30 most shocking moments in late night history
By Jeremy Dick
1. Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman have a “fight” on Late Night
Even back in the early 1980s, most people surmised that professional wrestling was predetermined. Still, there was something about the feud between comedian Andy Kaufman and wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler that seemed very real, and to this day, many still believe that their most infamous encounter— an altercation on an episode of Late Night with David Letterman— was not staged at all.
The two had recently been having a feud in the ring, with Kaufman wearing a neck brace as a result of taking Lawler’s trademark move, the piledriver. They were invited onto Letterman’s show to basically talk things out, but things were tense between them for the whole segment. But what seemed like an ordinary wrestling storyline blurred the lines when Lawler stood up and slapped Kaufman in the face as hard as he could, before the show quickly cut to commercial break.
When the show came back on, Kaufman wasn’t on-screen, though he returned soon after and dove into a vicious, profanity-laced rant against Lawler and Letterman, not cracking a smile to give the sense that he was joking at all. Both performers had done such a great job with the stunt, that people continued to question its legitimacy well after Kaufman’s death, only finally revealing the truth over a decade later.
As so many people were fooled by this segment, even to this day, the Kaufman/Lawler fight just might be the most shocking incident ever seen on late night television. Let me know in the comments below whether you agree or disagree, or if there were any other crazy late night TV moments that should’ve been on this list.