Image repair in late night comedy: Letterman and the Palin joke controversy

David Letterman, host of The Late Show, told a joke about Sarah Palin's daughter during one of his nightly monologues. During the ensuing controversy, Letterman offered two extended statements about the joke. Approaching Letterman's responses from the perspective of Benoit's image repair typology reveals three primary strategies: denial, mortification, and corrective action. While Letterman's first attempt to resolve the controversy failed, his second attempt was largely successful. Implications for public relations image repair strategies are offered.

► Talk show host David Letterman made two major attempts at image repair after telling a controversial joke about Sarah Palin.
► Letterman's first strategy of denial largely failed.
► Letterman's second strategy, which included mortification and corrective action, was more successful.
► Humor can both help and complicate image repair public relations strategies.