That David Letterman sure does weird things to people.
Two adult men were in such fierce competition for Letterman’s affection that they ended up fighting backstage, with 21-year veteran cue card holder Tony Mendez unleashing an Undertaker-esque chokeslam on Emmy-nominated staff writer Bill Scheft. And, just like in most workplaces, chokeslamming a coworker gets you fired.
The New York Post rundown of the situation is almost too amazing to be true, and yet it sure seems like it is:
“’I know I shouldn’t have put my hands on him,’ Mendez, 69, confessed to The Post. ‘But this has been coming for a long time.’
‘Bill was always undermining me — making himself out as Dave’s No. 1, trying to pretend that I wasn’t even in the room…little passive-aggressive things.’
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, the three were rehearsing in Letterman’s backstage digs at the Ed Sullivan Theater when Mendez said he reacted to one of Scheft’s interruptions, telling him, ‘I know what I’m doing. Get off my back.’
But suddenly Letterman growled, ‘Tony, your sour disposition isn’t helping,’ Mendez recalled.
‘You’re the one who has the sour disposition, mothf–ker,’ Mendez snapped back.
Mendez admitted he was ‘pissed off,’ but said he and Letterman often traded off-color barbs. ‘That’s how we talk,’ Mendez said. ‘We tell each other ‘F–k you’ and ‘Hey a–hole.’
He doesn’t do that with anybody — but he feels comfortable with me. That brings a bit of normalcy — because everyone else is like, ‘Yes, yes, Mr. Letterman. If you want something impossible, yes, we’ll do it, Mr. Letterman.’
Still, Mendez said he was hurt by the exchange with his idol and boss of 21 years.
‘That night I wanted to tell Dave how much that hurt my feelings,’ Mendez said. ‘And then I realized that this is what Bill was doing. He was trying to create a wedge between us so Dave would think I was an a–hole.’
Mendez said he stewed all night and the next morning, when he got to work, he was literally at Scheft’s throat.
‘I just grabbed him by the shirt,’ Mendez said. ‘He was very surprised. He didn’t say a word. He was cowering, his eyes were real big, he probably peed a little bit on his pants.’"
Yikes. That’s a lot of drama for a couple guys who could have just kept their heads down for another few months and then never had to talk to each other again. Nevertheless, Mendez is still getting his full salary and benefits through the end of the show’s run in May, so obviously there was a silent majority that felt his outburst was warranted.
Basically, he gets a seven month vacation for throwing a guy into a wall. Not bad.
[via Gawker]
