Don't expect to see this dish on the David Letterman show anytime soon. The Olive Garden has reportedly yanked all of its advertising from the late night show because of a joke Letterman told last week at the expense of one of Sarah Palin's daughters.
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Olive Garden reportedly pulls ads from Letterman due to Palin joke
By Jimmy Orr | 06.18.09
UPDATED: Olive Garden is disputing the report that they’ve pulled their ads. Click here for details.
When you’re here, you’re family — but not if you’re David Letterman.
Olive Garden, the popular U.S. Italian restaurant chain, apparently doesn’t think Letterman is funny. At least when it comes to his joke last week about one of Sarah Palin’s daughters.
No more ads
They think he’s so unfunny, in fact, that they’ve pulled their advertisements from his show for the rest of the year. Politico is reporting that the ads have been cancelled due to the “inappropriate comments” made by Letterman at the expense of Palin.
“There will be no more Olive Garden ads scheduled for ‘The Late Show’ with David Letterman in this year’s broadcast schedule,” reads an email by an Olive Garden spokeswoman obtained by the political website.
“We apologize that Mr. Letterman’s mistake, which was not consistent with our standards and values, left you with a bad impression of Olive Garden,” the email reads.
A spokeswoman for the Olive Garden told The Vote that a formal statement from the restaurant chain was being created and would be released soon.
Joke
Of course at issue is the almost universally panned joke that Letterman told last week alleging that Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez “knocked up” Palin’s daughter Willow while she attended a Yankees game.
Letterman claimed the target was Palin’s 18-year-old daughter, Bristol. And because she was of the legal age, the joke was appropriate. However, Bristol didn’t attend a Yankees game. It was the 14-year-old who accompanied her Mom to the game.
Despite attempts to clarify what he meant last week, he never apologized. And the criticism grew louder and louder.
Formal apology
Three nights ago, Letterman tried to put the controversy to bed by formally apologizing.
I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it, and I’ll try to do better in the future.”
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2. Tonya Stewart | 06.18.09
Good for the Olive Garden…I’m glad they stood up for what they beleive.
Also my family loves the Olive Garden.
5. Dennis | 06.18.09
I have just sent Olive Garden a letter informing them I and my friends will no longer be eating at Olive Garden. This is stupid for a cooperation to pull this kind of **** only for the attention they are getting and FREE advertising.
I also plan on get a rally to prostest in front of all local O.G. Asking that others not eat there for the rest of the year.
6. Jason | 06.18.09
Too bad, it was CLEAR that Letterman was referencing the 18-year-old promiscuous girl - and not the 14-year-old. But Ms. Palin, being the awful parent she is, used the poor teen as a pawn. She should be ashamed; I wouldn’t let her near my kids, that’s for darn tootin! Olive Garden is no longer my family restaurant!
8. Paul Zelner | 06.18.09
No more eating at Olive Garden. (not a big loss) Sarah Palin’s hypocrisy commits far greater crimes against women than Letterman’s stupid jokes ever could.
9. Cheryl | 06.18.09
Are you people serious? If the same joke had been made with one of Obama’s daughters instead of Palin’s you all would be livid. You wouldn’t just be pulling advertising, you be asking for his head! Why is it okay for Letterman to make a joke about the rape of anyone’s daughter.
10. DN | 06.18.09
I hope Dave slaughters them with Olive Garden jokes the rest of the year…don’t hold back, Dave..squash these weaselly pissants! In fact, I would be more disappointed in him if he doesn’t and sucks up to them like he did Palin for something he had no real reason to be sorry for.
11. greg | 06.18.09
Good for Olive Garden. Letterboy made a sick joke, whether it was aimed at an 18 yo or a 14 yo. It’s also good to see that the National Organization of Women finally, after 10 months of continued attacks on Palin and her family, decided to not join in the attacks, and actually spoke out against them.
12. georgiegirl | 06.18.09
I guess that the Olive Garden can pull their ads if they want, but my guess is that it will be a big mistake to do so. Many people will take this as a ‘chose sides’ issue, and I do believe that David Letterman will win out. I personally will never eat their again.
14. Dana Nelson | 06.18.09
People are off base about Letterman “joke.” Since when is the rape of ANY woman the substance of humor? Because Letterman’s crude comments were aimed at Bristol instead of Willow, that’s OK???????????????????
I can’t believe the comments I’m reading here. Wake up people! Violence against women isn’t funny, no matter who makes the joke, or at whom it is aimed!!!!!!!!!!!
15. CC | 06.18.09
We eat there a few times a year. Love their breadsticks and salad. We had planned to go there for Father’s day.
I did not like the joke because I considered it sexist and vulgar. However, it was clearly about an adult who has chosen to make public appearances and become a spokesperson for a cause (and it was not about “rape”, statutory or otherwise). There is no reason for ads to be pulled over such a small thing. My family will not be eating at Olive Garden again.
16. Linda | 06.18.09
Guess I have to boycott all your ads. How can you boycott a tv show or even it’s ad’s when the governor herself nominated WAR who is a known sexist and made worse comments the David Letterman?
17. DN | 06.18.09
Well unfortunately for OG, their “intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception”
18. PT | 06.18.09
The FUNNY thing is that it was a joke about Bristol….. There was no reference to any rape… IT was not a rape joke….This BAD joke was more about Arod and SPitzer than Bristol. This wasnt a rape joke. And everyone is up in arms about Letterman joking about rape….
19. Chris | 06.18.09
There seems to be another point that is being missed: where, in the joke, is it implied that there was a “rape?” I believe — for the joke to be considered funny — you have to take into account the possibility of Bristol’s consent to have sex with A-Rod. If given that oportunity, she just might. Am I wrong, or do people think she can’t make an adult decision?
20. Bob Dobolina | 06.18.09
I’ve just sent the Olive Garden a letter letting them know that my wife and I will no longer be dining in their restaurants. We’re moving our Father’s Day celebration to another establishment. Letterman apologized. Palin accepted his apology. Restaurant chains should stay out of politics.
21. Greg | 06.18.09
Amazing! A business stands up against an immoral joke done in bad taste and THEY are the ones vilified! This is a family restaurant. They objected to an intentional attack on the daughter of a politician - it shouldn’t matter what age!!! DL is a has-been hack and this “joke” should be attacked by all “TRUE” feminists. I know, it’s OK to go after a Republican… what if the same joke was said about Chelsea or one of BO’s girls???
DL’s “apology” was even funnier to me that the “joke” it was based on. His arrogance and condescending attitude only shows his liberal pious attitude…
22. davidd | 06.18.09
Letterman who jokes about raping children should be taken away from his ******* son so no one gets hurt. Sarah Palin, we need you as President in 2012 more than ever. Libs are scared now with these attacks on your children~!
23. Juanita | 06.18.09
Letterman acted indefensibly, making a slimy sexual joke about an underage kid, then saying that he had meant Bristol, when the media story that he was joking about was that Sarah Palin was at a Yankees game with her 14 year old daughter,Willow. Letterman’s joke, as stated by Jimmy Orr, CSMonitor.com.: Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez “knocked up” Palin’s daughter Willow while she attended a Yankees game.
BTW, if Letterman was mistaken and was referring to Bristol, his joke was still disgusting, Why would he want to persecute Bristol, anyway, as if she is the only teenager who ever became pregnant. I thought liberals were so “open-minded.”
The scary part is that there are actually people defending him and acting like Sarah Palin is harrassing him. Let me tell all of you something: if either of those girls were granddaughters of mine and some poor excuse of a man made a joke like that, I would PUNCH HIM IN THE NOSE.
BTW, I have never heard that kids consult their parents before engaging in sexual acts, so why are “compassionate” liberals blaming Sarah Palin?
24. Brian Woo | 06.18.09
I fully support the Olive Garden’s pulling it’s ad’s off The David Letterman Show. He’s a biased pig and shouldn’t even be on tv. He wouldn’t dare make a joke about obama’s children or his wife. They’d hang him for that. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea!!
25. Juanita Harris | 06.18.09
I am glad that Feminists find Letterman’s crude joke disgusting:
http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/2009/06/10/david-letterman-the-voice-of-dude-nation/
26. Juanita Harris | 06.18.09
If either of those girls were granddaughters of mine and some poor excuse of a man made a joke like that, I would PUNCH HIM IN THE NOSE.
27. Juanita Harris | 06.18.09
The reason for the rape references is that sex with a minor is statutory rape.
28. tiredofitall | 06.18.09
david letterman is a coward and so are most in the mainstream media; no one will attack or tell the truth about the clown in the whitehouse but they go around trying to attack people who didn’t do a darn thing to them; the only thing they did is have a different point of view…. lefty liberals are radicals and are not very intelligent, they attack because they don’t have the right answers!
30. Juanita Harris | 06.18.09
No. 20, Bob: You mean people who own restaurant chains should not have free speech?
31. Jim | 06.18.09
I sent Olive Garden a message letting them know my utter disgust for supporting some radical renegade’s soap box bible preachings- her and her hypocritical family have some nerves preaching morality. Anyone with half a brain would know that DL obviously was targeting the knocked up hick girl that just popped one earlier that year. Palin just thought if she banged her trash can lids loud enough she could get some attention diverted away from the sinking conservative ship and she managed to snag some half-or-less-brained folks in the idiocy net she cast.
32. ETphonedc | 06.19.09
Are you kidding yourselves? Of course, now Olive Garden is backtracking on the information they are pulling their ads. However, CBS is quickly making enemies right, left and center. Letterman’s joke was in poor taste.
As for #6 Jason. Since the beginning of time, female teenagers have gotten pregnant. Every teen girl who gets pregnant is not promiscuous and she had help. We don’t talk about his promiscuity do we? As a matter of fact, some of the far left (out in left fielders) seem to want to treat what he has said about the Palin family like it is gospel. Why? If that same young man were talking about one of President Obama’s daughters, I would guess some of the wishy washy left would de-nut him. How wonderfully hypocritical and fence straddling.
33. E Taylor | 06.19.09
Olive Garden is backing off their stance of pulling their ads. However, that will be their mistake. If they reverse their decision to pull their sponsorship of Letterman after making a big deal of it, I will NOT EAT AT Olive Garden.
Letterman’s joke was in extremely poor taste. Had this been a joke about one of President Obama’s daughters, the far lefties would have de-nutted the man. You know it’s true.
To make it ok to say whatever you want about political figures that are potential leaders of our country is absurd. If you did this in the countries liberals want to bleed heart all over, you would be thrown into a nasty wet cell or possibly executed.
Both CBS and Letterman have gone way overboard. Both will end up suffering the consequences in the ratings department. Letterman is a has been.
34. Chris | 06.19.09
Juanita Harris,
I have to admit, I didn’t know the younger daughter was at that game — I only saw video of Gov. Palin. If you try hard, you will get the point of the joke.
The possibility that Bristol (the daughter who was pregnant) would consider A-Rod attractive enough to have sex with — and get “knocked up” again — is what makes the joke funny.
Perhaps, the continued reference to rape (not what Letterman said, or even inferred) is due to extreme partisanship; or is it due to the fact that A-Rod is a person of color and therefore — in a racist’s mind — more capable of rape?
Yeah, I know, there I go playing the racist card. Maybe, some of the outraged posters should consider what fuels their outrage.
35. dfaylor | 06.19.09
Good God, What a lame weak society we live in. Some Americans are “OUTRAGED” at the most trivial things. I’ve cringed at hundreds of jokes on tv and radio. Crude and outragous speech/behavior is the norm now people proudly display it on world wide web sites. One joke or comment and we got the typical us againest them rantings, boycotts, firings, racism, child endangerment, politics blah, blah, blah. I have no respect for any business that caves in to this non-sense when the “Thought police” or “Social enforcers” come calling but, I’ll certainly continue to eat at Olive Garden. These famous privliged people can fight thier own battles.
36. Cheryl | 06.19.09
Chris,
The reason rape is mentioned so often is because of Willow’s age, not A-Rod’s color. Until you brought it up, I had’t thought of him as “a person of color” (I come from a mixed race family and often don’t notice or care about that).
So what fuels my outrage and the outrage of NOW, is the fact that he would make a joke about intercourse of an adult with a minor which is considered Rape.
38. Sandy | 06.20.09
Can you guys not see the irony of all this? Judge not, lest you be judged. Can we not just all get along? What would God say to you? Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. And do not expect His Grace or sit in His house until you forgive your enemies first, for he will not listen. We are all sinners. No one is perfect, but Him.
39. mary | 06.20.09
I will make a point of eating there more often, I think it is a great restaurant and now I think it is even greater. Go Olive Garden. Letterman is just a dirty old man.
40. Michael | 06.20.09
Thanks Olive Garden for standing up for what you think is right or wrong. Who is Letterman that he should be able to encourage child abuse and people applaude. This society is sick.
42. Mark | 06.22.09
I was happy to read about Olive Garden’s decision to pull sponsorship from Letterman’s show. I changed our Father’s Day reservations from another restaurant to try O.G. We reserved for 16 and the food was great!
The other Letterman sponsors might be wise to follow O.G.’s lead and pull their ads from a program that laments in such filthy speech. I’ve made note of the others, and will not sponsor their products until D.L. is held accountable for his disgusting comments about raping a minor. There is no place for such crude comments on public television.
43. MB | 06.22.09
I am glad you cancelled your reservation because I got your table. The OG near me had a half hour waiting list….we have vowed to go more frequently in support of their morality.
I just gave OG gift cards to 4 of my friends.
45. Jim | 06.25.09
“Nielsen Media Research says the “Late Show With David Letterman” beat the “Tonight Show” last week — the first time in more than three years.”
Looks like the Palin spat put Letterman right where he wanted
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Niravan | 06.18.09
How befitting that Darden would pull their ads in support of the Palinator. They also would not join the Canadian Seafood Boycott to end the cruel seal hunt. Bird brains of a feather……………