Maya Rudolph Admits She Felt Embarrassed During Her First Interview With David Letterman

Maya Rudolph is one of the funniest people in the world and her time on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will go down in history as some of the better seasons in SNL‘s history of roller coaster ratings. But did you know there was one instance when Maya didn’t feel so funny during an interview on The David Letterman Show? Maya admits to The Wall Street Journal Magazine that at the time, she wasn’t well seasoned in the ways of interviews, and as soon as Letterman mispronounced her name, she wanted to burst into tears and let out a scream higher than her mother Minnie Ripperton does on Lovin’ You. But instead, she kept her cool. And now she’s discussing the moment many, many years later.

People reports that the year was 2009 and Maya was promoting her film Away We Go. Maya was still a little new to fame, so she was looking forward to her interview with Letterman. However, it didn’t go the way she wanted it to.

“He said my name wrong, and I just sat there, like, I grew up my whole life in love with you. And now my heart is broken. And I’m sitting here embarrassed and humiliated,” she recalled.

“I didn’t know how to handle it,” she continued. “I didn’t know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn’t strong yet.”

You can see the clip here if you want. But really, Maya? Have you not experienced a lifetime of teachers mispronouncing your name already, or were you one of the lucky ones? You could have saved this story for a therapy session since it’s not like he stopped you during the interview and said, “I’ma let you finish,” because that was a huge thing back in 2009.  But even though it was a mistake on his part, Letterman did apologize to Maya during the same episode saying, “I’m sorry that I mispronounced your name…I’m just a boob, there’s no excuse for it, and from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologize.” Also, the folks over on Twitter were not impressed by Maya’s tale and also wishes she would have kept her tragic tale safely scribbled inside of her First Year of Fame diary and nowhere else.

Maya Rudolph just gave the oddest interview where 13 years ago David Letterman said her name wrong and she said it wrecked, embarrassed, and humiliated her, and broke her heart. A bit much?

— Jessica Adelaide (@jessicaxad) October 29, 2022

Maya Rudolph felt "embarassed" and "humiliated" when David Letterman pronounced her name wrong? You've gotta be fucking kidding me? 1. You were on tv for God's sake and 2. I've never felt embarassed when people pronounce my name wrong. Yes the occasional illiterate will say Eyein

— Boltzy (Ian Boltz) (@LittleTokyoOff) October 30, 2022

I’m sure Maya doesn’t have these issues anymore since she’s famous, even though she admits she doesn’t feel like a celebrity. But I can guarantee you now if anyone mispronounces her name, she’ll probably launch into her Kamala Harris impersonation and give them a side eye so sharp it will leave a mark on their cheek. And that’s probably what she should have done with Letterman all those years ago.

Pic: InstarImages