The fight between
Andy Kaufman and
Jerry Lawler was staged. The original plan was to have the two apologize to each other and then for Kaufman to sing "What the World Needs Now (Is Love, Sweet Love)". But according to Lawler, sometime before the taping, Kaufman asked him to slap him instead. After some coaxing, Lawler decided to go along with the idea. Since Letterman was expecting the apology shtick, he was genuinely bewildered when the fight broke out. Segment producer Gerard Mulligan, who Kaufman walked by on the way out of the studio, stated that the fight wasn't planned.
