Oprah Makes PEACE With the King of Late Night

It would have been the biggest slap in the face to David Letterman had Oprah not agreed to stop by and say hello to him. She was in the neighborhood – literally-- next door. Oprah produced a musical version of "The Color Purple" that opened last night right across the street from the old Ed Sullivan Theater, where Letterman's show calls home.

"Could you please tell me what has transpired?" Oprah asked Letterman, smiling sweetly. "I have never for a moment had a feud with you."

Despite repeated requests from Letterman, Oprah had refused to return to his show for "16 and 1/2" years. Two years ago she told a Time magazine reporter that she would not go on Letterman's show because, in the '80s when he was on NBC, "I was sort of like the butt of his jokes. I felt completely uncomfortable sitting in that chair, and I vowed I would not ever put myself in that position again."

"This is the television event of the decade," Dave gushed, introducing Oprah as an "icon," "humanitarian" and "Broadway producer."

Oprah brought him a present wrapped in bright purple wrapping paper. The present was a framed autographed picture of Oprah and Uma Thurman, the ladies who, just a few days earlier on Oprah's syndicated show, had discussed Letterman and his now famous joke with which he'd opened the Academy Awards in 1995 -- "Oprah, Uma. Uma, Oprah." They've never forgotten the joke, they told Oprah's viewers, because they're both very, very sensitive about their first names.

Letterman said he could not thank Oprah enough for finally agreeing to be a guest on his show: "It means a great deal to me, and I'm just very happy you're here."

"Does it really?" Winfrey asked. "I've been hearing for the past week you talking about it, and I didn't know if you were really serious or you were just doing your 'Dave thing.'

"You have meant something to the lives of people," he said. "We're just a TV show."

He stuck with that theme for some time: "It's more than a show," he said of her syndicated daily program. "It's a mission," she agreed. "I can't believe you're being this serious!" she said repeatedly.

In 1989, Letterman's NBC show traveled to Chicago, and Oprah was his guest for what would be the last time -- until last night.

Letterman ended the historical peace talks by escorting Oprah all the way out of the Ed Sullivan Theater – onto the street (where there must have been a million fans lined up to witness this historic event) and then planting her on the front door of her theater for the premiere of "The Color Purple," with cameras rolling the entire time.