If you were a fan of Late Show cue card writer Tony Mendez, you’ll always have your memories.
The popular personality on David Letterman’s late-night talk show has been fired after he instigated a physical confrontation with staff writer Bill Scheft. The news was originally reported by the New York Post.
On Oct. 8, Mendez was apparently rehearsing with Scheft and David Letterman in the host’s dressing room. Mendez didn’t appreciate Scheft interrupting him, and so he snapped at Scheft: “I know what I’m doing! Get off my back.”
Letterman then called Mendez out for his sour disposition, and Mendez fired back at the host, “You’re the one who has the sour disposition, motherf—er.”
The next day, when Mendez ran into Scheft in the office, he grabbed the writer by his shirt and threw him against the wall. At that point, Late Show executive producer Rob Burnett informed Mendez that he had been terminated.
“I know I shouldn’t have put my hands on him,” Mendez told The Post. Mendez points out that he has felt undermined by Scheft in the past, adding: “This [altercation] has been coming for a long time.”
Mendez said that he doesn’t have any regrets about how he acted and called Letterman “the best, the most generous boss I have ever had.”
