Video: Letterman Explains Sex-Extortion Plot

Who cares that he was in a relationship for a long time? We don't know the nature of his relationship with the woman who is now his wife. Perhaps it wasn't exclusive for many years, or perhaps it was an on-again, off-again thing. We only know that they got serious recently and got married, had a kid. I remember when he and Merrill Markoe lived together, she wrote for him when he had his morning show, before "Late Night." So, he had relationships with women he worked with... who has never dated someone they worked with? And the age difference is really no big deal. I'm friends with several couples who have large gaps in their ages -- one, the husband was 48 when he married his wife who was 24 at the time. Another, the wife is 16 years older than the husband. Who cares? That doesn't necessarily mean anything.

ok. again (my comment disappeared)

what he did was not right morrally of course.

but confessing in front of a live audience, plus an audience of millions of people in front of the TV, it's remarkable.

I wouldn't be able to do that.

And you, dear reader, we most likely all have done something that was not right. But all of us had the luxury to either not ever mention it, or at least chose whom to tell and when.

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I think he handled it the best way possible. Actually even better.

Imagine: all of us have done some shameful thing. Imagine talking about it in front of a studio audience and in front of a television audience.

I don't endorse what he did (I do not want to think of him having sex, ewww), but the way he handled the situation, I have to give him respect.

regarding his wife: that's between them.

He's allowed to do what he wants in his private life, as are we all. The show is a talk show with jokes, about guests and entertainment, not about his private views or life.

David Letterman is Joe Franklin with a writer.

Not a big Letterman fan, haven't watched him in years. But kudos to a celeb who did some "right" things.

Didn't pay, contacted his lawyer & authorities.

Followed the instructions of the authorities, and brought the case to completion.

Testified before the Grand Jury.

Spoke for himself, in his venue: no spokesperson, no lawyer. Got it out now, and made it clear.

Embarassing, kinda tawdry, tacky, maybe not corporately PC? Well, yeah.

Proper response to an extortionist despite the publicity?

Yes.

Everything appears consensual, no minors, no civils for harassment against him.



Let him be, focus on the criminal.

best summary ever.

I think it is creepy how he now makes it into entertainment, and makes fun of those women. Yes I believe it is abuse of power, bad judgment, and perhaps typical of male power play. I am surprised about the laughter of the audience.

yea the laughter was disturbing...tells you something about today's society.....sick fucks

if these "women" didnt want to have sexual relations with him or felt they were forced into it we would have heard about it by now....

unless he's paying them to keep their mouths (legs) shut.

so true. women just don't have a clue when deciding which person they wanna have carnal relations with. those flashy older men are so manipulative with their shiny watches, limos, and cuff links. and the little ladies are incredibly weak and gullible in the face of male power i tells ya.

The headline should read "GAP TOOTHED", dickless old fart that claims to have had an affair but, scientific evidence proves otherwise."

I hope more interns will come forward. along with videotape, emails and pictures. we know it's a frat house in there. and you don't dip your pen in the company ink.

they said that the extortionist's girlfriend was Stephanie Birkitt and that she was david's intern from 01 on. she's 31 now, so minus 8 years she'd be ~23 and freshly out of college when letterman was banging her. If that isn't an abuse of power I don't know what is. I mean it's not "he's a damn racist" or "he killed somebody" bad. But it's a "very special episode" of the facts of life bad. keep it creepy dave. as for the other ladies in waiting, who knows. Since nobodies said anything about sexual harassment I'll give dave 3 degrees of separation over Roman Polanski.

Most guys at 23 aren't that appealing. In NYC it means sharing a walk-up bio hazard in a "funky, upcoming" neighborhood with equally sloven roommates. And everyone's broke. Dinner and a movie is a DVD rental and pizza, maybe.

A guy like Letterman could be a fantasy to a 23 year old woman. Forget the money, for a moment. To be in a chauffeured car, going someplace where the menu isn't glowing on the wall with someone who isn't saying dude or this sucks, man every 5 minutes could be a blessing.

everything about this seems so old fashioned - like he called up dave on a black rotary phone and started talking in a muffled voice about unmarked bills and manila envelope drops, or else he'd expose what would have been the shameful truth in about 1954.

Please. To compare Dave to Roman Polanski, or say it's an abuse of power, is a pretty big leap. If she was 23, really, who cares. It's a unsavory, but not some sick, expoitative move on dave's part.

Isn't it a little presumptuous to refer to it as an "abuse of power?" Do you know the facts? Cause I sure don't.

I think it's just as likely that he saw an attractive 23 yr-old & went for it. Yes, he's the main attraction and yes, she was probably blown away & flattered by all the attention he was giving her. Moral judgments aside, if he didn't twist her arm & she responded of her own free will, it's not an "abuse of power."

how is it not an abuse of power? He's practically a god over there. He has all the power. He can fire her in a breath. she's directly under him. you can't set moral judgements aside when it comes to sexual harassment as it is the crux of the case.

the crux of the case is extortion not sexual harassment. there is a shitload of proof idiotically present to Letterman himself and that is why Halderman was arrested. don't hate the player, hate the game.

You're automatically assuming this is harrassment. I'm not. I'll grant you 2 things, tho -- he does have all the power over there, and she was most definitely "...directly under him."

prude.

"What a player. David Letterman is a pimp."

classic.

Who would feel more sympathetic for him? His chickens came home to roost, as it goes.

As an aside, I think extortion is slimy as hell but is it 'really' a crime? You're telling the truth, no? Isn't it just as bad as a tell-all book?

you've also sort of hit on why extortion is moronic. why extort when you can write a book and make that bank instead?

also, the options for letterman were:

1) pay money to cover up something that's probably not that shocking (a TV host banged staff members? WHAT???? how dare you tarnish the profession of bob barker!)

2) pay nothing, have your pretty lame dirty laundry aired by Halderman

3) pay nothing, call the feds, air your dirty laundry and fuck Mr. Halderman

well played, Dave.

Writing a book on Letterman isn't bank.

Most reputable publishers wouldn't be interested as talk shows promote books, Letterman has big money to fight back and the writer doesn't seem to have Dave's ex-lovers willing to swear it's true.

The sleazy publishers don't have the resources to make it a success.

The tell-all book thing is sleazy, yeah. But the guy wanted $2M to keep his (figurative) mouth shut. Writing the book isn't the crime; asking for hush $$ is.

He will come out of this with the public about the same. The people who liked him will still like him and he people who hate him will still hate him.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Was this before or after he was married? If after, I feel disgusted---I guess. Though my opinion doesn't matter one bit; what matters is how his family feels.

He's been with his partner (now wife) for many, many years, so I'm assuming he was unfaithful.