Welcoming the heiress on his show, Letterman asked her how she found her jail term.

When Hilton went on to complain about the food in prison, a relentless Letterman continued to poke fun at her.

“Dinner was jail-mystery meat. I have no idea what it was but it was pretty bad.” The Sun quoted her, as telling on the show.
“What is it you did? Do you know what you did,” he said.

To ward-off anymore questions, Hilton said that she did not wish to talk about the sordid past,
“I’ve moved on with my life so I don’t really want to talk about it anymore,” she said.

Then someone from the audience yelled ‘ I love you Paris’ and Letterman quipped if the person was someone she met in the slammer.
“Is that somebody you met in jail,” he asked her.

As Hilton sat there fighting tears, Letterman promptly apologised and went on to talk about her upcoming flick ‘Repro! The Genetic Opera’.

When it comes to what pays on US television, talk doesn’t come cheap — nor apparently does a loud mouth.

Financial magazine Forbes on Thursday published a list of the highest-paid TV celebrities, with daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey leading the way by earning an $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007. Nobody else came close.

Second in the list was Jerry Seinfeld earning $60 million.

Winfrey was joined at the top of the list by another talk show host, David Letterman, who landed at No. 4 by raking in $40 million in the same period from his “Late Night with David Letterman.”

Simon Cowell, the arrogant and harshly critical judge on top-rated talent show “American Idol” earned $45 million to land at No. 3, and Donald Trump, whose boisterous exclamation “You’re Fired” from reality show “The Apprentice” became part of the pop culture lexicon, was No. 5 with $32 million.

The list shows that in the media arena, it pays to own and produce either all or part of your shows, like Oprah.

That notion becomes abundantly clear in the No. 2 slot, where Jerry Seinfeld sits with $60 million earned mostly from reruns of his co-owned 1990’s sitcom “Seinfeld.”

Despite the fact that prime-time TV shows win awards and critical acclaim, Forbes Senior Editor Lea Goldman noted that daytime TV and news is where stars rake in the dough.

“Daytime personalities dominate our list of TV’s top earners, with most competition among morning and afternoon talk show hosts,” said Goldman.

Barbara Walters, another star who owns and co-produces her daytime show “The View,” landed at No. 18 with $12 million.
The remaining top 20 is as follows;

6. Jay Leno, $32 million
7. Dr. Phil McGraw, $30 million
8. “Judge” Judy Sheindlin, $30 million
9. George Lopez, $26 million
10. Kiefer Sutherland, $22 million
11. Regis Philbin, $21 million
12. Tyra Banks, $18 million
13. Rachael Ray, $16 million,
14. Katie Couric, $15 million
15. Ellen DeGeneres, $15 million
16. Ryan Seacrest, $14 million
17. Matt Lauer, $13 million
18, Barbara Walters, $12 million
19. Diane Sawyer, $12 million
20. Meredith Vieira, $10 million

Clinton’s appearance was announced Monday in an e-mail — “The first interview about his new passion!” — sent to members of Winfrey’s book club.

Winfrey, who interviewed Clinton in 2004 for his memoir “My Life,” has good reason to think highly of the new book. “Giving” praises Winfrey’s “Angel Network,” which has donated millions of dollars around the world, from money for schools in Africa to relief aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The book also includes comments from Winfrey, who was asked why she started the Angel Network, and another charitable organization, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.

“I wanted to give back what I was given, a sense of worth,” she replied. “Everyone wants to matter.”
Clinton has other interviews planned next week, including one with Larry King on CNN and with David Letterman on CBS television’s “Late Show.”