers," a hockey team I guess. What are those jokes about? > *Rosie's a dyke. Rosie's a dyke.* Now, did I think Dave would ever say, > "Rosie's a dyke?" No. But that is that what that joke is about, yes, it is. > > When I got the crazy haircut [back in 2002] and was in the news with all > the "Rosie's insanity," "She's having a breakdown," "She's crazy," -- he > did a lot of stuff about me. He had Bruce Willis come out with a short wig > like my hair. He did a lot of jokes about me. But I was always like, "OK, > whatever." But in the wake of feeling so unbelievably supported and loved > and freed by my own personal change, it felt like a slap. Every week the > Letterman people call and say, "We want you on the show." So [on my show] > we rolled the clip [of Letterman joking about me] and I came back and said, > "Why? I'll tell you why [I won't come on the show], Dave." And then I > listed the top five > reasons.<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/rosie-odonnell-david-letterm...>They > were funny jokes that I did, but what I was really saying was, "It's > not OK for you to do that. It's not OK for you to say unfunny jokes where > the bottom line is, 'Isn't Rosie a dyke?'" > > When Dave had all of his issues of his heterosexual acting out, of his > heterosexual union with his wife, when he had sex with interns on his show, > I did not do jokes about that. I know where the line is. I'd never say to > Dave, "You know you're not really a manly man. You're a skinny, > gap-toothed, unappealing man. There are men much more manly than you." I > don't do that. I wouldn't do that. But he feels it's okay to basically say, > "Isn't she so dykey?" > > I just feel at 50 -- there's a wonderful speech on the TED women > conference<http://conferences.ted.com/TEDWomen/>by this woman Susan > Levine where she talks about the benefit of being in > the fabulous "f**k you 50s," where you get to a point where you're in your > 50s and you're through menopause and you've just had enough, and you're > like, "You know what, f**k you, right?" and that’s where I've sort of > arrived at. > > Do I think Dave innately hates gay people? No, I do not. Do I think it was > a thoughtless and offensive, not just to me, but to every gay person in the > country and to every kid struggling with their sexuality, who hears > presidential candidates saying we are not worthy, not equal to, that we are > less than? Do I think that it's damaging to them? I do. And I'm going to > stand up for myself and for them when I feel that it's necessary." -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! 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