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FRIDAY UPDATE: Bizarrely, the alleged extortionist was revealed to be CBS News producer Robert Halderman, who has directed dozens of 48 Hours documentaries. He was arrested on attempted grand larceny charges and today pleaded not guilty. Just a reminder that David Letterman's independent production company Worldwide Pants, which produces CBS' Late Show and Late Late Show, is not owned by CBS.
8:30 PM UPDATE: CBS has issued this statement:
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. CBS is cooperating fully with the authorities and the employee has been suspended pending the results of the investigation. Mr. Letterman addressed the issue during the show’s broadcast this evening, and we believe his comments speak for themselves.
I've been given this statement by David Letterman's people:
David Letterman, during a taping of tonight’s Late Show, said that there has been a recent attempt made to extort money from him.
Letterman said that three weeks ago he received a package from an individual who claimed to have information about Letterman’s alleged sexual relationships with female employees of the Late Show and threatened to reveal them if Letterman did not pay the individual a large sum of money. Subsequently, according to Letterman, the individual identified the necessary sum to be $2 million.
Letterman said that he referred the matter to the Special Prosecution Bureau of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which Letterman said conducted an investigation, which included his issuing a “phony” $2 million check to the individual, and culminated in the individual’s arrest earlier today.
“This morning, I did something I’ve never done in my life,” said Letterman. “I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury.”
Letterman said that, in his testimony, he acknowledged sexual relationships with members of his staff.
“My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would,” said Letterman. “I feel like I need to protect these people - I need to certainly protect my family.”
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This whole scam REEKS of Lyle the Intern.
aw—–kward!
haha… probably is Lyle the Intern!!
In anycase.. LETTERMAN’S NUMBERS ARE WAY UP.. LIKE 35% …
He was initially up 25% from Conan..then another 35%, + 25% = (if this was’ent real, I’d say it was an attempt by Lettermen to grab ratings from Conan.)
Poor Conan O’Brian.. even falling on his head didnt give him a leg up.. just a big headach.
Wonder how long Conan will last on the air…
I vote to replace Conan with that crazy Scotsman Craig Fergusson and his funny puppets!!
Congrates Nik, TMZ is name you as the source for this news break.
Now that is straight talk. And that’s why Dave is #1.
The conservative right is going to have a field day with this.
Ugh.
Why are the conservatives going to have a field day with this? Dave’s behavior was stand up from the beginning, he went straight to the authorities, obviously aware that at some point it was going to become public. He took the heat to protect the women he was involved with and did it with class and grace. As far as the ‘affairs’ go – he’s been with Regina Lasko for many years in an on again, off again relationship prior to marrying her, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if these relationships he had were prior to his marriage.
He didn’t pull a John Ensign and buy the blackmailer off, or use his influence to hide the story; he came out and faced it. Dave handled it like a man, everything else is his business and no one else’s
Let’s get this straight. Dave Letterman did the right thing in going to the police. And that’s where we conclude the list of things David Letterman did correctly.
He cheated on his wife. Was it during a ‘break’ from his wife? That’s a nice out and a real soft pitch. However Letterman said on TV that he was out to protect his family, his job et al. So, if his cheating was on a break, he’d have said so then – his lawyers, the wife’s lawyers, CBS lawyers would have all made sure.
He did not come out and tell the world because he’s an upfront guy. Everyone has a secret, let’s be frank about that. But Letterman was caught with his hand in a cookie jar – someone was going to ‘out’ him on his cheating ways. That’s what prompted this. He did not cheat last weekend, feel guilty about it all week and then come clean this week. The excrement was about to hit the air conditioning, and he was trying to be pre-emptive.
You may say Dave Letterman is not the nation’s moral compass, he’s in show business, so you may say that we should not be on him for cheating like we may be for politicians. He’s certainly not a moral compass, as shown in his handling of the Willow Palin joke. He lied to say, ‘Oh, I meant it was someone else, I meant it was the other girl, the older one, the one who was not at the game or in the city at all’. No, Dave Letterman is not accountable that way.
But Dave Letterman stepped up to the plate, judging and ridiculing others, politicians and entertainers, who have slipped in their marriages, so you know what – he doesn’t get a free ride. Judge, and be judged.
Further more,when Dave Letterman ‘came clean’ he did so behind his desk, with the laughter of the audience. That too is how he handled his apology to the family from Alaska. As insincere as he could be, cavalier, no effort made to talk to the audience and say, ‘Hey, let’s not joke around, this is not a laughing matter’.
After 9/11, Dave did a good thing when he spoke, without the applause sign, about America.
If Dave wants to be sincere, he will stand in front of the audience, tell them to hold their applause and laughter, and talk about a serious issue.
And at the base of it, cheating is cheating is cheating. Right wing, left wing, Superman or garbage man, it’s wrong.
Women or men who have had a cheating spouse are not impacted more or less based on political bias.
The conservative right is going to keep it’s mouth shut. They have their own embarrassing idiots to deal with. They have more of them.
The right wingers have not said much about Polanski either and I thought they’d be all over that as well.
The repulsican’s probably have more skeltons’ hidden in their closets than we’d give them credit for…good thing they do keep their mouth shut. Although, republican scandals are quite juicy as well.
haha.
And let me be the first.
I’ll bet if this got looked into you will find that he is a world class sexual harasser. Or maybe between his Greek god-like looks and his warm, charming personality women just find him irresistable.
I was wondering what Dave meant last night when he said during the Madonna interview, “No one’s had a worse day than I’ve had.” (Or words to that effect.) I guess we now know. For a guy who is so fiercely private, he has had so many crazy off-screen events — the woman in his house, the emergency bypass, the plot to kidnap his son, and now this. Hope he winds up okay. Hey, do you think somebody from NBC sent the package? Crazy!
“Hey, do you think somebody from NBC sent the package?”
You need to read the full story; the person work for CBS.
Congrats! You had it first once again!!!!!!
That explains his obsession with Sarah Palin…
So does this mean he will now become a politician? It’s enough already.
This explains a lot about his misogynist statements about Palin and her family. Another liberal scumbag. Let’s hear more about how great Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and Dave Letterman are. My favorite quote of the week from Whoopi “It wasn’t rape, rape”.
Couldn’t happen to a better Guy. Mean, abusive, belligerent mysogynist. Now you know why NBC Chose Leno over this amoral creep.
I’ll let Cher have the last word on this.
CHER
(to Letterman)
You’re an Ass.
Top Ten Reasons Dave Had Sexual Relationships With Female Employees:
10) It was the only way he’d hire a woman on the staff
He didn’t want Jay Leno to be the only one fucking him
9) It was the only way to get a blackmail on the staff
7) Have you *seen* Regina Lasko??
6) Wanted his son Harry to have something more embarrassing than the name “Harry” to deal with
5) You give up drinking, what’s a guy to do?
4) So he could have his own inter-office “Top Ten” list
3) Paul Shaffer repeatedly turned down his advances
2) Chicks can’t resist an old dude in penny loafers
1) Didn’t want his quintuple bypass to be his only “five-way”
We’ll be right back with Bill Clinton!
um, back to the drawing board?
Wow.
I know the haters will be out in force saying just the ugliest things about him, but I’ve been a fan for nearly 30 years and I am still a fan. He’s the best late night talk show host and still damn funny.
Wow, Jay Leno is really getting desperate, eh? I never thought he would stoop to extortion!
haha..Susan, you caught me!
yes, well, that bugger Letterman was beating Conan up in the ratings.. we had to do something, and it turns out, WE MADE HIM EVEN MORE POPULAR THAN HE ALREADY IS/WAS..
Darn!!
He’s the tefflon dude.. nothing sticks to him.
Dave Letterman is filth. Remember how he bashed Palin? The chickens have come home to roost, Dave!
That kind of frankness is the best way to disempower all those who would use it for their own gain. How refreshing. Thanks, Dave.
….well its certainly been a week for pervert liberals to get their hands slapped by the wheel of life.
damn…I am all out of microwave popcorn…
Thanks for the 80s memories Dave but you certainly have turned into a fish salesman lately.
…so how does it feel Dave to have your personal sleazy life as another front page newz story? not too terrific does it?
…thats ok Dave you only have 95% of the media, who are fellow card-carrying liberals, who will protect your liberal ass from getting too humiliated.
…unlike what you & your BIG MOUTH have been doing to Palin & her family.
…what goes around comes around.
…how does the scandal-merry-go-round feel when you ride it Dave?
dont sweat it sport…you’ll probably get an award or something now so…. you have friends in high places.
cheers folks & enjoy the show.
Love that it’s not just one but multiple women on his staff. Dave the playa.
sex with staffers…stay classy, dave
Letterman is the only reason I watch TV. That and I am a paraplegic and the remote is over there.
just watched his statement – that was captivating television…audience was awkwardly laughing…was straight out of king of comedy…letterman is cool!
Is there a full transcript of Letterman’s statement on the web?
It’s been said before, but the reason Letterman will always be the best is because he speaks to the people. Leno would have never handled something with this much class and Conan doing this would be uncomfortable. Letterman can turn it off and on and has more class than anyone on show business.
First of all, Leno would NEVER have pulled a stunt like this on Mavis, his wife of 27+ years. I could care less what David Letterman does in his private life, but please do not drag Jay Leno into the fray and accuse him of not having any class. Why do you think he made a colossal mistake and stayed at NBC? Out of loyalty to his employer. That’s class.
As for Conan, a woman would have to be pretty desperate to have the hots for him.
2nd segment of his show tonight where he discusses it is creepy and funny and creepy all at the same time in only the way Dave can pull it off. Catch it if you can.
I think it’s the most memorable television of the year. Maybe longer.
I guess it’s good to be the late night king because anywhere else diddling the staff is generally frowned upon.
Hate to admit it, but Sarah Palin finally got something right when she called David Letterman a “dirty old man” back in June.
How is he a creep?
Punk ass should be fired. He goes out and makes fun on Sarah Palin and her Special Needs child and then pulls shit like this? If anyone did this in a real job they would be fired in a heart beat. He’s going to pay the price for this debacle. Punk ass.
Meaning protect the female employees. Obviously he wanted to protect his family.
Dave made a very tragic, yet human mistake.
It was wrong, and no one realizes that more than Dave.
I imagine $2 million dollars would pale in comparison to his own humiliation with himself at this moment.
He possessed the financial means to have easily made this “go away” – and no one would have ever known. However, he didn’t. He squarely faced his frailty in front of everyone.
I pray his family can forgive him.
I pray in time he can forgive himself.
VERY well said.
Well it looks like Sarah Palin will have the last laugh after all and yes she should sit down and fully enjoy it. David Letterman is finding out “all that goes around comes around”.
The angry liberal jackass finally gets his just desserts. Hopefully this news is followed by a juicy sexual harassment lawsuit. Letterman is number one. Number one shmuck.
Jeezus!
1st Travolta, now this?
What’s up w/ all the extortion plots?
Congrats on the scoop, Nikki.
Good to see this wretched coward get exposed before he retired.
He is what we thought he was – a loser.
This is definately disapointing. I kind of thought Dave was more of a wholesome, small-town kink of guy who wasn’t into this type of “showbiz” lifestyle, including affairs with the staff. I hope these affairs happened a long time ago, before his sone was born, and preferably before he got married last March, but, most likely, he did this very recently, and that’s just a shame.
Now just wait for the current/former staffers who had the affairs with Dave to start writing books and doing interviews for TMZ. The blackmailer might have been caught, but there will still be alot of money to be made for the ladies involved in the affairs. Too bad.
affairs with his staff? who else then? It’s the people you spend the most time with. this happens e v e r y w h e r e. Puhleeze.
Dave Rocks!
I give Letterman credit for going to the DA, not giving into extortion, and owning up to his escapades.
Something I doubt I would ever see someone on the Red Elephant Party ever do.
Oh, IDK. If Dave was sincere about wanting to protect his family, maybe he wouldn’t have been sticking it into various members of his staff in the first place?
Just sayin’.
How rich! Another unfaithful perv out of the closet!!
Shut up, Kendra.
Holy Crap.
Dave Letterman is a sleazy old fuc* for sleeping with people that were working under him. It was unsettling and disturbing to see the audience cheer when he said he slept with other women.
Another celebrated misogynistic a-hole. I can’t wait to hear all the dirt on this guy. Karma, don’t you just love it! Please Dave, pontificate on morals some more!
The next best thing will be hearing all the loons defend this piece of garbage. No doubt the same people who defended Polanski.
I wonder if Letterman were a Conservative, if the response would be so muted? *ROTFLMAO* Yea,sure!
And it was a CBS News producer who was behind the extortion. From the NY Daily News:
He went on to explain that a man identified by police as Robert Halderman, a 51-year-old Emmy Award-winning producer, found out that he was sleeping with several staff members
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/10/01/2009-10-01_david_letterman_reveals_extortion_plot_con_man_wanted_2m_for_sex_secrets.html#ixzz0SlLMHrLJ
His Chickens have come home to roost.
Stop making an “asterix” of yourself. Dave has never been “number 1″ in my book. I don’t condone extortion but I find it laughable that the left won’t find it outrageous that a man exercised his power by exploiting a number of his female staffers. Leave it to the hypocrisy of the left to give a pass to lecherous characters like Bill Clinton and David Letterman while we all know the “field day” they would have if the focus of this story had been someone like Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. If we are going to call a spade a spade, David Letterman is a scum bag pure and simple.
“exploting a number of his female staffers” yes, those helpless f*cking, consenting adults.
Extortion is wrong, but I don’t get the part about him saying he needs to protect his family. If he really wanted to protect his family, he wouldn’t be sleeping around with a bunch of his staffers in the first place.
…so Dave the Boss abuses his position of power to sleep with multiple staff members? is that what i am reading? and this scumbag(if there every was one) picked on Palin & her daughter.
…sure extortion is bad but Dave is the one who screwed his staff and left them & himself open for the extortion. If he wanted to protect them he SHOULD NOT HAVE SCREWED THEM! get it Dave?
moron.
hollywood is a sewer, whether the left or right coast version.
Good for Dave. THAT’S how you handle a blackmail plot–by immediately going to the police.
And congrats, Nik, for being first with the scoop.
So Letterman is emulating Carson in yet another way. Classic!
As we know, the late-night war is mainly one of personal taste. With the lowest common denominator broad appeal of Leno’s “Tonight Show” gone, it was inevitable the masses would pick Letterman over O’Brien.
But now try and imagine this sequence of events playing out, especially the mastery of how that second segment was presented last night, with any other talk show host. Can’t. Even Carson couldn’t have handled this any better than Dave.
Tonight, we watch for how his lesser competition handles this. O’Brian and Kimmel mock their idol? Hmmm… I say no. But 10 PM Jay? And SNL?
Didnt this dumb girl know that the only way to cash and prizes is baby insurance?
Dave has some good lawyers.
Letterman is a dirty old man.
It’s bad enough that Letterman hasn’t been funny for years. Now
he’s just getting creepy. Yikes.
It’s really refreshing to see someone come out and be so candid. Compare this to many similar situations where the person tries to conceal what happened or attacks anyone disclosing the info. I’m not condoning, one way or the other, Mr. Letterman’s earlier actions that resulted in the episode (that’s for he and his family to work out not us), but applaud him for being up front with his viewers.
I’m not sure if “candid” is the way to describe what he did. More like damage control. He knew the story was going to break, people would find out, and tried to get out in front to put his spin on it. Did a pretty good job of it, but this wasn’t really a voluntary admission on his part.
Dave only got married this spring, but he dated the woman for 21 years.
So, the guy who regularly ridicules politicians for cheating on their significant others, turns out he was doing the same thing with multiple women. Wonderful.
The next time a politico gets caught with his pants down, it will be interesting to see if Dave piles on with everyone else.
I love the comments “Hope Dave is ok” Yes what a class act he is.
This is soooo delicious. Here is a perfect example of the how sexist and cadish so many libs are while pretending to be feminists.
So here is a quote from Newsday on what Letterman said yesterday
“My response to that is, yes I have [had the relationships]. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would,” he said. “I feel like I need to protect these people – I need to certainly protect my family.”
From the Washington Post
In his testimony, he acknowledged having sex with members of his staff. “My response to that is: Yes, I have,” Letterman said on camera. “Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would.”
He added, however: “I feel like I need to protect these people. I need to certainly protect my family.”
What he really 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.” laughing at women he took advantage of…
Maybe Dave and Polanski could do a road trip together and visit some colleges. That might be a little old of a target base for that great humanitarian Polanski though…
If Letterman really cared about his family, he wouldn’t be having sex with members of his staff.
He’s a pig…
First, I’m a fan of Letterman. But even being a fan, I’m disgusted with Letterman’s answer —
“My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would,” said Letterman. “I feel like I need to protect these people – I need to certainly protect my family.”
WHAT? “Perhaps” it would be embarrassing??? No public apology to his wife, to his son???? Has he no remorse???? I would be furious as his wife. I wouldn’t work for him as an employee either.
November sweeps comes early.
You cannot watch the 10 minute tape of Dave telling the story — engrossing, mysterious, funny, self-effacing and profound — and not conclude the man is a genius.
Luckily this didn’t stop him from making adultery jokes about Bill Clinton and Mark Sanford last night. What a class act!
How is it adultery, exactly? He wasn’t married when this happened.
…and who knows if while they weren’t married, she was okay, looked the other way or understood his lifestyle, UNTIL they commited.
I think Letterman gets a point from me. He didn’t waffle or hide or play linguistic games. He came right out with it and so made the blackmailer look like a complete ass.
“A report from the New York Daily News this morning reveals that CBS News producer Robert Halderman has been arrested, and held on attempted grand larceny charges. Halderman has directed dozens of “48 Hours” documentaries, from the Winter Olympics to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.”
Karma is a bitch for grown men who ridicule and humiliate teenagers.
I can’t even imagine that any young woman would willingly engage in sex with such a miserable and repulsive looking old troll unless they thought that their job security was tied to pleasing him.
When Letterman fessed to his gaffe
He meant to elicit no laugh;
But his heart is diseased
So he has to be pleased
To rouse an obedient staff.
News Short n’ Sweet by JFD8
http://twitter.com/JFD8
David Letterman’s decision to admit his misdeeds on national television last night might lead to a little short-term embarrassment, but the choice was right on. By ripping the Band-Aid off himself, and all at once, the reputational healing process can begin almost immediately. He’s taken control of the narrative, put the focus on the alleged extortionist, and already reduced his indiscretions to mere facts of a larger case. I blogged on this earlier today and would be interested in what everyone else is thinking about how this was handled. Will you forgive him?
http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2009/10/02/david-letterman-rips-the-band-aid-off/.
-Gene Grabowski, @crisisguru
If he wanted to protect his family, he should have kept his dick in his pants.
I hate how he delivered the news to his audience like it was a big joke. And his idiotic audience laughing at the whole thing—well his audience laughs at anything.
The audience didn’t know it was a real story until the end
Say goodbye to your ratings…FOR SURE!!!
“Say goodbye to your ratings…FOR SURE!!!”
Not likely. This will skyrocket them. Remember, we live in a society that made Paris Hilton famous because a F*ck tape of her got out.
Dave is a grown adult who had sex with other grown adults. Workplace relationships happen everywhere.
No big deal.
A Letterman viewer for 21 years.
Letterman’s a dirty old creep with a giant ego.
Yeah, his career is totally over! Er… maybe not.
What!?! A sucessful older man having sex with willing younger women outside his marriage. What is this, Europe?
Letterman always seems to get what he deserves
Yikes!
Has anyone heard about Sexual Harassment in the workplace. Dipping your wick with subordinates doesn’t cut it today.
This 48 Hours guy is an idiot. What industry bigshot doesn’t sleep with his assistant at least once in his career?! Some even go on to marry them or promote them to hide the affair from going public.
What’s sad is only celebrities like Travolta and Letterman get this kind of justice for extortion.
I agree fresh. I liked and still like Letterman, but I found it rather distasteful. He could have informed his audience early on he wasn’t making a joke. I’m not sure what I would have done had I been there. They didn’t know. But it sure comes across as super tacky and Letterman certainly had a cushy place to fall.
Dave needs to retire. The show is nothing like
Late Night once was. He needs to give someone else a chance.
As a guy it is getting boring seeing these old seniors on tv
having sex issues. We already have to see the commercials of
old folks in bathtubs talking about sex. Now we got Bob Barker, Dave,
etc etc. Go Home old folks and take the old directors and producers with you.
CBS = OLD PEOPLE SEX NETWORK
But I bet Sumner called Dave up and said GREAT JOB DAVE. Dave needs to take Sumner with him to the backwoods.
Apparently these were relationships that occurred before his marriage, and as long as both parties were consenting adults, whatever.
He was with his wife for 23 years before they were married, so he cheated. He was their Boss, not cool in my book and it sounds like more than one.
Wow, so Letterman uses his power position to take advantage of young women staffers (afraid to say no because they might lose their job) – where is the feminist backlash to this? Anybody? So, as long as Letterman jokes about it, it’s okay??
“take advantage” how so?
Why do people always act so surprised whenever famous and powerful men have sex. Bill Clinton did it. Kobe Bryant did it. Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, Governor Mark Sanford, JFK, Jon Gosselin, Peewee Herman, Thomas Jefferson, Hugh Grant, the list goes on and on. Who gives a crap! Men have sex. It’s what they do. So get over it. David Letterman can have consensual sex with whomever he pleases. It’s his body and it takes two to tango.
The real idiot in all of this is Robert Joel Halderman, who produces 48 Hours for CBS of all shows. He tried to extort $2 million from David Letterman. Beside that being just pure evil, he was stupid enough to take a check. How did he think he was going to cash it?
David Letterman makes $32 million a year. Of course he’s going to have sex with women. Wake up people!
Conan, if your show is still on, stop showing up for work. It ain’t worth it.
Is it possible for a powerful man to keep it in his pants? No? I’m thinking no.
Makes me love Dave more. Several politicians could learn something about being open & honest instead of trying to use subterfuge and bs to cover up a story. Thank you for the candor Dave, and your willingness to out a scam artist is A+. As to ratings: pusha. He’s been married less then 3 years, and as a single man, even in a relationship, big deal.
It’s not like he’s Roman Polanski…
Dave handled this superbly. A ‘controlled explosion’ of the bomb before the bomb could do any bigger damage. It’s the blackmailer who got nailed big time here. A CBS producer! Out of all people!
Just goes to show you that even a “good guy” like David Letterman has used his power to get into the pants of female employees… if you’re going to screw around on your wife…have a little discretion and keep it out of the office. I feel bad for his wife… his girlfriend since the 80’s… who stood by him and had his son. She must of felt like shit as he joked about his adulterous behavior on his show, and the audience laughed as if it were the funniest thing to them. Shame on you Dave. I bet you’re up wondering if you’ll wake up to a wife, fans, and a show… or whether all those things are now history.
Oh, honey. Just because YOU would have felt that way, doesn’t mean she does.
She could have known and accepted or had an open relationship or whatever until they committed to eachother and got married. She could be a lot smarter than you and dealt with on an intellectual level, rather than the ol’ whiny broken heart method. She could be really pissed off about the extortion attempt. Who knows?! Don’t assume..you know what they say, when you assume…
Dealing with tragedy through comedy is the oldest thing in the book, that’s how you deal with life. The CIRCUMSTANCE may not be funny, but your survival skills kick in. If you have an ounce of intelligence you know that the audience didn’t find it funny, they/we laughed at the absurdity of it all–in support. The way you would with a relative that screwed up BIG TIME.
Breaking news! Rich, power man sleeps with multiple women! World is stunned!
Well, at least it brought the Palin Patrol to your comment section. Nothing like some good self-righteousness from the adultery-free right wing.
Personally I think Dave’s pretty lame. Nice to make an announcement that he’s cheating on his wife by making it all seem like a big joke and how he’s wronged. Of course the extortionist is a jack ass, but so is Dave.
Keeping it Real – wins for the day!!!
Nice work – straight to the point.
Gives Worldwide Pants a whole new meaning…
It’s amazing how many conservative trolls hide under the rocks of this site. “Say goodbye to your ratings?” Hey Conan, watch Dave’s ratings go THROUGH THE ROOF!!!!
Call the guy an ugly troll? You HAVE to be kidding, Paul. I can’t count the number of female friends of mine who would bone him in an instant.
I cannot condone or defend his actions with his office staff.
Big difference between him and Polanski… He wasn’t phooking 13 year-olds. He wasn’t committing rape. And it appears it was consensual between adults.
How consensual can consensual be when it’s your boss? Now that is a good question.
Remember, he wasn’t married at the time. But still, “creepy” is the word that comes to mind.
Letterman is a cheater. He is an abuser of his power, taking advantage of young women. Is there no one decent at all in showbiz? What a disappointment.
Wait- I think I’m missing something. An unmarried grown man had consensual sex with an unmarried grown woman and this is disturbing because…?
Roman Polanski drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl. Illegal. Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter had a baby out of wedlock. Immoral (not to everybody, just people like… Sarah Palin.) David Letterman had an office fling with a staff member before he was married and somebody tried to extort $2 million from him because of it. Maybe I’m taking crazy pills, but I think the worst part of that whole thing is the illegal extortion. Right? If that was the only crime that was committed here, wouldn’t that make Dave… the victim?
The right-wingers saying that this is his comeuppance are clearly grasping at straws. Can “Going Rogue” just come out already so those lunatics can get off Drudge and pretend to read a book for a few months? Wait. Isn’t our President from Kenya? He is, right? Can you guys stop checking TMZ and go help us with that? Yeah. Your country NEEDS you!
For all you dramatic/thriller/action writers out there — is everyone going huh!? You never have a “bad-guy” ask for a check — a CHECK! Unless you’re doing a comedy, c’mon! It’s Crime 101. “Follow the money” — duh! Plus, it’s taxable income. WTF!!!!!
And this idiot worked for 48 Hours. Does he watch the segments he produces? It’s called cash. Unmarked bills. And when you blackmail someone, make sure you have really good dirt on them — heteosexual sex is not all that dicey. Sex w a cigar in the oval office, semen on a dress — now that’s good stuff!
This producer needed a producer w notes — big time.
These are clarifying times: the Polanski story taught us that non-consensual rape of a minor isn’t ‘rape rape’ and his filmmaking genius and fugitive years in the wilds of Cannes and Gstad excuses him of his crimes. The Letterman story now teaches us that forcing yourself sexually on your employees is now also considered consensual. Feminism has been set back about 100 years between these two stories and the pathetic attempts to justify them.
What happened to all the female interns who said “NO” to their
Boss David. Do they stil have jobs?
I also would be interested in what shows the Blackmailer produced.
I don’t think Mr Letterman was brave since this would have came out one way or another. I just hope he uses himself in his put down jokes his writers/girl friends write for him.
Nice to see all the Drudgebots in all their self-righteous glory…
LOVE YOU, DAVE!!!!
A longtime fan from Indianapolis
…wow the crap shovelers really are busy promoting the the pro-liberal, “Dave Letterman is a Everyman Reluctant Hero” ticket.
Now lets take apart the pro-Dave Letterman Urban Myths that liberal pro-Dave Letterman posters are stepping in:
1) Comment: “This is not a case of adultery.” Response: THIS IS a case of Dave committing adultery if he slept with any married women.
2) Comment: “Dave has at least acted better than the Republicans caught in sex scandals.” Response: No dave has NOT. Dave should resign from his show just like all the Republicans caught in sex scandals over the years. As far as Gov. Sanford, well he is a Republican acting like all the liberal Democrats caught in a sex scandals. 99.9% of Democrats or Liberals caught in sex scandals REFUSE to resign. Typical Democrat behavior, and Dave is behaving no different.
3) Comment: “Well adults get caught in sex scandals all the time, so let move on.” Response: Well NO, lets NOT move on. This is a case of a Boss manipulating his workers. Sure adults have sex. But this is one man, a Boss, who has had sex with several of his adult subordinate employees, who were women. Did Dave make this a requirement for employment? This is wrong, also maybe criminal, and an abuse of his position & the trust given to him by society & his subordinate employees. He should be boycotted and told to resign for his behavior.
…so if there is any other Liberal who can excuse Dave’s actions with impunity, well you just don’t care what your “hero” does, as long as he stays in power. That is called supporting a dictatorship. But isn’t that why Nixon resigned? He abused his power?
Read this story and weep folks.
“…and it makes me wonder…”
At least Halderman has an ending for his screenplay now.
Get off your High Horse, my dear.
There will be no trial. CBS doesn’t own the show, Letterman does via Worldwide Pants. These women were willing participants (side note: ewww). At best, there could be some sort of favoritism shown some of them in exchange for their, um ‘favors’. There’s not going to be a trial no matter how much you budding Madame DeFarges want one. And Les Moonves’ hands aren’t exactly clean, either you know. Ask Wifey Number One about him.
Dave’s sexy.
I’d do him.
Not sure what all the fuss is about.
Nobody’s husband = Fair game party favor.
RepubliKKKans– Stop trying to make Dave a villain. It didn’t work w/ Sarah Palin, it’s not going to work now.
Have a lovely day.
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
David Letterman is the forever King of Late Night. He’s a major star with an obvious weakness for women during one phase of his life. I bet women throw themselves at this guy all the time. If this turns out to be sexual harassment, that’s one thing. However, if this is merely sex between consenting adults, IT IS NO ONE’S BUSINESS.
Regina obviously forgave him. They even got married. Leave the guy alone. He lost the Tonight Show to Jay Leno, he had major heart surgery, he lost his mentor in Johnny Carson, his son was almost kidnapped and only now is he getting the respect he deserves.
Hang in there, Dave. You remain my hero.