David Letterman Doesn’t Give a Sh*t If You Don’t Like His Beard

“The more people implore me to shave, the stronger my resolve is to not shave.”

Ever since Stephen Colbert officially took over the reins of The Late Show, David Letterman’s been enjoying what seems like a pretty sweet retirement. The late-night icon has been indulging his longtime love for auto-racing, hanging out with his 11-year-old son, and, more importantly, growing a giant white beard

The American public has grown very, very concerned with Letterman’s beard. According to a new interview, Letterman is very aware the world thinks his beard is ‘creepy’ — and he simply doesn’t give a shit.

In an interview with Montana’s Whitefish Review, the former host admitted that he grew his ‘wildman beard’ just because he was sick and tired of shaving:

You know what? I used to say, every day, “I am so sick and tired of shaving.” I had to shave every day, every day, for 33 years. And even before that when I was working on local TV. And I just thought, the first thing I will do when I am not on TV is stop shaving. And everybody hates it. My wife hates it. My son hates it. But it’s interesting. I’ve kind of developed a real creepy look with it that I’m sort of enjoying. And I can tell that people are off-put by it. And the more people implore me to shave, the stronger my resolve is to not shave. 

And I know, it’s not a good-looking beard. But I don’t even care. I just don’t care. And it’s kind of fun—well, I won’t say that it’s fun to walk around irritating people, I think I’ve proved that on TV­—but it’s sort of amusing to see the reactions.

Good for Letterman. A real man does whatever he wants with his beard, regardless if people think he looks like a walking Amber Alert. Besides, let Letterman be Letterman: according to his interview, he’s come to terms with Colbert taking over his beloved Late Show and is focusing on enjoying himself.

“I thought I would have some trouble, some emotional trouble, or some feeling of displacement, but I realized, hey, that’s not my problem anymore,” he told Whitefish Review. “And I have felt much better. It’s something for younger men and women to take on. So I haven’t missed it, the way I thought I might.”

h/t Vanity Fair

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