The 'Late Show' host admits to James Franco that he banned Harmony Korine from his show after catching the filmmaker going through the 'Kramer vs. Kramer' actress' purse.
- Mar 27, 2013
AceShowbiz - David Letterman finally explained the infamous Harmony Korine ban from his show. When James Franco stopped by his talk show on March 25 to promote "Spring Breakers", Letterman told the actor that he banned Korine after he caught the director going through Meryl Streep's purse backstage.
Franco first brought up the issue, recalling the incident which took place on October 29, 1999. "The legend is that he came back, and it's in the books, he was here, and he came back a fourth time, and it says in the books, 'Not interviewed,' so he was bounced," Franco said to Letterman. "The legend is that he pushed Meryl Streep backstage. I mean, if you push Meryl Streep backstage, you get kicked off."
Letterman who seemed reluctant to discuss the incident finally spoke out about what had actually happened. "I went upstairs to greet Meryl Streep and say, 'Welcome to the show.' She was not in there, and I looked around and I found your friend Harmony going through her purse," he told Franco. "True story! So I said, 'OK, that's it. Put her things back in her bag and then get out of here.' "
Meanwhile, in an interview with HuffPost Live, Korine did not acknowledge the alleged purse-picking incident. "I've heard a lot of different things and I probably don't want to go into them all. I was pretty out of it back then, so I guess anything is possible. Honestly, I have no recollection," he said. The "Gummo" director, who had appeared on Letterman's show three times before he was blacklisted, said that he would love to make another appearance on the show "in a second if they asked me back."
