David Letterman discussed the topic of the week — his own retirement — on Friday night’s “Late Show” monologue, shooting out a string of jokes about breaking the news to CBS boss Les Moonves and the reason for leaving his longtime gig.
Cracking wise about telling Moonves about his retirement, Letterman — who announced his plans to step down next year during Thursday night’s show — said that he called Moonves to break the news.
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“I said, ‘I’m retiring,’ and there was a pause and he said, ‘Who is this?’” Letterman cracked.
Letterman then semi-addressed the reason for his retirement.
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“People are saying to me, ‘Honestly quit the wise remarks [and] screwing around, why did you decide to announce your retirement?’” Letterman noted.
The CBS late-night host then claimed that the decision had come from a recent conversation with his makeup artist Jane.
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“She says to me, ‘Dave, there’s really nothing more I can do,’” Letterman joked.
Watch the video below.