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Letterman admits affairs after report of blackmail

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Anonymous

Guest
AW DAVE its ok. maybe the potus will let you cry on his shoulder.

Letterman admits affairs after report of blackmail

A CBS News employee is accused of trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman, forcing the late-night host to admit in an extraordinary monologue before millions of viewers that he had sexual relationships with female employees.

Letterman said that "this whole thing has been quite scary." But he mixed in jokes while outlining what had happened to him, seeming to confuse a laughing audience at Thursday's taping about whether the story was true.

The network said the person who was arrested works on the true-crime show "48 Hours" and has been suspended. A person with knowledge of the investigation said the suspect is Robert J. Halderman. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because authorities have not released the suspect's name.

A "48 Hours" producer named Joe Halderman was part of a team nominated for an Emmy for outstanding continuing coverage of a news story in a news magazine in 2008. Two numbers listed for Halderman were disconnected, and a message left at a third number was not immediately returned Thursday.

Letterman's "Late Show" audience was the first to hear the story, which came as a shock since the 62-year-old Letterman had married longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko in March. The couple began dating in 1986 and have a son, Harry, born in November 2003. Fatherhood and his heart surgery in 2000 had seemed to mellow Letterman, who took over as the most popular late-night comedy host this summer after NBC replaced Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien on the "Tonight" show.

Letterman sat behind his desk to outline the scheme after a monologue that targeted some frequent foils like Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney.

Three weeks ago, Letterman said, he got in his car early in the morning and found a package with a letter saying, "I know that you do some terrible, terrible things and that I can prove that you do some terrible things." He acknowledged the letter contained proof.

He said it was terrifying "because there's something insidious about (it). Is he standing down there? Is he hiding under the car? Am I going to get a tap on the shoulder?"

Letterman said he called his lawyer to set up a meeting with the man, who threatened to write a screenplay and a book about Letterman unless he was given money. There were two subsequent meetings, with the man given a phony $2 million check at the last one. Letterman joked it was like the giant ceremonial check given to winners of golf tournaments.

He told the audience that he had to testify before a grand jury on Thursday.

"I was worried for myself, I was worried for my family," he said. "I felt menaced by this, and I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done."

He said "the creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. My response to that is yes, I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Yes, it would, especially for the women."

Whether they wanted to make the relationships public was up to them, he said.

"It's been a very bizarre experience," he said. "I felt like I needed to protect these people. I need to protect my family. I need to protect myself. Hope to protect my job."

CBS said in a statement that "we believe his comments speak for themselves."

Perhaps as a defense mechanism, Letterman sprinkled his remarks with jokes: "I know what you're saying," he said. "I'll be darned, Dave had sex."

He said he wouldn't talk further about it, and recited a Top Ten list. But it wasn't far from his mind. During banter with actor guest Woody Harrelson, Letterman said, "I've got my own problems."

It was not immediately clear when the relationships took place or how long they lasted. Letterman's "Late Show" has been on the air since 1993. Before that, "Late Night with David Letterman" aired on NBC from 1982 to 1993.

Letterman won't be taping a show Friday. Friday night's show was taped Thursday.

Alicia Maxey Greene, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney's office, declined to comment.

It's the second set of embarrassing headlines for Letterman in four months. In June, he apologized to Palin for making a crude joke about the former Republican vice presidential candidate's 14-year-old daughter. Although there was a small "fire Letterman" demonstration outside of his studio later, CBS stood by its late-night star.

Last fall Letterman sharply denounced Palin's running mate, John McCain, for abruptly canceling a "Late Show" appearance. Weeks of withering jokes by Letterman eventually forced McCain to come on the show and beg for forgiveness.

Letterman was also the victim of a 2005 plot by a former painter on his Montana ranch to kidnap his nanny and son for a $5 million ransom. The former painter, Kelly A. Frank, briefly escaped from prison in 2007 before being recaptured.

Another alleged extortion scandal surrounding a public figure, Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, similarly forced him this summer to acknowledge an affair.

___

AP Television Writer Lynn Elber in Los Angeles and Associated Press Writer Tom McElroy in New York contributed to this report


Sorry idiot plain and simple.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
■“Gov. Mark Sanford disappeared…and it turned out he was in South America. And then it turned out he was down there because he was sleeping with a woman from Argentina. Once again, foreigners taking jobs that Americans won’t do.” –David Letterman

■“Ladies and gentlemen, here is great news. Senator Larry Craig from Idaho … is looking for interns. What parent doesn’t want to hear, ‘Well guess what, Dad, I got accepted into Larry Craig’s intern program’? But if you’re interested, Larry Craig is now accepting applications from interns. Just slide your resume under the stall.” –David Letterman

■“But did you hear about this? Senator Craig from Idaho plans to fight a disorderly conduct charge. He wants to change his plea to ‘not creepy.’ … Earlier today Senator Craig said he’d like to turn over a new page. I believe his name is Kevin” –David Letterman

■“Several prominent Republicans are calling on Sen. Larry Craig to resign. And a couple are asking for his phone number.” –David Letterman

■“The guy was arrested for lewd behavior in the men’s room, and I’m thinking, ‘Well, hell. I’m lucky if I can get a hand dryer to blow’” –David Letterman

■“There’s another scandal in Washington. One of the senator’s from Idaho, Larry Craig, was arrested in airport men’s room. Gives new meaning to the word caucusing.’” –David Letterman

■“Sen. Craig said he made a mistake by pleading guilty. And I was thinking, maybe that was your second mistake.” –David Letterman

■“The way I look at it, anyone who spends more than two minutes in an airport men’s room is guilty of something.” –David Letterman

■“My idea of getting lucky in the men’s room is when the motion censor works on the faucet” –David Letterman

■“David Vitter has admitted he dates hookers in Washington, D.C., and also in Louisiana. He said in his defense he always selected the girl who made the lowest bid, so he’s fiscally prudent.” –David Letterman

■“There’s another one of those prostitution scandals down there in Washington, DC. Louisiana Senator David Vitter admitted that he’s been visiting Washington area prostitutes. And I thought about this, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, a politician, paying for a hooker? I didn’t see that comin.’” –David Letterman

■“They have prostitutes in Washington D.C., and it now turns out that senators and congressmen and important, powerful people are dating the prostitutes. … And there’s a senator from Louisiana, David Vitter, admitted he’s been dating prostitutes. And he was very generous with one girl, he paid her with a new highway project in her home state. … One thing I’ll say for this guy from Louisiana, this David Vitter, at least he went to a professional and left the congressional pages alone.” –David Letterman

■“How about that Florida congressman Mark Foley? Whoa. At least the Democrats wait until the interns are 18.” –David Letterman

■“The Republicans reacted quickly. They transferred Foley to a different parish.” –David Letterman

■“Have you all been following this scandal in Washington with ex-Congressman Mark Foley? Well, a couple of days ago, he checked himself into rehab. … It had gotten so bad he had to go out and develop a drinking problem.” –David Letterman

■“The ex-congressman, if nothing else, is contrite. He says when he gets out of rehab, he wants a fresh start and to turn over a new page.” –David Letterman

■“I read this in the paper this morning: New York City has a priest shortage. So you see, there is some good news in the world. … To give you an idea how bad it is, earlier today in Brooklyn an alter boy had to grope himself.” —David Letterman

■“It’s sad. Spitzer said there is so much left undone — Amber, Ashley, Rhonda.” –David Letterman

■“Eliot Spitzer was a Hillary Clinton superdelegate. … Also, Spitzer was on Hillary Clinton’s vice president list, possible running mate. Boy, she can pick ‘em, can’t she?” –David Letterman

■“Bill Clinton’s official portrait was unveiled at the White House yesterday. Don’t kid yourself, there’s already trouble. Yesterday, Clinton’s portrait was caught hitting on Dolly Madison’s portrait.” —David Letterman

■“Here’s a nice thing. You remember President Clinton, he had the heavy-set girl thing. He had a dog Buddy, who sadly died a couple of months ago. Well, President Clinton has gotten himself a new dog. You know, I think it’s changing his life, kind of brightening him up. He’s teaching the dog to sit up, to beg, to roll-over, you know, just like he did with the interns.” —David Letterman

■“President Clinton may be getting his own TV show on NBC. He could be the first president to ever be both impeached and canceled. They’re going to pay the guy $50 million. And that’s not all. If I know Clinton, he’s going to be getting a little something extra under the table.” —David Letterman

■“President Clinton wants to buy a condo here in Manhattan. I’m thinking, just pray to God he doesn’t buy the place above you. In the middle of the night, you could hear that 200-pound intern drop to her knees.” —David Letterman

■“You know who was in town this weekend, went to a Yankee game? Sarah Palin … One awkward moment, though, during the game. Maybe you heard about it, maybe you saw it on one of the highlight reels, one awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game. During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” –David Letterman
 
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