I have no memory of this, but apparently in 2010, Louis CK got drunk on a plane and tweeted a bunch of obscene insults at and about Sarah Palin. The insults were so bad that Louis had to drop out of hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that year because all of the conservative media personalities were going to boycott the dinner if he stayed on as host. Well, Louis appeared on Howard Stern’s show yesterday, and he talked about running into Palin at the Saturday Night Live event a few months ago.

Louis CK’s side of the story was that Palin approached him but that she really didn’t know who he was. When he explained that he had once tweeted a lot of terrible things about her, he ended up apologizing, telling her: “I owe you an apology.” Louis told Stern that he never apologizes to anyone because “f–k anybody else who’s offended.” When Louis explained who he was to Palin, she told him, “Well, you’re a vile person.” But she apparently accepted his apology and invited him to go fishing with her in Alaska. Now here’s Palin’s version of how this happened:

Proving it’s never too late to say, “I’m sorry,” comedian Louis C.K. earned a warm response from former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin after apologizing to her for the vile things he Tweeted about her – almost five years ago.

“Maybe it surprises people, but I was sincerely humbled and appreciative,” Palin tells PEOPLE of her encounter with the comedian at the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special’s after-party in February. As Louis C.K. told the story to Howard Stern on Wednesday, Palin was with her nephew, Payton McCann, a young stand-up comic waiting tables by day, when she told the professional comedian, “My nephew told me I have to say hi to you and you’re the one guy I have to meet.”

Louis C.K. told Stern that he’s “never in a million years” apologized for any of his jokes before, but added that that night, “something came over me emotionally and I said, ‘Well, I owe you an apology.’ ”

That’s where Palin picks up the story: “I had to ask C.K. what it was he was apologizing for. …C.K. explained he’d said some things about me and was sorry, and went on with such a nice, humble apology. I laughed and said he didn’t need to apologize, for I hadn’t even heard it. Then I teased him that, ‘If you really did say nasty things about me, well, then you’re the only person to have ever said mean things about me, so for shame!’ ”

Palin says McCann, a “huge fan” of Louis C.K., subsequently sent her some of his material – “though Payton may have censored it before forwarding the bits” – and she found the Louie star to be a “very funny talent.” The conservative firebrand, who doesn’t often find anything redeeming about Hollywood, is now a fan – of more than Louis C.K.’s stand-up.

“I wish I could have spoken with him long. And again, I sincerely appreciated his unexpected and character-revealing apology,” she says. “I think he’s the only one in Hollywood who’s ever done that.”

And, the offer she made him at the party still stands: “Come fishing with me next time you’re in Alaska!” Maybe it’s a mutual affection. Louis C.K. says he’d do it “in a heartbeat.”

[From People]

Do you think she genuinely didn’t have any idea who Louis CK is? I mean, it’s not like he’s some esoteric, barely known comedian. Most people consider him to be one of the funniest people in the world right now. But sure, I’ll buy that Palin didn’t really have a clue and that he really did apologize to her and she accepted it with grace.

Incidentally, after Louis told Stern that story, the two of them talked about how much fun it would be to go to bed with some of the conservative women they hate, like Palin and some of the Fox News ladies. Sounds like another round of apologies is in order.

Photos courtesy of WENN.