In an uncharacteristically personal revelation for David Letterman, the host took to his "Late Show" stage to admit that he was the victim of an extortion attempt - and acknowledge that he has had sexual relations with more than one staff member.
According to a press release sent by Letterman's PR reps, the host first received a package three weeks ago from someone who claimed to have information about alleged sexual relations he has had with female employees of the "Late Show."
The individual threatened to go public with the allegations unless Letterman paid him $2 million.
Letterman told his audience on Thursday that he contacted the Manhattan District Attorney's Special Prosecution Bureau. That led to a sting operation, in which Letterman met with the individual and handed him a fake $2 million check. That person was arrested on Thursday.
"This morning, I did something I've never done in my life," Letterman said on Thursday's edition of CBS' "Late Show." "I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury."
As part of the testimony, Letterman admitted that he had engaged in sexual relationships with staff members.
"My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would," Letterman said. "I feel like I need to protect these people -- I need to certainly protect my family."
A Letterman spokesman declined to comment further on the matter, only to say that Letterman will have more to say on Thursday night's program.
Revelation came on what should have been a day of celebration for Letterman, as ratings from week one of the new TV season gave the host his first outright late night victory in four years.
Letterman's revelation may also have an impact on the late night ratings race, as interest in the extortion case perhaps fuels tune-in. It's been an eventful week in the late night sphere, as "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien was rushed to the hospital last Friday after hitting his head on stage.
19. "Exactly what is he trying to get away with? Having a private life?" In response to Reply # 5
If he had consensual sex with people on the show and wasn't making the sex a condition of their continued employment on the show, then he did nothing wrong.
The extortionist is just trying get a payday by exposing something Dave and another consenting adult have done in private.
Now if it comes out later that Dave was sexually harassing these women, that's different. ______________________________________________________________________________
"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..." -unknown
much like the Michael Richards interview it just felt awkard with the audience laughing. Both instances the audience had no idea what was going on so I can't blame them for laughing, just was weird.
13. "Yeah, I was saying in GD that I thought he'd at least preface it by" In response to Reply # 11
saying something to the effect of, "Now, what I'm about to tell you is some serious business, so if you don't mind, I'd like to bend your ear for a minute"... but he didn't, so it's understandable for them to laugh -- especially since he was sprinkling jokes throughout the story... they eventually realized that he wasn't really joking, especially when he said the dollar amount and revealed that he had been having sex with his employees... but even then he threw more jokes in, so I can't really be mad at them for that... nor can I be mad at David for getting this out before it got out... and we don't know how he and his wife get down, so I'm not going to pass judgment on that relationship either... ________________________________________________________________________ http://www.youtube.com/user/punannydiaries
16. "First off I'm embarrassed " In response to Reply # 0
of my spelling of "repercussion". It was late.
I don't really fault him for doing this way. Instead of have a press conference he said well I have a good portion of America listening to me every night I'll talk about this once on my terms. That's Dave's way, he's so private the only time he's open and honest is on the show.
17. "Why is everyone saying he did the right thing?" In response to Reply # 0
The right thing would have been to come out and admit that it was wrong.
It doesn't make you a better man to admit something when an extortionist is forcing your hand. 95% of the world would have done the exact same thing...how does this make him a stand-up guy?
20. "Because for all we know right now, he didn't do anything wrong." In response to Reply # 17
>The right thing would have been to come out and admit that it >was wrong.
We don't know that he did anything wrong. If he sexually harassed a woman on the show, that's one thing. But if was consensual, then it's not wrong. Even the law on sexual harassment says that.
>It doesn't make you a better man to admit something when an >extortionist is forcing your hand. 95% of the world would >have done the exact same thing...how does this make him a >stand-up guy?
95% of the world don't have the wealth and notoriety of David Letterman, and therefore, not as much to lose. I'm not saying he's the ballsiest dude on the planet, but to essentially give the extorter a big "fuck you" by admitting it and cutting their legs from under them is pretty slick. Especially since they were probably banking that Dave wouldn't want to put his fame and reputation at stake.
21. "It's being reported that the guy who tried to extort him was a" In response to Reply # 0 Fri Oct-02-09 11:15 AM by ZooTown74
48 Hours producer who just happened to be dating one of Letterman's former female staffers... Robert Halderman's his name...
latimes.com:
>CBS says accused Letterman extortionist works on '48 Hours' October 1, 2009 | 9:29 pm
Letterman CBS has revealed that the person accused in a $2-million blackmail plot against talk show host David Letterman is a network employee who works on the true-crime show "48 Hours."
At a taping of tonight's "Late Show," Letterman told the studio audience that an unnamed person had approached him and threatened to reveal details of the host's sexual liaisons with female staffers unless a payment of $2 million was received. Letterman said he admitted to the sexual relationships during grand jury testimony.
In a statement late Thursday, the network said: "CBS was made aware of an ongoing police investigation involving David Letterman and an employee at '48 Hours,' who was subsequently arrested earlier today on charges of attempted grand larceny in the first degree." The employee had been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, the network added.
"Mr. Letterman addressed the issue during the show's broadcast this evening, and we believe his comments speak for themselves," the network said in the statement.
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