Julia Roberts diagnoses Letterman's early mean streak: 'Stupid people annoy you'

Julia Roberts plays head doctor to David Letterman
(Image credit: Late Show)

On Wednesday, Julia Roberts made her 26th and final appearance on a David Letterman talk show, and she recalled how nervous she was during her first visit, back in 1988, to promote Mystic Pizza on Letterman's Late Night. She also explained why: "I had seen you absolutely dismember young actresses of my, kind of, peer group." So, she said, she assumed that Letterman would size up her intelligence and, "like a samurai, sort of Benihana me into pieces and I'll be left for dead and forgotten."

He didn't. But on Wednesday's Late Show, he also didn't dispute Roberts' characterization of his cutting interview style at the time. But he had a question: "What do you suppose was wrong with me? Why would I behave that way?" Roberts had an answer: "Because, I think, stupid people annoy you." That had everyone laughing, but Letterman has the perfect, self-deprecatory response that, frankly, cuts probably as close to the truth: "Well, that answers my problem of self-loathing." Watch below. —Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.