Back in February, Katie Couric went on Jimmy Kimmel Live and told a story about going on a date with Larry King. A quick summary: Twenty years ago, Katie decided she would basically go out with anyone who asked her, so when Larry King offered to take her to “a very nice, EXPENSIVE Italian restaurant” (NOTE: His words), she put on her best leather skirt and hopped in his Lincoln Towncar. After their dinner, according to Katie, Larry drove her back to his place — which she claimed was decorated with Larry King memorabilia and keys to various cities — and “lunged” at her before she politely rebuffed him and made her way home. It was a creepy and terrific story and I wish it had gone on forever.
But this week Katic Couric learned an important lesson, which is that if you kiss and tell about your date with Larry King (or, if you prefer, “get lunged at and tell”), he will come on your daytime talk show and dispute your version of the events, point-by-point, in the most awkward imaginable way.
First things first: Larry is on board with the part about the restaurant, although he is a little offended by her “I was going to say yes to anybody” story. (Couric: “I’m sorry, does this sound bad and insulting? It’s not supposed to.” King: “Yes, it does.”) But his real quibble is what happened after dinner. According to Larry, they went back to Katie’s building, not his, and he walked her up to her apartment on the 19th floor, where she ended the date at the door because she had a roommate. But guess what? She didn’t actually have a roommate. That’s right, Katie Couric pulled one of the oldest tricks in the book on a man who pre-dates the book itself. He really should have seen that one coming.
Anyway, if you were wondering if Larry King was disappointed about being turned away, and if he is a leg man, and if he said both of those things to Katie Couric on national television, the answers are yes, yes, and yes.
“We get to the door… I think, ‘I’m going to get to go into the door!’ I’m a leg man. You have great legs.”
I really hope someone greenlights a show called She Said, Larry Said where Larry King brings on all the women he dated one-by-one and they both recount their version of the events. Viewers could call in. It would be so weird and creepy. I would love it.
