Due to not being interested in Leno's guests last night, I switch over to Letterman. After Keanu proves to be one of the worst people to interview, Paula Abdul comes out. Now I don't keep up with her career but know she is on American Idol, has had allegtions of sleaping with singers & recently had a stalker want to kill her.

After a few normal questions, Dave starts questioning her about some show she did on MTV. Not sure the story behind that but she really didn't want to talk about it & kept trying to change the subject. Dave just kept asking her about it until he must have gotten the hint and went with what she wanted to talk about (a new cheerleader show). Then Dave brings up the stalker case. She REALLY didn't want to talk about it. He kept talking about it and you could see the fear in her eye over the case & looked like she was about to cry. Dave just kept trying to make a joke about it. At one point, it seemed she was about to walk off stage. Dave must have finally gotten the hint and they ended the interview soon after. Now I am no way a big fan of Paula but it was hard not to feel sorry for her seeing the fear/uncomfortableness in her expressions due to Dave talking so much about it. Letterman just came off as a jerk for keeping it up.

Now I know Dave is an interviewer but he isn't a news reporter & the show is entertainment. He doesn't have to go into subjects that the guests obviously feel uncomfortable about. Even if he doesn't know they don't want to talk about it, he should have gotten the hint much sooner that guests do not want to talk about it and change the subject.

She's another one who cannot sing. That paper-thin voice and she's judging talent.

I don't think you have to be able to sing to critique other singers. I don't think Simon can sing.

Paula Abdul seems like the type to cry over stepping on a ladybug.

12.10.08 show

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hnuoi-QPEPE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hnuoi-QPEPE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


But you do know that "their people" red or green light most of that stuff pre-interview right? It's like when Dave messes with Paris Hilton and makes her uncomfortable....but she still comes back for more.

It's all good TV.

To bad that Jay Leno doesn't have brass balls like Dave.

I had a completely different take on this interview. Letterman was going after AI and Fox, not Abdul. As he said, the baboons that run this show were much more interested in "good" TV than (literally) these peoples' lives. If Abdul had ANYTHING else to fall back on this incident would have and should have resulted in a massive lawsuit. If Abdul was uncomfortable, it's because Letterman was encouraging her to sever ties with the only thing she's got going for her and she clearly cares much more about money than principle.

I was listening to a radio show yesterday and they were talking about
Abdul and the lady who killed herself.
She has been stalking Abdul for years and was threatening to kill her because Paula was her supposed Guardian Angel. She auditioned for Idol even though Abdul told the producers she was scared that she might do something rash. They went against her wishes, she found out where Paula lived and killed herself. I would want to cry to.
Sensitive subject.

If you don't wanna talk about your life, don't do the show.

Huh? I know that Dave can be a little tough on guests sometimes but he wasn't the bully the OP made him out to be. Paula looked like she was taking it in stride. I didn't see any tears in the youtube clip and she only pretended to walk off stage. Then she gave Dave a kiss.

I agree. It was Dave being Dave. Anyone who doesn't regularly watch could see it differently though.

Nothing happens on these shows that isn't already planned and pre-approved. Heck, she talked about it on The View, why wouldn't Dave be able to bring it up?

I agree. I didn't think the interview was bad at all or that Dave was even being harsh (as he was with Paris Hilton a few shows ago). If anything, he changed the subject each time she got uncomfortable and kept trying to tie the last bit back into suing AI and Fox. Of course, she can't say anything because that could get her in trouble, but Dave's just being Dave.

God, she's dressed like the bastard child of Michael Jackson and Captain Crunch.. KILL IT WITH FIRE!

???? The stalker is a subject for less than 60 seconds, with Dave's saying "Sue 'em (Fox)" and Abdul saying "You're gonna get me in trouble." OP, you were doing some serious projection.

I felt that Letterman let her off easy, the questions could have easily been more to the point but he really didn't press where she didn't willingly go. He seemed to be on her side for the most part. He was much worse on Paris Hilton awhile back.

I do feel bad for her, even though she is a little crazy.

It's not his job, nor it should be his job, to be nice to people.

Yeah, I'm not seeing Letterman being overly harsh or a "jerk" like the OP says either.

You don't watch Dave very much, do you? He raked John McCain over the coals for his association with Gordon Liddy (because of McCain's saying Obama was hanging out with "terrorists"), and has a history of making guests uncomfortable.

Dave doesn't like "phony" people - so if you're a phony and on his show, watch out.

Okay...whatever. Letterman himself is a 'phony' person. He's been bitter and not nearly as much fun to watch since he lost the hosting gig for the Tonight Show. His early stuff on NBC was a blast. Too bad that guy's gone.

Although if I were a guest, I would NEVER go on Conan's show, unless I didn't want to talk or be interrupted every sentence. The one show I would go to over and over is Craig Ferguson, then Leno, maybe.

Wait, there are people who actually like Leno?

Wow, Abdul seems retarded. Does she always talk like that with Shatner pauses or like she cant speak a sentence without taking a breath.

Dave did a good interview.

I'm a Leno and Conan fan. I'm not really big on Dave.

I remember a Letterman show years ago when Nastassia Kinski was on and he almost made her cry by making fun of her hair.

I notice she hasn't been on the show since.

I thought she looks tiny sitting in the chair next to Dave.

I watch Dave's show a lot. But he tends to be sarcastic. I remember the Paris Hilton interview and it was real cruel! He also tends to be very biased and cynical. Such as the Palin, Bush and other scripts they come out with. I did not favor these guys but he is just so one sided, that my wife doesn't like watching his shows at all. So we tend get to watch more of Leno's show instead. In contrast to these, the Paula Abdul interview was real tame.