And the No. 1 person David Letterman blames for his sex scandal: David Letterman.
Although a former CBS producer went to jail for extortion after trying to sell for $2 million his silence about the late-night host’s illicit affairs, Letterman says he holds himself responsible for the fallout.
“I have no one to blame but myself,” Letterman tells Oprah Winfrey in an interview with the media maven airing Sunday on her OWN network. “And now, I feel better about myself, my relationship with my wife is never better, and it’s just because I want to be the person I always thought I was and probably was pretending I was.
“And so far, it’s been great. Things have been great. I hurt a lot of people. I have nobody to blame but myself. I’m not looking to blame anybody. I’m looking to find out why I behaved the way I behaved.”
Letterman also tells Winfrey in the “Oprah’s Next Chapter” interview that the top position on his funny-man list goes to, of all people, Jay Leno.
“I’ve never met anyone quite like Jay,” Letterman says. “And I will say and I’m happy to say that I think he is the funniest guy I’ve ever known. Just flat out, if you go to see him do his nightclub act, just the funniest.”
The interview was a breakthrough of its own. Winfrey and Letterman had squabbled for years, and promos for the interview said Winfrey would reveal the “true reason” behind their feud.