David Letterman Reveals Why Harmony Korine Banned From 'Late Show'

David Letterman banned Harmony Korine from the Late Show in the late 90s when he caught the director rummaging through Meryl Streep's purse.

The issue came up on Monday night while James Franco was a guest on the show. Franco recited Korine’s version of the story, which was that he pushed Streep backstage and was bumped from the show. But then Letterman corrected him.

“I went upstairs to greet Meryl Streep and say, ‘Welcome to the show.’ And I knock on the door and she was not in there,” Letterman said. “And I looked around, and she was not in there, and I found Harmony going through her purse. True story. And so I said: ‘That's it, put her things back in her bag and then get out of here.’”

Franco offered up kind words about Korine.

"Harmony is a very sane guy now, a great artist and great person to work with. I think he had a period where he was going a little off the rails, so maybe he was on something that night,” Franco said in the interview.

Korine had a history of heavy drug abuse, but he has since completed rehab.

Korine wrote the screenplay for the surprise box office hit Kids, about New York City teenagers, and was just 18-years-old at the time of its release. His latest film, Spring Breakers, which stars Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and Gucci Mane, has alreay made more than $9 million against a $2 million budget. —Hal Sundt

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