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.
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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.”