Results tagged “roberthalderman”

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."

When David Letterman announced that he was being extorted for $2 million on the Late Show, he had a special thank you for the Special Prosecution Bureau at the Manhattan DA's office with their help in the case. Now the Post reports that outgoing Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau let Letterman disclose the plot on his talk show!

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!