David Letterman Mocks Jihad Death Threats: 'Everyone Knows It's Leno'
After the FBI announced that they would investigate Jihadist threats to his life, David Letterman took over hosting duties on his show on Monday to joke about the ordeal.
The Late Night with David Letterman show resumed after the host took a two week vacation. During his hiatus, reports surfaced about possible Jihadists threatening his life after hearing a previous joke made about Osama Bin Laden and his potential successor; both now dead.
Instead of shying away from the subject, Letterman told his audience about what had taken place.
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"You're not going to believe what happened,” the host told his audience. “A guy, a radical extremist, threatened to cut my tongue out. I wish I had a nickel for every time a guy has threatened that. I think the first time was during the Academy Awards."
According to Letterman, he knew who had posed the threats online.
"And so now, State Department authorities are looking into this,” the host said. “They're not taking this lightly. They're looking into it. They're questioning, they're interrogating, there's an electronic trail -- but everybody knows it's Leno."
Although the late night talk show host was only joking, increased security measures were taken during the filming of the show. The New York Post reported that security officers from CBS and possibly the NYPD were dressed in plain clothes and in the vicinity.
"NYPD Intelligence Division did a security assessment that resulted in increased security, but we [will] not provide details of it," Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said, according to The New York Post.
Letterman, who was running late for his Monday night appearance, joked that he had also taken preventative measures.
"I'm so sorry, I'm a little late coming out. Backstage I was talking to the guy from CBS. We were going through the CBS life-insurance policy to see if I was covered for jihad."
