David Letterman Says He Has ‘Greater Humanity’ After Leaving Hollywood for His Home State of Indiana

There’s no place like home for David Letterman.

The former host of the Late Show with David Letterman, 77, officially signed off from his popular late-night gig of 22 years in 2015 and has since left his glamorous lifestyle behind, ultimately relocating to where it all began: Indiana. 

Letterman, who spent much of his late-night career living in New York, left his hometown of Indianapolis in his early 20s to pursue his dream of a stand-up comedy career in Hollywood. Although he made it big, he admitted that the industry molded him into someone he didn’t quite like. 

“In show business, I find that I have pretended to be someone I’m truly not,” Letterman told GQ in an interview published on Dec. 11.  “In my life here in Indiana and at my home with my family, I am probably the person I actually am. And I regret that they don’t kind of cross at any point.”

The TV legend also reflected on the many ups and downs of his successful career and opened up about why he’ll never retire. However, when GQ asked him if he was glad he was out of show business because the industry was making him a “worse person,” the comedian responded honestly.

“Yes. You’re exactly right,” he told the outlet without hesitation. “And I don’t know, maybe it’s only because I went through show business. I got that out of my system eventually that I can concentrate on being a better person and probably couldn’t have reached this point if I had not gone through the exercise of trying to succeed at show business.”

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“I just feel like personally, I have greater humanity than I did when I was in show business,“ he added. “It was all single-minded and great pressure, real unimagined, and I felt like it’s all on me, and it’s all on me, and that it was all nonsense.”

Since leaving the Late Show, Letterman left his Hollywood lifestyle behind and opted for the small-town life in Indiana. The decision has made him a happier person.

“All I cared about was television, one hour of television that I was responsible for, for 30 years. That’s all I cared about,” he told GQ when asked if he was a happier person. “Everything fell apart, went away. I didn’t even know if it was falling apart or not. And now I have the energy and the broader focus to recognize humanity has other fulfilling pursuits.”

Indiana isn’t the only state Letterman calls home. The comedian also owns properties in Montana and upstate New York, per Realtor.com.

Letterman continues to work though, often hosting episodes of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction for Netflix. His 2024 episodes featured interviews with John Mulaney, Miley Cyrus and Charles Barkley.

“Retirement is a myth. Retirement is nonsense,” Letterman told GQ. “You won’t retire. The human mechanism will not allow you to retire.”