RSSDavid Letterman Blackmailed Over Affair With Late Night Show Staffer … Will Letterman Do Affair Monologues on Himself?
DAVID LETTERMAN ADMITS TO AFFAIR!
Well this was a part of the David Letterman’s monologue that no one thought they would hear. Last night during The David Letterman Show, Dave revealed that he was being extorted and told the audience of a blackmail plot and confessed to have sexual affair with staffer.
So this is what it feels like to make fun of other being caught in an affair?
So Dave, how does it feel to be on the other side of the camera with regards to a sex affair? Extortion wrong, but Letterman has certainly made hay in the past at other people’s expense. What was funny about Sarah Palin and her daughter, is not so funny now is it when its about you.
David Letterman told the audience of his late night talk show that he had sexual relationships with female members of his staff, and added he forked over a bogus $2 million check as part of an extortion plot on the matter.
Letterman, 62, made the confessions to the audience during a taping of “The Late Show” for broadcast Thursday night, according to a statement by Worldwide Pants Inc., Letterman’s production company.
“This morning, I did something I’ve never done in my life,” Letterman told his audience. “I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury.”
Online media reports named the man in the alleged extortion case as Robert Halderman, a producer for CBS.
“I get to looking through it and there’s a letter in the package and it says, ‘I know that you do some terrible, terrible things. And I can prove that you do these terrible things.’ Sure enough, contained in the package was stuff to prove that I do terrible things,” Letterman said on Thursday’s edition of CBS’ “Late Show.”
The host said the alleged extortion suspect claimed he planned to write both a movie screenplay and a book based on what he knew — that Letterman had engaged in sex with staffers.
No one should ever be extorted, it is a heinous crime. However, the irony that someone is going after Letterman after this man has targeted people unmercifully in the past is not lost.
Verum Serum looks back on the laughs that Letterman provided regarding sex scandals in the past at others expense. Dave, I guess it’s not too funny when the shoe is on your foot.
UPDATE I: Robert J. “Joe” Halderman pleads not guilty in Letterman plot
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29 Responses to “David Letterman Blackmailed Over Affair With Late Night Show Staffer … Will Letterman Do Affair Monologues on Himself?”
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Ha-ha, now thats some funny chit there!
1 positive thing:
at least the guy is still getting some.
#2 moronic statement…no doubt you’d like to get some from Letterman too.
He has a wife and kids…
He rails on the Palins and more specifically Palin’s 14 year old daughter with this in his background?
He rails on the likes of Sanford…..
Another TYPICAL HYPOCRITICAL LIBERAL a$$wipe.
Letterman sucks, has always sucked and will continue to suck. He has to use SHOCK value to get any kind of attention. As much as I hate Leno too, he ROUNDLY KICKED this sorry POS nightly, weekly, and YEAR AFTER YEAR…..
I would like to know the ages of the stafferS!
I agree with Scott. This guy is disgusting. I quit watching him years ago, and have detested him ever since his attacks on Palin. Funny how MSNBC defends him, calling his revelations “brilliant.” I hope Glenn Beck goes after him good. Kill his sponsors. Wake up, America. Look at the crew in power, and who is supporting them.
nice post scott
usual insulting ranting I see
Hollywood is so f’d up, caligula syndrome at the least.
this is kind of along with the post at hand depending on Lettermans stance on the subject, but still needs to be seen.
http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/demotivational-posters-hollywood-lowlifes-approve-of-drugging-raping-sodomizing-13-year-old-girls/
It’s funny after reading Lettermans quote, he makes himself out to be the victim in all of this, not the family he cheated on or the young women he letched that may have been scared to lose their jobs at the hands of this ego maniac.
Progressive ‘cross section’ on display.
Clinton might have some sage advice on
Bimbo Eruptions for old sweet Dave.
Meanwhile, he can come up with
his “Top 10 Letterman Sleazy Acts With
the Hired Help”.
Doesn’t surprise me, he’s probably just the tip of the iceberg in the Hollyweird crowd.
Seen this on the comments at NY post..
Top Ten Reasons David Letterman came Clean Now.
1.) He didn’t want the scandal to end up on Page Six.
2.) Why should Paul Shaffer get all the action?
3.) To steal the thunder from Sarah Palin’s new book.
4.) Ratings, ratings, ratings.
5.) With Leno out of the way, figures his only competition is skin-emax.
6.) He’s updating a popular show segment: Stupid Petting Tricks.
7.) He caught his wife watching Conan O’Brien.
8.) He’s trying to pick a fight with Newark’s mayor.
9.) Needed to fill the time because John McCain blew off the show.
10.) Is thinking of changing his production company name to ‘Worldwide Drop-Your-Pants.’
Saddest part to me… is that out of all his
rambling and explaining… he never apologized
to his wife and kid for being a pig.
That 22% ratings jump is due to people who like
to stop to watch car accidents. It will go away.
Letterman is a tin man.
Liability, Liability, Liability
Egomaniac, Egomaniac, Egomaniac
Liberal Ass-Wipe, Liberal Ass-Wipe. Liberal Ass-Wipe
and ratings, ratings, ratings is correct.
Letterman FINALLY married his longtime gf and then has one child with her at what, over age 60?
He needs his head examined. There is just something not right with this man.
David Letterman sleeping with more than one women who works in his office. What a cheap pimp.
No SEX, No JOB. CBS did not do a thing about his dirty jokes about the Palin family.
Johnson & Johnson his big sponsor, likes a clean wholesome family show. Letterman is a PERVERT!
A CBS News producer just trying to clean up his network!
I don’t get all the hubbub. People have some interesting takes on this.
First off, whoever it was that said he never apologized to his wife and kid – call me crazy, but if *I* was his wife, the last thing I would want him to do is to apologize to me on television. Just because YOU didn’t hear his apology to his wife doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Secondly, whoever inferred that you don’t get a job on his show without screwing him is complete conjecture.
Thirdly, how do you know what kind of relationship he and his new bride have. Maybe she knew he had other relationships and THAT was why it took them umpteen million years to tie the knot. Maybe she was waiting for him to get it out of his system.
Additionally, people who are enjoying this is an “oh, how the mighty have fallen” kind of way are complete hypocrites. If society weren’t so eager to condemn anyone and everyone with the slightest bit of the spotlight for promiscuity, infidelity, closetted homosexuality, etc., he wouldn’t have bothered lambasting every public persona in the past of being caught. He did it because YOU, his viewers, loved it when he did. Pot, kettle, black.
Finally… for those of you who keep prodding at thin cyber-air with the question “not so funny when it happens to you, huh, Dave?” have clearly not seen the video of the broadcast. The way Dave told the story was, in fact, VERY funny.
I love how all these people believe infidelity and temptation are beneath them… but you know the first thing they’d do with the teensiest bit of fame and influence is try to get a piece of extracurricular action out of it.
You judgy-judgertons disgust me. May you all get famous on big fancy talk shows staffed with hot willing twenty-somethings and see how long it takes for YOU to get caught with YOUR worldwide pants around your ankles.
UGH.
David Letterman did what was best for himself. He knew exactly what he was doing by manipulating the audience in his comedic way.
I think it is sick that the media speaks of him being the victim, while ignoring the fact that he was behaving as the nasty old boss-man, having sex with young staff employees and that there are questions that beg to be asked.
1) Did any of the women feel forced to have sex with him, for fear of getting fired?
2) Did he take advantage of any of the women, knowing some may not have the courage to say, “No,” to the boss?
Fact is, whether he is a victim of blackmail or not, he is not innocent, in that he has behaved as a typical rich famous dirty old male boss!
Debra J.M. Smith
of
InformingChristians.com
And again… MORE interesting questions…
like Debra J.M. Smith of informingchristians.com above.
So – #1: Did any of the women feel forced to have sex with him, for fear of getting fired?
Well, Debra J.M. Smith of Informing Christians.com… you seem to automatically assume that the answer is YES. Maybe it is. I have no clue. But, last time I checked, you and I were both women employed in a society that protects, educates and encourages us to step forward if we feel threatened, coerced, blackmailed, exploited, extorted from or manipulated in any way by ANYONE when our jobs are on the line. If jobs were the means by which to coerce these staffers into sleeping with him, then I agree, he should be held accountable. But right now, the only thing that’s being said is, “Two people who work together have had sex.”
While I can understand, being employed by “InformingChristians.com” you may not necessarily see your fair share of workplace hanky-panky (especially since you seem to be the only individual espousing hatred in the name of Jesus on said website), but please do rest assured that it exists, abounds, even thrives out here in the private sector where they are not allowed to ask us about our opinions on a higher power.
People have sex with people they work with every day. Considering 40% of people have dated people they work with, and 33% of those who dated a coworker dated a person with a more senior position… According to these statistics, compiled by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com, 13 people out of every 100 have at one time dated a senior in the workplace. Why do you assume these were NOT consentual relations? Because he’s a celebrity? That’s ludicrous. The fact that he IS a celebrity likely makes him far more attractive to any underling with aspirations than any Fortune 500 CEO.
If any of the women he was involved with step forward to file suit, you can wax righteous on it then. In the meantime, do I think Letterman is a victim? Hell no – he’s a grown man who made his own decisions. But this is his personal life. Just because the man shows up on your TV every weeknight to say witty things and tickle your tired brain with stupid pet tricks doesn’t make who he has sex with, when, why or how any of your business.
Your second question: Did he take advantage of any of the women, knowing some may not have the courage to say, “No,” to the boss?
As a woman, I find this insulting. I’m not saying we are past the age where women can be taken advantage of in the workplace, and I’m not saying one or more of these women might not come forward with claims, but in the interim… being all religious-like and stuff… shouldn’t you be assuming his innocence? Apparently, you are the old-school puritan kind of religious, that is waving her torch and pitchfork and RSVPing to the stoning of a man who may or may not have uttered the word “Jehova”.
I am a believer in many of the cornerstones of your religious beleif system, including the tenets of tolerance, forgiveness, and non-judgmental behavior. Yet on your oh-so-Christian website, you speak so acidically, spitefully and snidely self-riteous of what it would take for you to become an Obama supporter. A piece from your website, authored solely by you, Debra J.M. Smith, quoted directly below:
“Learning to hate “Whitey” may take a little while, but I am sure such would come in time. I would hang with domestic terrorists, angry blacks and groups of poverty stricken people that would make me feel good about my life and myself.” Hanging with angry blacks and poverty-stricken people would make you more riteous than you are – if I recall, those are the behaviors of folk far more holy and peace-minded than you – people like MLK and Mother Theresa. You wish.
You are a petty, small-minded, vitriolic ignoramus and should take some time contemplating YOUR OWN UN-Christian behavior on matters far more relevant and consequential than who some late night talk show host had sex with.
Don’t worry, Debbie. *I’ll* pray for you.
Dear Anonymous:
For a poster as intelligent and meticulous as yourself, I have to mention that I got a kick out of you labeling this site and many posters here as “judgey judgertons”. Also your generalizing and labeling this a “Christian” Website? I think you are being assumptive in some of YOUR allegations and statements of a public blog & forum and all of those who post here.
As a woman, however-(and especially pertaining to your second post in your response to Deobrah of “Informing Christians”_- I have to agree that you raise some very valid points regarding how women handle sexual harrassment or coersion in the workplace (or life in general). It all comes down to choice, making the right decisions and refusing to be influenced in a situation where a woman has a right to simply say, “No”. It truly disappoints me in this day and age that many women are still weak and lose themselves & their identity or are afraid to speak up if/when they are being treated inappropriately. As women, we must take ownership of any given challenge and not continually view ourselves as the “victim”.
As human beings, we are all created equal- and as such, we all make mistakes. In this particular case, however-David Letterman’s actions as a Professional in the business for many years, was completely inappropriate, IMO. On the other hand, it was a sleazy move for the third party to attempt extortion- and about the only thing I will give Mr. Letterman credit for was confronting his problem head on and telling the truth to his viewers.
I consider myself to be an open minded individual who can be very liberal thinking and who certainly loves a good joke and has a great sense of humor. Where several people have already been affected emotionally and could be additionally physically hurt by this circumstance (retribution) or suffer a loss of their financial livelihood—- I see nothing funny about this incident whatsoever. The whole thing shows a poor lack of judgement from someone in the business of entertainment with such a high degree of public exposure and should have never happened in the first place.
I did appreciate reading your comments and can agree wholeheartedly with some of what you belive and think also.
Of course Letterman was going to try and laugh off being a cheating, whoring scumbag. That’s what people do when they try and deflect attention from them self.
The fact that he was extorted (which is a crime and wrong) does not deminish the fact that he cheated on his wife with staffers.
All this while Letterman made mock of others who were caught in cheating scandals and tried to impugn the character of those like Sarah Palin.
Hey Dave, the next time you want to do such a monologue, look in the mirror and look at the reflection of a piece of dung.
You hypocrite!
R
I remember when David Letterman mocked Sarah’s daughter, thinking that he had some nerve, considering that his own son had been born five years before he married the mother.
Debra…
I should add, that he clearly was not sorry for having not married her first.
The MSM & Letterman’s treatment of Sarah Palin was deplorable—I mean, you just don’t go there and since when was he appointed the moral compass of America?
His lame attempt at an apology was also forced and not genuine. Of course, Ms. Palin graciously accepted. Undoubtedly, Sarah Palin has more class in her left pinky than David Letterman has in his entire body.
=)
NewGirlBoston,
I think you misunderstood my reference to the “Christian” website – I was not referring to this site as a christian site (that thought actually never ocurred to me)- I was referring to Ms. Smith’s site only. I don’t think that’s judgemental, considering her website is called “InformingChristians.com”. Which, as a side note of considerable irony, I find to be a very UN-christian website. This is not a judgement – just my own personal opinion.
All the reports I have read reiterate that these affairs happened before he married his girlfriend. I’m not saying that matters. I’ve been in a relationship with the same man for 6+ years and don’t believe I would find any infidelity to be excusable, regardless of whether or not there’s a ring on my finger.
In the same token, there are many, many kinds of relationships out there, and not all of us necessarily adhere to traditional social mores with regards to those relationships. People share spouses, have open marriages, go through rough patches, separations, oat-sowing… people break up, get back together…
My grandmother once, when I voiced an opinion of my parents’ marriage, gave me a very profound bit of advice that I am glad I have carried with me to this day. She said, “No one ever knows what goes on in someone else’s relationship except the two people in it. You can think you know it and understand it and are qualified to comment on it, but you don’t know what is said and done and known and shared between those two people when they are alone together.”
I think everyone has the right to their opinion on the subject, of course. I just think it’s kind of pompous to assume you know what’s going on behind closed doors in the relationship of a man you’ll likely never meet.
This guy did make some very bad decisions, and, like anyone who does make mistakes, he will pay for them. In his own way, with his own hide. I’m sure he’s filled with regret and shame and mortification. But in the wake of all this, he’s behaving rather honorably and gallantly, I think.
To provide a bit of a comparison… At least he’s being far more respectful of his audience’s intelligence than Clinton was with the entirity of the American people. He’s behaving with more honesty, integrity and aplomb in the wake of his exposure than most of our elected officials have or would when faced with the same situation.
I just think that’s worth more than a lot of people are giving him credit for.
Also – about the Sarah Palin thing… he apologized for that, on air, twice in one week. It was horrible and cruel, yes, and he deserved every bit of scrutiny and backlash he received. To publicly ridicule a young, scared girl who was forced with not only an incredibly tough decision, but also the unwilling sideshow in the most high profile election (possibly) in history was inexcusable… but haven’t we all taken it too far and said something we’ve regretted in the past? We CAN all relate to that horrible foot-in-mouth feeling, right? I know *I* can. He said he was sorry for his comments, and I believed he truly was.
I know I’m not going to change anyone’s mind on this topic. I’m not trying to. I’m just attempting to dissect and debate some of the reactions people have had to this. I find it to be a very interesting social study.
Hi, Anon:
Completely agree with everything your Grandmother told you about the dynamics of a personal relationship between 2 people. Wise woman.
I do disagree with you on you saying that you are sure Letterman is filled with regret, shame and mortification. Think about his ego-his behavior in general and his personality…my educated guess is that he doesn’t care at all who and what he hurt because he has enough power and money to put a bandaid on it all. In other words, he’s going to survive and be just fine in the end-so why should any of it bother him?
While I understand that in the business he is in-he goes for the shock factor in his jokes and the content he delivers on air- but I also completely disagree with your take on the Sarah Palin incident. I stand by my comment posted. Of course, I can respect your opinion. Let me ask you this though– as a woman, you didn’t find anything offensive about how he attacked another woman, Palin AND HER FAMILY personally??
Then I dare say, there is something wrong with the way you think and I would also venture a guess that you have no children of your own?
Thanks for your post and sharing your opinions.
This just in…..
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/10/04/2009-10-04_untitled__4dave04m.html
NewGirlBoston…
Again, I truly do appreciate your intelligence and open-mindedness regarding my opinion on this topic, and am both flattered and stimulated by your willingness to converse with me on the subject.
In response to your comments disagreeing with my supposition of Letterman being filled with regret, shame and mortification… I will conceed that I have no basis for my educated guess other than the conjecture that I would feel that way myself. However, in the same vein, I must contend that you have no more basis for your educated guess than I do. You, understandably and reasonably, are basing your opinions on his ego, power and money. I totally get that. You ask me to think about his ego and his overall personality. And yet, we have been shown time and time again with celebrities and public figures in general that who they portray themselves to be to the public is not necessarily who they are. I simply feel I need to firmly contend that we can no more fathom the depth of his regret and embarrassment than we can fathom the extent to which this has damaged his life.
We can suppose regret is generated by multiple factors. The ones I can come up with, offhand, are as follows: 1) the impact the actions have had on his personal code of ethics, morals and definition of acceptable conduct (which we do not know, because we do not know him), and 2) the effect his actions have had on his personal and professional life (which we do not know), and 3) the effects his actions have had on his emotional, spiritual and psychological well-being (which we do not know). Additionally, I would also contend that, being a public figure, we also have to consider the effects his actions have had on those around him in all spheres – personal, professional, spiritual and psychological – which we also do not know.
It all comes down to opinion – which gives us the opportunity to agree to disagree – you contend he is not sorry and does not have to be because of his power and money and ego. I contend that he IS sorry for those very same reasons. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”, the saying goes. To fall from the height of a normal man or woman who has engaged in the same folly can be devastating and permanent (have most of us not seen a coworker, acquaintance or friend suffer through the same thing on much less public scale? – minus the blackmail, of course). To fall from heights much greater oft leads to far more tragic endings, and I, for one, cannot purport to fathom the fallout for a man whose life in general I cannot fathom.
To say because he has money and “power” that it doesn’t bother him is painting him as a crude, 2-dimensional charicature of a real human being. To say because he has a talk show and a production company that he has power shows ME that you know nothing about the entertainment industry. The entertainment industry is NOT loyal. They are fickle, litigious, short-tempered, and cowtow to their advertisers’ legal advisors more than you may understand. The man has far less power than you assume. Even AS a television staple for the last 30 years.
Additionally – to say that none of this bothers him and that he’s going to be “just fine” in the wake of it all… again – do you know how this has affected his job? His marriage? How many of us would gladly forsake whatever hard-earned career we’ve cultivated in order to save our marriage? This again is just my underscoring my basic belief that we DON’T KNOW how he is suffering. I just don’t understand why everyone is so quick to cast aspursions on this man who, regardless of his high-profile job, is ultimately a complete stranger to us all, and also ultimately, as much as he may entertain us, COMPLETELY inconsequential in our legitimate lives.
As far as the Palin thing goes: before I address your questions re: the Palin/Letterman incident specifically, I would like to point out that you posed a question to me personally. You asked me if I didn’t find anything offensive about how he attacked another woman and her family personally. And IN the very asking of that question, you assumed I DIDN’T find anything offensive about the attack, then further attempted to discredit anything I may have had to say about the issue by again, assuming that I have no children, and inferring that this would somehow discredit me.
Here is where I take a deep breath and attempt to not get overly and overtly emotional. I will address this in proper order.
1) in response to the question “as a woman, you didn’t find anything offensive about how he attacked another woman, Palin AND HER FAMILY personally??”
As a matter of fact, I DID find it offensive. I thought I had made that clear above when I said, “It was horrible and cruel, yes, and he deserved every bit of scrutiny and backlash he received. To publicly ridicule a young, scared girl who was forced with not only an incredibly tough decision, but [was] also the unwilling sideshow in the most high profile election (possibly) in history was inexcusable”. I did then go on to speak of Letterman’s reasons (NOT excuses – I did NOT excuse his behavior – in fact, above, again, I referred to the comments he made specifically as INexcusable) for going too far. My apologies if my being understanding of the “reason” came off as attempting to excuse his behavior. This was not my intent.
#2 You go on to “dare say” (your words, not mine) that there is A) something wrong with the way I think (which is a complete invalidation of my overall line of logic – much of which you have admitted to agreeing with already) and B) that, based on this one opinion, you would assume I have no children of my own – which is a very interesting aspursion, in that it also very passive-aggressively infers that I have no love, concern, concept or want of children.
As a matter of fact, NewGirlBoston… I very much want to have children, yet the man I have spent nearly 7 years with and I are unable to have them. So before you speak of what a woman who has no children of her own feels like about children, try to ask yourself what a woman who cannot have children with the man she loves must feel about children.
I do not take issue with the fact that Letterman attacked Sarah Palin. If for no other reason than Sarah Palin knew what she signed up for when she signed on as VP candidate. I DO however take severe issue with the fact that his remarks ended up (intentionally or inadvertently – it doesn’t matter) focussing on a minor child (specifically, Palin’s 14 year old daughter). Palin signed up for jokes, ridicule, the spotlight and the rest of it. Her children (and spcifically her younger daughter) did not – as an unwilling meia focus and as a minor she should be protected (not by law, but by decency) from the viperous tongue of ANY form of media scrutiny.
I hope that sums up how I feel about not being able to have children of my own, Letterman’s personal life and the Palin issue.
#25-Anon-Wow….After reading your honest, open and insightful post…I think I may very well be speechless for the first time in my life. As luck would have it….this probably will never happen.
Disagree—I do in fact understand the Entertainment business—-it is everything that you so adequately described—to the T.
About “assumptions” made by one person about another- I get it. Up to and including the part about you having children of your own. My instincts were correct, and I must apologize if in any way my comments insulted or hurt you in any way.
Just another educated guess and I may be way off on this one too—but after reading all of your posts—why do I get the feeling you are in the field of Psychiatry (sp) or Human Service/Counseling at some level, LISW, even but I think even more initials after your title. I am intrigued.
As you say- there is much left open to individual interpretation- and we, as humans, can always agree to disagree on any given topic.
Thank you for responding to my questions regarding your valued opinions, woman to woman. Thank you also for being so candid with all of your responses and sharing your thought process with me.
Lastly, I guess it’s safe to say that:
Knowledge is power ~~~~~~~~ and
You learn something new every day. That is, if we keep an open mind and open heart.
Here’s hoping that you will frequent the SM Website at least as your time allows, I would look forward to that.
NG from Boston
Re: Letterman—- He apologized again today for actions. To his Wife, who he admits he deeply hurt.
While his mood was more somber—I don’t know (as you observe perhaps only he truly knows) but I am sorry—-I am just not buying it.
You are so right, Mr. Letterman—you do have your work cut out for you and your partner of over 20 years. Thank goodness his Son is too young to understand what just happened.
While there are far worse crimes of passion that exist in our society today- IMO, this type of thing is just uncalled for. If two people don’t want to be together in a committed relationship or more importantly—honor the vows of their marriage—WHY the need to hurt other people and be unfaithful? It’s called–Divorce! Go on Legal Zoom for crying out loud for what, less than $200.00 to get docs to file for one, sans Attorneys?
I’m sorry- cheating on a partner you have an agreement to be monogamous with is just not something I will ever understand, especially when it’s not even necessary. There are other options if one partner wants to date or be with other people outside of their current relationship and it all starts with honesty.
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