In a late-night landscape that currently consists of two Jimmys and a James, women have long faced gender inequality in the industry, both in terms of hosting opportunities and behind-the-scenes writing gigs. (Help disrupt the system, Busy Philipps!) Tina Fey, in between bits of banter, brought this up to David Letterman while appearing on his new Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. Letterman’s previous program, The Late Show, was a known offender when it came to hiring women. “I didn’t know why there weren’t women writers. There was no policy against women writers,†Letterman explained. “I always thought, well, geez, if I was a woman I don’t know if I would want to write on my nickel-and-dime, dog-and-pony show anyway because we’re on at 12:30.â€
Fey pushed back: “Yeah, we did want to write on it, though.†Which caused Letterman to reflect and apologize for his complicity in fostering a male-dominant writers room. “But that is my ignorance, and I feel bad for that,†he responded, “and it’s changing, has changed.â€