Madonna’s most censored TV interview involved a creepy request for Letterman: "He won't smell..."
On March 31, 1994, Madonna appeared on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' and had the most bizarre request for the veteran host— to sniff her underwear. That's not all. Within minutes she dropped a record-breaking 14 F-bombs, smoked a cigar, and refused to leave the stage, making it one of the most-watched and awkward episodes in the show's history.
Madonna’s unfiltered words also turned the episode into one of the most censored episodes in American TV history. Letterman began the segment with a monologue, but this time, it hit differently—after years of cracking jokes about Madonna, the stage was set for a showdown no one would forget. As reported by EL PAIS, while introducing her on the show, he said, “Our first guest tonight is one of the biggest stars in the world. In the past 10 years, she has sold over 80 million albums, starred in countless films, and slept with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry.”
Madonna marched onstage with a pair of her underwear, which she repeatedly urged Letterman to sniff. From there, the chaos only escalated. She puffed on a cigar, turned an overhead mic into an X-rated joke, and somehow made her nose ring the subject of an innuendo. She resisted commercial breaks, grilled Letterman about his hairpiece, and even threw in a question about his recreational habits. When it was time to wrap up, she simply wouldn’t budge, ignoring audience shouts of 'get off.' When she eventually exited, Letterman joked, “Coming up in the next half hour, Mother Teresa is going to drop by. Oh, I see we’ve been canceled; there is no show tomorrow night.”
#Today on March 31 1994, @Madonna guested on CBS-TV’s Late Show With David Letterman: during the 20-minute interview, she said the word “fuck” 13 times, made obscene remarks and wisecracks, refused to leave the set and was rude to her host. pic.twitter.com/fUlpqd3M2C
— Madonna Records (@MadonnaRecords) March 31, 2021
Producer Daniel Kellison later shared that he was told to remove Madonna from the stage since Counting Crows were set to make their TV debut. He shared, "I walked onstage and said loudly, 'Say hi to the audience.' Madonna waved. As she waved, I took her hand as if I was helping her up — and I did, in fact, lightly pull her up. And over the band, I said loudly again, 'Say goodbye…' Confused, she waved. Still holding her hand, I led her offstage." But that wasn't the end. The very next year, she returned to the show, bringing Letterman candy and playfully announcing that she was a changed woman, as reported by Metro.
Years later, in 2015, Madonna looked back on the infamous 1994 interview and admitted that her F-bombs were fueled by frustration toward the host. She claimed she had simply been in a strange mood that day. She said, "I was dating Tupac Shakur at the time, and he had got me all riled up about life in general. So, when I went on the show, I was feeling very gangsta."