David Letterman will be stepping down from his 22-year hosting gig on CBS' The Late Show on May 20, and in a candid interview with the New York Times, he revealed he thought a black person or a woman should've taken over for him.
"I thought, Well, maybe this will be a good opportunity to put a black person on, and it would be a good opportunity to put a woman," Letterman said before noting he was not consulted. "There are certainly a lot of very funny women that have television shows everywhere. So that would have made sense to me as well." When reached for comment by BuzzFeed News as to which female comedian he would've liked to have take over, Letterman's rep had nothing to add.
Of course, Stephen Colbert was chosen as Letterman's successor, and Larry Wilmore took over Colbert's Comedy Central slot following Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. Stewart, who announced in February he would be stepping down from The Daily Show, was replaced with Trevor Noah, a black comedian from South Africa.
Though Stewart has not said where he is going next, and his announcement came months after Colbert was picked, Letterman also said he thought Stewart should've been asked to fill his shoes. "I always thought Stewart would have been a good choice," Letterman said. "And then Stephen."
BuzzFeed News' request for comment from Stewart and Colbert were not immediately answered.