Results tagged “extortion”

Robert Joe Halderman, the former CBS News producer accused of extorting David Letterman for $2 million, appeared in court today, as his lawyer asked the judge to drop charges. Why? Because, attorney Gerald Shargel claimed,“There was no extortion. There was a screenplay for sale. There was a commercial transaction. Nothing more.”

Another day, another bunch of stories about talk show host David Letterman's extortion scandal. In one corner, we have the Post's revelation that Letterman brought his assistant/lover on a trip with his girlfriend (later wife) and son; in the other, the Daily News says the alleged extortionist thought Letterman enticed his female staffers with "perks."

Nearly a week after admitting that he was the target in a $2 million extortion plot—and admitting he had sex with female staffers of the Late Show—David Letterman refrained from joking about the scandal last night. The Post noted, "Instead, he joked that it’s more fun to drive a jeep into a tree than read Sarah Palin’s new memoir."

Though David Letterman apologized for the tabloid media frenzy (related to a $2 million extortion attempt) that's now greeting his staffers on Monday night, he might need to apologize to his staffers' families too—the Post went to the New Hampshire assisted living facility to ask the 90-year-old grandmother of a Late Show staffer/alleged Letterman lover some questions! Stephanie Birkitt's grandmother Irene Boyle said that Letterman "and Stephanie have always had a good relationship. They joked and kidded around... They were just good friends... She worked for Dave for 11 years. She said she never had sex with him."

Last night, David Letterman apologized to his wife and Late Show staffers for spilling the beans on having sex with staffers. Last week, Letterman disclosed details about a $2 million extortion attempt—the suspect was threatening to reveal details about these affairs—probably because details would be sought after the Manhattan DA's office announced charges anyway. He said, "It did not occur to me last week when I was discussing having had sex with women who worked on this show, that then what would happen is reporters and newspaper people and radio and TV would start hounding the staff and saying, ‘What do you say, are you, and this and that.’"

In his first live show since telling America that he was being extorted for $2 million—over details about his sexual relationship with staffers—David Letterman was greeted by an enthusiastic audience and said, "Did your, did your weekend just fly by?... I'll be honest with you, right now I'd give anything to be hiking in the Appalachian Mountains." His monologue (video below) was jokey, noting how he was very close to being impeached, raking his hate mail over the weekend and how usually he's shaken down for money by relatives, but at the desk he later apologized to his wife and his staff.

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.”

Now that David Letterman has told American about having sexual relationships with female staffers—because a 48 Hours news producer was allegedly trying to extort him for $2 million—details about those staffers and trysts continue to come out of the woodwork. In fact, one former intern told TMZ, "I was madly in love with him at the time. I would have married him. He was hilarious."

Now the dirty laundry of Robert "Joe" Halderman, the 48 Hours news producer who is accused of trying to shake down David Letterman for $2 million, is being spilled. While Halderman allegedly threatened to expose Letterman's various sexual relationships with staffers, a former co-worker told the Daily News that Halderman "was a charmer and he was very flirty...But he was definitely a troublemaker, the kind of man [that] women go after because he's trouble."

Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau revealed details of the charges against the CBS producer accused of extorting David Letterman for $2 million—and added, "The message of this indictment should be clear. New York City will not tolerate the coercion or extortion of anyone, be the victim rich or poor, famous or anonymous." That's a good policy!

Below is video of David Letterman explaining to his talk audience—and the rest of America—about how he was extorted for $2 million or else his sexual relationships with female Late Show staffers would be revealed. About 7 minutes 25 seconds in, Letterman explains what the "creepy stuff" in the blackmail package was: "The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show."

Earlier this evening, David Letterman told his talk show audience that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt—and that he had sexual relationships with staffers. He said (the show airs at 11:35 p.m. on WCBS 2), "This morning, I did something I've never done in my life. I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury." [Update: Here's video]

Does your boss beat you with walkie-talkies or try to extort you for $20K in cash? If not, you might have it better than some bus and taxi workers in Queens— who say that their employer took advantage of their immigration status to make their lives a living hell.

Coach Rick Pitino took a page out Rudy Giuliani's playbook while addressing revelations that he had an affair and paid for the abortion of a woman who then tried to extort him for millions. After apologizing to family, friends, fans and colleagues in his statement, Pitino then took a sharp turn while thanking the Lousiville community which he arrived into after being hired in 2001. He said, "When 9/11 hit, you needed a community to get you over it. In New York City, it was easy because everybody knew the devastation of that and they got each other over it. In Louisville, the impact wasn't felt like New York City, but I needed this community to help me get over it." You can't fault the logic of using 9/11 if you wanna knock abortion out of the headlines—especially when new quotes from Karen Cunagin Sypher, the woman who accuses the coach of rape, now include this one: "He made me murder my child. It should sicken the public and it devastated my children...I wanted to have the baby but Rick said if I did, my children would all be in concrete." Sypher has released a phone message Pitino left her, but in it he only encourages Sypher to make her own decision about the pregnancy.

Former Knicks coach and current head coach of Big East powerhouse Louisville Rick Pitino is mired in an extortion scandal where it has come out that he had an affair inside a Kentucky restaurant and then paid for the woman to have an abortion. Karen Cunagin Sypher was indicted back in April of attempting to extort Pitino for $10 million. She had since responded to the charges with her own claims that the coach had raped her inside a restaurant and at a second location in 2003. Now the Louisville Courier-Journal obtained police interviews where Pitino admits to having sex with her at the restaurant after its employees had left; an assistant coach on-hand also told police that he heard "only the sounds of two people that seemed to be enjoying themselves during a sexual encounter." The Long Island native Pitino, a married father of five and Catholic who has a priest travel around with his team, then admitted to paying $3,000 for Sypher to have an abortion because she did not have health insurance, an anecdote unlikely to be brought up by the president in his current town hall meetings. Sypher pleaded not guilty to the extortion charges and prepares to go for trial. Sources say Pitino has no plans to take a leave of absence from Louisville.

State senator Carl Kruger, an outspoken critic of Mayor Bloomberg’s plans for Coney Island, is now accusing the city of “extorting” $68,000 from the owner of Tatiana Restaurant and Nightclub, a popular Russian nightspot on the Brighton Beach boardwalk. Tatiana Varzar lost her restaurant in a massive fire in 2003 that authorities believe was caused by homeless people living under the boardwalk.

A former cop whose dealings with a Queens brothel were discovered last year pleaded guilty to federal charges yesterday. Dennis Kim, who resigned from the 109th Precinct this week, told a judge that he used information on a brothel's rivals to make "make many arrests...for drug offenses, possession of weapons, robbery, and prostitution-related crimes."