Yes, there's a huge BUT coming at the end of that statement.
"We were always friends before all of this happened," Letterman says in a preview clip of their interview airing January 6, referring to the Conan debacle.
"He's an unusual fellow. I've never met anyone quite like Jay. And I will say - I'm happy to say - that I think he is the funniest guy I've ever known."
He's being serious, he says, when it comes to comedic chops.
"Just flat out, if you go to see him do his nightclub act, just the funniest, the smartest, a wonderful observationalist and very appealing as a comic."
And here comes the qualifier ... "Therefore, the fact that he is also maybe the most insecure person I have ever known... I could never reconcile that."
