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The lawyer for the man accused of trying to shake down David Letterman for $2 million—in order not to divulge Letterman's history of relationships with female staffers—hit the morning talk shows to slam the Late Show host: "He’s a master at manipulating audiences, that’s what he does for a living... The public should not rush to judgment. The public should not simply take the word of David Letterman.”
Gerald Shargel, who once got John Gotti an acquittal, is representing Robert "Joe" Halderman, a 48 Hours news producer who the Manhattan DA's office claims was so "desperate" and in debt (he had considerable child/spousal support payments) that he was driven to extorting Letterman. Halderman had recently broken up with Stephanie Birkitt, a former Late Show staffer who apparently had a relationship with Letterman—and whose diaries and e-mails Halderman allegedly used to blackmail Letterman.
Shargel took offense to Letterman's version of events about the extortion plot, "If you only hear David Letterman’s side of the story, take it at face value and say, ‘Turn off the sets, that Halderman’s guilty’ — I think that’s plain wrong... To think that David Letterman gave the entire story, and there’s nothing more to be said, it’s simply wrong." He also pointed out that his client is an investigative news journalist familiar with stings and wire taps (the "my client isn't this stupid" defense); plus he said of his client allegedly depositing a fake check for $2 million, "In the history of extortion attempts, there’s never been, as far as I know, someone paying by check."
Today the Post reports that while Birkitt and Halderman dated (and before Halderman knew of her fling with Letterman), "Letterman wanted nothing to do with Halderman and dissed him by never asking him to spend time with the star and Birkitt, leaving the boyfriend angry and feeling slighted, the source said."
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"Letterman wanted nothing to do with Halderman and dissed him by never asking him to spend time with the star and Birkitt"
Sounds to me like Dave is a pretty good judge of character.
I like how Shargel finally addressed that his client should have known better. Not that he necessarily did, but the man IS an investigative news journalist.
Why would Letterman want to spend time with the guy? It's not like Halderman worked for Late Show....
I never liked Stephanie/"Vickie"...her schtick on the program was always painful...clearly not meant to be on camera. But now it's all clear....
I understand this lawyer is just doing his job--- but... call a spade a spade. Also, if his side of the story is so much more flattering to Halderman... then what is it? until further notice I'm going to believe your client was stupid
can't wait till shargel get's letterman on the stand,
he has a way of speaking to the regular people and not masters of the universe. he's quite impressive, to me, yeah. it's gonna be a laff riot, bwaaahhhhhh!
Well of course Letterman is manipulative. The dude had sex with his employees! But that doesn't mean he wasn't being extorted.
Let's not forget the obvious. Halderman is a troubled man with huge debt. He cracked.
If I'm not mistaken, The trial will take place in court. Not on TV. The TV audience doesn't decide the case. The jurors do. The judge can instruct the jurors to ignore Letterman's account as evidence.
In the end, extortion is a crime, not sex between consenting adults (whatever she thought to gain from Letterman's "power". Smart move by him to make plain that he is not on trial, the extortionist is. Shargel is a celebrity chaser. Good luck on getting an acquittal or mistrail based on Lettermans's speech. Not gonna happen.
Also, he was probably possessed by the green-eyed monster after he read Birkitt's diary. He wanted that son of a bitch who slept with his girl to pay through the nose, one way or another.
He's going to plea "not guilty by reason of financial distress". He was "misunderstood".
The lawyer is trying to turn this into a vs. Letterman case but he's forgetting his client is being accused of extortion, not slandering. Letterman already admitted to it.
Better come up with a real strategy, counselor.
Why was my comment not posted. No swear words, no trolling, etc. ?? What's the point of reading Gothamist if you can't comment?
To me, it sounds like a done deal. Dave wentto the authorities to pull this off properly. They set him up and manipulated him so he was caught in the act with wire taps, evidence, etc. - It was like a sting. How is he gonna deny this.
BTW, I would think there would be some common knowledge atleast aroundthe studio that Dave was dating some of the staff. I mean, I cant imagine that they were all below the radar. I guess it was more of a media blow-out he thoguht dave wasnt willing to endure. clearly, Dave WAS willing to endure it.
This just in...water is wet!
while it may not be the wisest thing to do, dating staffers is not against the law. If that's all this guy has on Letterman than he needs to get his affairs in order forthwith, cause he's gonna go down.
Why would Halderman accept the check from Dave if he's innocent?
the "stretch" or claim would be that he was buying some kind of screen play or other material to produce. thus, he was paid a handsome check of 2mm.
Assuming for the sake of argument that Halderman wasn't trying to blackmail Letterman but merely to pitch him a screenplay, I'd like to see the treatment and any other materials he used that in his mind justified the $2M asking price to be paid for a first-time screenwriter's work. I'd also like to know who else he shopped this screenplay around to.
No one has mention if Letterman needs some viagra pills?
So, maybe he suddenly decided to marry Regina Lasko because he couldn't get it up anymore and no other woman would have him?
gothamist commenting system is manipulative.
"Halderman apparently thought he covered his ass by structuring the deal as the sale of a to-be-written screenplay."
And that will probably be the defense. That's why the "Letterman is manipulative" posturing: Letterman set him up, telling him he was interested in buying this screenplay treatment while telling the feds be was being blackmailed.
"Try again, counselor."
Actually, might be the best possible approach to creating reasonable doubt.
Nice PR by Dave/
Sounds like the defense lawyer is grasping at straws. That's what most of them do when they attack someone character because they have no real evidence.
Not sure how it all is delineated, but if Letterman and Birkitt are/were CBS employees, I still think Letterman has to be suspended.
Low-level employee sleeping with the highest paid employee. Low-level employee gets more important roles at job. Both do so clandestinely. HR nightmare.
If this happens at a private company, I say no big deal. But it's a public company. Shaky ground that Letterman is standing on...
They're not CBS employees. The show is produced by Worldwide Pants, Letterman's production company, and CBS buys the episodes. Like virtually every other show on TV (except for a select few also owned in part or in whole by a network). And yes, Worldwide Pants is a privately held company.
Yeah, that was was I wasn't sure of. Because while WWP is the production company it could be like a Touchstone/ABC-Disney thing or Reville/NBC-Universal thing.
In 2009, compared to 1999, most networks own these production companies so they don't lose out on the back end---syndication, merch, other ancillaries. I'm sure NBC wishes they had the syndication rights to Seinfeld and Friends, owned by Sony and Warner, respectively.
There are few shows on TV left where the production companies are truly independent of the networks that their shows are on.
Are you sure? Generally, if a network has a stake in a production, it's credited under the name of their parent company, like NBC Universal Television, 20th Century Fox Television, CBS Television, etc., not under another name.
Lawyers, you gotta love 'em!