I happened to be watching David Letterman on Thursday night when he told his bizarre rambling story of being blackmailed for doing “some terrible, terrible things.”
The extortion tale came between the monologue and the first guest appearance. Most in the studio audience assumed the 10-minute segment to be part of a gag with a big punch line at the end. Throughout the account Letterman made lighthearted jokes about his “towering mass of Lutheran Midwestern guilt” and “the creepy things I have done.” The crowd laughed and applauded throughout the revelation, which really didn’t reveal much.
Letterman admitted having sex with female staffers, but said nothing else, beyond law enforcement convincing him to pay an extortionist $2 million to keep the details involved quiet. Most of Letterman’s on-air narrative dealt with law enforcement efforts making sure the blackmailer got arrested. Letterman didn’t say how many women were involved or when the episodes took place. The story is more intriguing because the longtime talk-show host married his live-in partner of 23 years in March. The couple has a 6-year-old son. The accused extortionist, Robert Joel Halderman, until recently lived with Stephanie Birkitt, one of Letterman’s former intimates.
Halderman should have known that celebrities today aren’t willing to pay hush money to keep news of their sex life quiet. By going public, Letterman hopes the controversy will be defused quickly. That’s unlikely to happen. The door is now open for the women employees to file lawsuits of sexual harassment by a supervisor.
And how will the 62-year-old Letterman, whose career has largely been built on making fun of others, be able to tell jokes about the sex lives of politicians, athletes and movie stars anymore and still have credibility?
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