As a group of boycotters staged a protest outside of the theater where “The Late Show” with David Letterman is filmed, the funnyman continued to mock demands to take him off the air after he made series of crude jokes about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her teen daughters.
Making light of the protest in his nightly countdown, the comedian presented the “Top Ten Things Overheard at the ‘Fire David Letterman’ Rally.” Among the items on the list were “David who?”, “Well, it was nice of CBS to provide the catering” and “We should have done this years ago.”
Meanwhile Tuesday afternoon, Firedavidletterman.com – the online group behind the protest — said it had received over 30,000 pledges to boycott products from companies that advertise on Letterman's show.
"David letterman's comments were disgraceful and beyond the bounds of common decency," Michael Patrick Leahy, one of the Web site's organizers, told FOXNews.com. "It is highly inappropriate for a 62-year-old man to make sexual insults about a 14-year-old girl."
One of the protesters, New York City real estate agent Tom Muller, said he just wanted "to see a little accountability come to the Letterman show ... And maybe urge him to get back to when he ran a funny TV show and didn't use it for his political pulpit."
TV Guide and the Washington Times reported that Embassy Suites, part of the Hilton Hotels Corporation, has pulled advertisements from CBS.com after receiving complaints about Letterman's remarks. The hotel chain told FOX News it is not an official sponsor of the Late Show.
But Embassy Suites told FOX News the issue is "between CBS and the Governor and her family."
"When a number of our guests complained about advertisements on CBS.com, we temporarily removed the ads from our rotation rather than become part of the controversy," said Kendra Walker, a vice president of Embassy Suites. "This action should not be viewed as an endorsement of either side, but rather a desire to let the parties resolve the issue independently."
Letterman apologized Monday for saying in his monologue last week that Palin and her daughter visited Yankee Stadium, and the girl was "knocked up" during the seventh-inning stretch by Yankees star Alex Rodriguez. Letterman said he was referring to Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, and not to 14-year-old Willow, who had accompanied the Alaska governor to a Yankees game.
"I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke," Letterman told his studio audience Monday. "I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future."
Palin told FOXNews.com early Tuesday that she accepted Letterman's apology, but groups like Leahy's say won't be satisfied until CBS takes disciplinary action against the late night host.
Leahy said Letterman's apology is a "step in the right direction," but said he doesn't "buy" his explanation that his joke referred to Bristol Palin.
"We’re asking CBS to apply to the same standards to David Letterman that they applied to Don Imus," Leahy said.
Imus, a morning radio talk show host, was suspended and later fired from NBC and CBS Radio in 2007 for calling members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."
New York State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb — also a supporter of the online group — is calling on CBS to issue a statement on Letterman's "offensive" joke.
Kolb said he wrote a letter Friday to CBS president and chief executive officer Leslie Moonves asking to know what CBS's "decency standards" are.
"Women across this country would like to know that answer," Kolb said. "If this was another company and he said this to one of its employees, he'd be fired."
When asked if CBS had any plans to seek disciplinary action against Letterman, Late Show spokeswoman Kimberly Izzo-Emmet had "no comment."
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