Maya Rudolph: David Letterman 'humiliated' me on his show

Maya Rudolph recently reflected on her first appearance on “The David Letterman Show” in 2009.

During an interview with WSJ Magazine on Friday, Oct. 28, Rudolph did not look back on the moment in her career fondly. In fact, she told the outlet outright, “I did not have a good time.”

“He said my name wrong, and I just sat there, like, I grew up my whole life in love with you,” she added. “And now my heart is broken. And I’m sitting here embarrassed and humiliated. I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn’t strong yet.”

However, she acknowledged that in the 13 years since the incident, she’s “gotten much better,” adding, “When I’m uncomfortable, I try to be funny.”

When reached by TODAY, Letterman's rep responded: “We must respectfully decline comment.”

Rudolph, perhaps best known for her her seven seasons and subsequent guest appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” spoke to the outlet at the top of the interview about how she struggled with all of the public-facing aspects early in her career, all of which stunted her comedy.

“It would always feel like someone was stealing my soul,” she said. “That’s where, over the years, I created a persona to protect myself.”

Later on in the interview, she reflected on how sketch comedy had eventually become tiring for her.

“Believe me, I am not a Pollyanna who’s like, I smile all day, every day,” she explained. “I get stressed out, I get pissed off, but I learned I could make a choice for myself, and it’s liberating. Maybe people who’ve worked as long as I have make other choices and have nicer cars. I don’t know, but it’s so important for me to [try to] have that balance.”

Rudolph left “SNL” in 2007, going on to star in “Bridesmaids,” “Grown Ups,” and “Big Mouth."

Over the last two years, she returned to "SNL" to portray Vice President Kamala Harris. Most recently, she starred in the 2022 AppleTV+ series “Loot” as the divorcee of a billionaire and will appear in the forthcoming “Enchanted” sequel, aptly titled “Disenchanted,” as the villain, Malvina Monroe.

In June 2022, Rudolph sat down with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb and Meredith Vieira to talk about her new streaming series and what she loved about portraying her character, Molly Novak, who received an $87 billion divorce settlement.

“When you hear billionaire, you just think, ‘Oh, we can do anything. Sky’s the limit.’ And yes, I did think costumes. I was very excited about costumes,” she said, before reminiscing on some of her hold “SNL” impressions. “I love all of that. I love a larger than life character, obviously. When I was doing Donatella [Versace], you get to live in those worlds. It’s so fun.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com