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JLEW1818
10/2/2009, 06:39 AM
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer David Bauder, Ap Television Writer – 19 mins ago

A CBS News employee is accused of trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman, forcing the late-night host to admit in an extraordinary monologue before millions of viewers that he had sexual relationships with female employees.

Letterman said that "this whole thing has been quite scary." But he mixed in jokes while outlining what had happened to him, seeming to confuse a laughing audience at Thursday's taping about whether the story was true.

The network said the person who was arrested works on the true-crime show "48 Hours" and has been suspended. A person with knowledge of the investigation said the suspect is Robert J. Halderman. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because authorities have not released the suspect's name.

A "48 Hours" producer named Joe Halderman was part of a team nominated for an Emmy for outstanding continuing coverage of a news story in a news magazine in 2008. Two numbers listed for Halderman were disconnected, and a message left at a third number was not immediately returned Thursday.

Letterman's "Late Show" audience was the first to hear the story, which came as a shock since the 62-year-old Letterman had married longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko in March. The couple began dating in 1986 and have a son, Harry, born in November 2003. Fatherhood and his heart surgery in 2000 had seemed to mellow Letterman, who took over as the most popular late-night comedy host this summer after NBC replaced Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien on the "Tonight" show.

Letterman sat behind his desk to outline the scheme after a monologue that targeted some frequent foils like Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney.

Three weeks ago, Letterman said, he got in his car early in the morning and found a package with a letter saying, "I know that you do some terrible, terrible things and that I can prove that you do some terrible things." He acknowledged the letter contained proof.

He said it was terrifying "because there's something insidious about (it). Is he standing down there? Is he hiding under the car? Am I going to get a tap on the shoulder?"

Letterman said he called his lawyer to set up a meeting with the man, who threatened to write a screenplay and a book about Letterman unless he was given money. There were two subsequent meetings, with the man given a phony $2 million check at the last one. Letterman joked it was like the giant ceremonial check given to winners of golf tournaments.

He told the audience that he had to testify before a grand jury on Thursday.

"I was worried for myself, I was worried for my family," he said. "I felt menaced by this, and I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done."

He 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."

Whether they wanted to make the relationships public was up to them, he said.

"It's been a very bizarre experience," he said. "I felt like I needed to protect these people. I need to protect my family. I need to protect myself. Hope to protect my job."

CBS said in a statement that "we believe his comments speak for themselves."

Perhaps as a defense mechanism, Letterman sprinkled his remarks with jokes: "I know what you're saying," he said. "I'll be darned, Dave had sex."

He said he wouldn't talk further about it, and recited a Top Ten list. But it wasn't far from his mind. During banter with actor guest Woody Harrelson, Letterman said, "I've got my own problems."

It was not immediately clear when the relationships took place or how long they lasted. Letterman's "Late Show" has been on the air since 1993. Before that, "Late Night with David Letterman" aired on NBC from 1982 to 1993.

Letterman won't be taping a show Friday. Friday night's show was taped Thursday.

Alicia Maxey Greene, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney's office, declined to comment.

It's the second set of embarrassing headlines for Letterman in four months. In June, he apologized to Palin for making a crude joke about the former Republican vice presidential candidate's 14-year-old daughter. Although there was a small "fire Letterman" demonstration outside of his studio later, CBS stood by its late-night star.

Last fall Letterman sharply denounced Palin's running mate, John McCain, for abruptly canceling a "Late Show" appearance. Weeks of withering jokes by Letterman eventually forced McCain to come on the show and beg for forgiveness.

Letterman was also the victim of a 2005 plot by a former painter on his Montana ranch to kidnap his nanny and son for a $5 million ransom. The former painter, Kelly A. Frank, briefly escaped from prison in 2007 before being recaptured.

Another alleged extortion scandal surrounding a public figure, Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, similarly forced him this summer to acknowledge an affair.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_letterman_extortion

King Crimson
10/2/2009, 08:32 AM
apparently there's good money in extortion.

TheHumanAlphabet
10/2/2009, 08:32 AM
Letterman is a creep and has become a dirty and angry old man. Not funny anymore IMO.

badger
10/2/2009, 08:40 AM
I find it distasteful that he claims he was trying to protect the women. Mister, the only way you can protest these female employees, other than not having sex with them in the first place, is by using a condom. The only one you tried to protect in this situation is yourself and your reputation as a calmed down, married man and father.

Here's hoping he pregger'd one of them and she lawsuits him into 18 years of inflated child support.

JLEW1818
10/2/2009, 08:52 AM
Condoms blow! - Letterman

Turd_Ferguson
10/2/2009, 08:54 AM
Letterman = FlyingDickWheel

C&CDean
10/2/2009, 08:59 AM
Proof, once again, that Leno>Letterman>Conan.

Half a Hundred
10/2/2009, 09:01 AM
High profile guy is unfaithful. How is this news again?

Xstnlsooner
10/2/2009, 09:02 AM
And I thought Madonna was the only woman on the show
he was "boinking!" huh...

yermom
10/2/2009, 09:08 AM
it's not like he was married ;)

JLEW1818
10/2/2009, 09:08 AM
it's not like he was married ;)

you in Miami yet?

iwannabelikesam
10/2/2009, 09:09 AM
letterman is just a bitter, mean, cynical, washed-up old curmudgeon.

yermom
10/2/2009, 09:09 AM
you in Miami yet?

Davie, FL

JLEW1818
10/2/2009, 09:10 AM
Davie, FL

nice.. do you spend your vacations on OU football??? pretty good idea if you ask me!

OhU1
10/2/2009, 09:27 AM
These high profile guys and politicians always have to hide behind their wife's dress when they come clean - having the jilted wife awkwardly stand by their side while they proclaim they care only about their family. Yawn. Just admit you chased some tail and got caught. Better yet, don't say anything public at all.

KC//CRIMSON
10/2/2009, 09:54 AM
Proof, once again, that Leno>Letterman>Conan.

Back up, slappy. It goes Conan>Letterman>Falling down a flight of stairs with a lightbulb in your mouth>Leno

C&CDean
10/2/2009, 10:12 AM
Back up, slappy. It goes Conan>Letterman>Falling down a flight of stairs with a lightbulb in your mouth>Leno

Only if you never advanced mentally beyond your junior year in high school.

King Crimson
10/2/2009, 10:18 AM
watching network TV is already a question mark imo.

Boomer_Sooner_sax
10/2/2009, 10:26 AM
Back in the day, banging chicks was part of the being famous. Now, you have to watch out because half of them are doing it for money or extortion. Sad when the groupies are money hungry.

Collier11
10/2/2009, 10:36 AM
Only if you never advanced mentally beyond your junior year in high school.

Dean, since when has any late night humor been all that intellectual, they all play off of the same Paris hilton and fart jokes

Turd_Ferguson
10/2/2009, 10:56 AM
There's only one...

http://www.rockpeaks.com/files/shows/t/Tonight_Show_starring_Johnny_Carson/Tonight_Show_starring_Johnny_Carson_body.jpg

49r
10/2/2009, 11:32 AM
Talk about your basic whoremonger... ^^^

Collier11
10/2/2009, 11:44 AM
There's only one...

http://www.rockpeaks.com/files/shows/t/Tonight_Show_starring_Johnny_Carson/Tonight_Show_starring_Johnny_Carson_body.jpg

Legend! The Greatest Ever!

Turd_Ferguson
10/2/2009, 11:52 AM
Talk about your basic whoremonger... ^^^May be, but he had class...

Penguin
10/2/2009, 12:12 PM
Personally, I applaud Letterman for coming out about it. That's how you stop extortionists. Go public with it and own it.


Everybody is a creep/pervert. Anything that you do in private can be taken out of context and make you look like Uncle Chester.

Turd_Ferguson
10/2/2009, 12:52 PM
Personally, I applaud Letterman for coming out about it. That's how you stop extortionists. Go public with it and own it.


Everybody is a creep/pervert. Anything that you do in private can be taken out of context and make you look like Uncle Chester.Like he had a choice. You pay off somebody, and how long is that 2 mil gonna last them. They'd be back for more at some point and time. He knew he HAD to come out about it. He should have manned up and stuck to his vow's. He's a dooshbag.

Collier11
10/2/2009, 01:02 PM
banging your employees while you have a wife/gf is not exactly out of context, pretty clear what he did. I love Letterman and think he put Leno to shame as far as quality of show but this was bad

Penguin
10/2/2009, 01:03 PM
Like he had a choice. You pay off somebody, and how long is that 2 mil gonna last them. They'd be back for more at some point and time. He knew he HAD to come out about it. He should have manned up and stuck to his vow's. He's a dooshbag.


He went to the DA first. The check was fake and part of the sting.

Nobody said when these "affairs" happened, so who is to say if he ever broke his vows or not.

badger
10/2/2009, 01:18 PM
I find it ironic that after years of writing jokes about extramarital affairs on public figures like Clinton he's finally had to write jokes about his own extramarital affairs.

Turd_Ferguson
10/2/2009, 01:20 PM
Badger said so^^^^^:D

He went to the DA first. The check was fake and part of the sting.

Nobody said when these "affairs" happened, so who is to say if he ever broke his vows or not.

I Am Right
10/2/2009, 02:08 PM
Letterman would be fine if he had just admitted he had druged and raped a 13yr old, apparently it is ok in Hollywood.

Gresho Murford
10/2/2009, 02:58 PM
Conan>Leno>>>>>>Fallon>>>>>>>>>>>>>Letterman

TheHumanAlphabet
10/2/2009, 03:04 PM
Well we know how far Goat Boy has fallen... Commercials for Pizza Hut.

Gresho Murford
10/2/2009, 03:11 PM
wow just watched the video and that was awkward. What confuses me is why the audience was laughing and thought it was funny that he had sex with the employees and why did he tell the audience in the first place?

AlbqSooner
10/2/2009, 03:41 PM
letterman is just a bitter, mean, cynical, washed-up old curmudgeon.

You say that like it's a bad thing.;)

Okla-homey
10/2/2009, 03:56 PM
You people are missing the point. This is genius on Letterman's lawyers' part.

To wit, if the target of an extortion scheme can stand the heat of publicly admitting the conduct the extortionist threatens to make public, that's probably the most efficient way to neutralize the threat.

Short of hiring a hit on the guy.

Which can have troubling legal implications.;)

I Am Right
10/2/2009, 08:06 PM
You people are missing the point. This is genius on Letterman's lawyers' part.

To wit, if the target of an extortion scheme can stand the heat of publicly admitting the conduct the extortionist threatens to make public, that's probably the most efficient way to neutralize the threat.

Short of hiring a hit on the guy.

Which can have troubling legal implications.;)

Banging his staff, Man I think that is the point. SPIN, SPIN, SPIN.

soonerboomer93
10/2/2009, 08:09 PM
Proof, once again, that Leno>Letterman>Conan.

this is of course, in reference to their ability to put you to sleep in under 30 seconds?

I Am Right
10/2/2009, 08:29 PM
Roman Polanski diabolically lured a 13-year-old child to a remote area where he knew she would be powerless. Whoopi Goldberg is wrong. The director committed a rape under every legal definition-- both here and in Europe.


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This week, on ABC's "The View," co-host and comedian Whoopi Goldberg had the audacity to suggest that Roman Polanski's 1977 sexual assault on a 13-year old girl wasn't 'actual rape.'



"I know it wasn't rape-rape," Goldberg said. "Initially he was charged with rape, and then pled guilty to having sex with a minor." On Wednesday, Goldberg said that she was not defending Polanski but rather trying to clarify the precise charge he pleaded to.

When listening to all of her comments in context however, it sounds painfully obvious that Goldberg was really trying to suggest was that sex with a minor is 'statutory rape' and not 'forcible rape,' and therefore not as bad. Forcible rape is a term used by prosecutors when someone is physically forced or intimidated into having sexual relations. Statutory rape is a term that describes sexual relations with someone who lacks the mental capacity to consent because they are underage. Other forms of rape include 'date-rape' in which a victim is so heavily intoxicated with drugs or alcohol that they lack the ability to consent.

Although prosecutors sometimes distinguish the type of rape that a victim suffers, the distinction was never meant to imply that statutory rape or date-rape are any less heinous than forcible rape.



Contrary to what Goldberg suggested, what happened to Polanski's victim was rape...and yes, it was in fact what she sophomorically referred to as 'rape-rape,' or what prosecutors properly call forcible rape. According to original police transcripts, Polanski's victim told investigators that she initially resisted him, but finally stopped because she was "afraid of him."

That's forcible rape.



"We're a different kind of society," Goldberg said about the U.S. "We see things differently. The world sees 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds in the rest of Europe... not everybody agrees with the way we see things..."

Contrary to what Goldberg said, the legal age of consent in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland France, Greece and Sweden is 15, Russia and the United Kingdom is 16 and Ireland is 17. Germany and Hungary allow sexual relations with 14-year-olds, but Germany criminalizes sexual relations if the older party exploits the younger party's mental capacity on a case-by-case basis.

The only country in Europe where sex with a 13-year-old is legal is Spain, but even then using deceit to lure the victim into having sexual relations is a punishable crime.

Polanski deceived a 13-year old child by lying to her and telling her he wanted to interview her for a modeling job in Jack Nicholson's home, and once she was there alone with him he intimidated her from leaving and illegally gave her alcohol and part of a Quaalude drug. By the standard of every aforementioned European country and all definitions of sexual relations under the law in the United States, Polanski's actions constituted rape.

Goldberg is correct that we are "a different kind of society," and that "not everybody agrees with the way we sees things."



In fact, in Europe some countries don't even use the same criminal justice system we use in America. Many European countries use the "inquisitorial system," whereas we use the "adversarial system."

In our adversarial system, defendants have a fundamental right to legal counsel who will challenge prosecutors and fight to get criminal charges dropped or disproven. In Europe's inquisitorial system, defense lawyers work alongside prosecutors to try and find the truth even if it results in the defendant's conviction. Polanski was actually afforded more legal rights in America than he ever would have been afforded in Europe under all accounts. His money gave him access to high-powered lawyers and his celebrity star-power helped him gain undeserved sympathy from the public that no ordinary person would have received.

Roman Polanski diabolically lured a 13-year old child to a remote area where he knew she would be powerless. He used his mental and physical advantage over her to intoxicate and drug her and then sexually violate her in every possible way that the law prohibits.

He deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

olevetonahill
10/2/2009, 10:26 PM
So letterman got some
Big deal

Polanski Banged a 13 year old who just wants it to go away after 30 years .
:rolleyes:

CrimsonJim
10/2/2009, 10:31 PM
There was a little joke about it on the Leno show tonight....lol

SteelCitySooner
10/3/2009, 01:27 AM
I think what's classic is that he came out with it...he beat Perez Hilton and the ilk to the punch! If you are gonna do it, when you get busted come clean, and he did it in an epic way.

But as I have been saying to myself lately, a piece of mind is better than a piece of ***.

olevetonahill
10/3/2009, 04:52 AM
yup

Tailwind
10/3/2009, 12:20 PM
It's a travesty I tell you!