The stand-up performance by
Bill Hicks was cut from the broadcast at the last minute by the production staff. Hicks felt betrayed, and conveyed his feelings of betrayal in a hand-written 39-page letter to the New Yorker. Hicks died of pancreatic cancer on February 26, 1994. On January 30, 2009,
David Letterman acknowledged on his show that it was his decision to remove Hicks' performance from the broadcast and expressed regret for his decision. Letterman invited Hicks' mother, Mary Hicks, to the show and apologized for not allowing Bill's appearance to air, and played Bill's performance in its entirety for the first time.