Letterman Tonight: Says His Wife is "Horribly Hurt"

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 08:16:59 PM EST
Tags: David Letterman, Joe Halderman (all tags)

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If you're following the alleged extortion of David Letterman by CBS producer Joe Halderman, tune in to his show tonight. He tells the audience his wife is "horribly hurt," it's not going to be easy to patch things up, but he's going to give it his best shot. He also apologized to his staff.

"She has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it's your responsibility, you try to fix it," Letterman told audiences, according to a statement from his company, Worldwide Pants.

"And at that point, there's only two things that can happen: either you're going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you're going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me."

[More...]

He said he was "terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position. Inadvertently, I just wasn't thinking ahead ... my thanks to the staff for, once again, putting up with something stupid I've gotten myself involved in."

So, why is Letterman telling us this? Unlike the criminal case against Joe Halderman, this is just private stuff. Is he looking for sympathy or just being honest? Or, is he still trying to control the message, as Halderman's lawyer Gerry Shargel said today on TV?

Update: Watching Letterman now.

* He may be the first talkshow host to be impeached
* It's chilly outside, chillier inside his house
* He spent the weekend raking his hate mail
* Usually when he's held up for money, it's by a relative
* An insider reference to Rubenstein Communications (damage consultants for stars)
* Bill Clinton, Mark Sanford, Elliot Spitzer...followed by silence

His apology to the staff is for subjecting them to media hounding since his announcement Thursday. That's what he didn't think ahead to. He thanks them for putting up with it.

He says you can't be victimized by criminals. He says he's a victim of blackmail and he had to fight back and he still thinks he did the right thing. He ends the segment with apologizing again to the former Governor of Alaska (to lighten the moment?)

I find him credible and thought the segments were well done. But he needs to leave it alone after this or else he risks polluting the pool of potential jurors. I wonder where the case would be tried if a change of venue were granted. Shargel must be considering one. Buffalo? Albany? They get TV there too.

Also, it would be ironic if Shargel, who is known to be excellent at cross-examination, and who said he's looking forward to getting a shot at Letterman on the stand, does in fact impeach him. And will he be introducing clips from these shows in an attempt to show the jury Letterman smirked and joked about the alleged offense?

< Halderman's Lawyer Eagerly Awaits Cross-Examining David Letterman | Late Night: The Heart of the Matter >

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Letterman Tonight: Says His Wife is "Horribly Hurt" | 72 comments (72 topical)

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Letterman's wife is a woman who (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by inclusiveheart on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 08:22:19 PM EST

once was on his staff and with whom he had a child six years before he finally agreed to marry her. Where was the outrage about his relationship with her? I am amazed at the obsession with this story. People really are shocked that there's been gambling in this establishment.

BTW, since when has the entertainment industry been the bastion of morality? With the exception of Pat Boone, there are few moral paragons in the entertainment world.

Outrage? (5.00 / 1) (#23)
by gyrfalcon on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 11:49:23 PM EST

Why on earth would there be outrage about it? Better she should have left the company when the relationship got serious, but it's hardly unheard-of in show biz.

And I don't know who's outraged about this, either. There's certainly some tut-tutting, including by moi, about the apparent habit of getting into a series of sexual relationships with, again apparently, mostly much younger staffers, but I'm having a hard time finding any outrage here or anywhere else.


: Why should she have to quit? (none / 0) (#42)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 09:29:52 AM EST

Anyway, CNN has been going on and on and on about this story like it is "news" or something. People are acting like this is the first we've heard of Letterman sleeping with a female staff member. I just think it is pretty funny given the fact that he already revealed quite publicly a relationship with at least one of them years ago.

Harvey Weinstein: (none / 0) (#3)
by Wile ECoyote on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 08:42:33 PM EST

"Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion,"


: Wow (none / 0) (#6)
by coast on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 09:07:51 PM EST

Weinstien "so called crime". I guess Hollywood's compassion doesn't extend to minors. What was his point in bringing up fundraisers for 9/11 and Katrina victims. Does he think that only Hollywood felt for those who lost so much. Those in Hollywood truly live in their own universe.

: For their causes, but for each other (none / 0) (#44)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 09:35:39 AM EST

not so much imo. Hollywood is a rough town. In any case, Letterman is in NYC which actually is different.

HIs wife should have remembered the old adage, (none / 0) (#32)
by BrassTacks on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 02:48:40 AM EST

If they'll do it with you, they'll do it to you.

She knew he has a habit of sleeping with staffers, herself included. What made her think that would change?

What an egotistical, self centered, bore he is.


Has it been proven or discussed that (none / 0) (#43)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 09:34:37 AM EST

he has continued that practice since they decided to marry? We don't know the details of the deal between him and his wife. In any case, I thought he was probably sleeping with the other girl back in the 90s. Don't really know why - and didn't care much - just figured that was what was going on...


Interesting (none / 0) (#51)
by Inspector Gadget on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 11:07:39 AM EST

I thought he was probably sleeping with the other girl back in the 90s. Don't really know why - and didn't care much - just figured that was what was going on

Why would you have such thoughts if you didn't care?

Birkitt is 34 now. Was what, 21, back in 1996 when the affair started? Letterman was 49 in 1996. She was a college student who was interning at CBS. He paid for her law school, which she started in 2005. His wife may have been on board with all this. You're right, we don't know. But, thanks to a meddling media, we're probably going to find out.


I think of tons of stuff I don't really (none / 0) (#55)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 11:44:04 AM EST

care that much about on a daily basis. That's what happens when you tend to think more often than not. Some stuff is interesting and other stuff is fleeting and not necessarily all that interesting to me or anyone else.


I think we all think pretty much non-stop.... (none / 0) (#57)
by Inspector Gadget on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 12:03:37 PM EST

just not about someone else's sex life. Particularly, when the age difference is so dramatic.


I used to read People magazine (5.00 / 2) (#59)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 12:30:04 PM EST

pretty regularly. I was up to date on all the high and low profile relationships for a time there. It was a great mindless distraction from real life. Everyone has their own ways of escaping their own lives from time to time.

I also have always liked older men and dated a few in my life time. Not sure why you think that is such a terrible thing. What's the cut off in your mind? Five, ten, fifteen years? What? Does it matter to you what she wanted? Or what I or anyone else wants? When exactly do you think women become adult enough to make their own decisions about relationships? Personally, I've always found these kinds of discussions about "girls" dating older men to be pretty offensive. I had a lot to learn at 21, but I was of age and had every right to make my own decisions about the people with whom I would spend my time. Some of my friends were even married before they were in their twenties - they're all still married - one to a guy ten years older than she was. They're doing better than a lot of the "experienced" people who waited until later... So... I don't really get or appreciate all this moralizing about age etc. You sound as if she was like seven and he was an adult. She was an adult - of age - and had every right to be self determined in her situation. And don't insult her by suggesting that she was some sort of idiot - unless you know that to be true of her - if she went to law school though and made it through, my guess is that she isn't an idiot.


:) You're reading too much into it (none / 0) (#61)
by Inspector Gadget on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 12:49:01 PM EST

No judgment intended. I was probably more surprised you remembered going there with your assumptions after more than a decade had passed.


: I always wondered how she came to (none / 0) (#64)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 12:54:29 PM EST

get the on air job. That's why I thought about their personal relationship. You don't end up on air on a show like that one without being close to the star. It is just how it works in that world. I thought that either she was his protege or his girlfriend - or both. That was all. That's why I thought about it and why I remember thinking that now - because this revelation sort of answers my question.

He didn't think ahead (5.00 / 4) (#5)
by Cream City on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 09:05:24 PM EST

to see that sleeping with a staffer could be problematic for other staffers.

Well, Dave, duh. I always thought he was terribly self-centered, and that sure shows it.

I don't think that's the problem (5.00 / 3) (#7)
by Jeralyn on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 09:20:34 PM EST

"He didn't think ahead to see that sleeping with a staffer could be problematic for other staffers."

He's saying he didn't think ahead to see how it would affect his wife and potentially bring the show negative publicity. There's no indication it was problematic for other staffers or that it was an issue. Has anyone said they were denied a promotion or a pay raise because of his actions?

Not every office romance, even with a superior, is wrong, either for the participants or others.


He didn't see how (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by TeresaInSnow2 on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 09:27:31 PM EST

it would affect his wife? (He thought nobody would ever find out?)

Shaking head incredulously. He's even more insensitive than I thought.

Personally, if I were his wife, I'd see the handwriting on the wall. He doesn't love her. If he loved her her he wouldn't sleep with WomEN on his show.

Take Harry and leave, Regina. Do it today. Don't be a "good wife". In the end, you're just a sucker.


how judgmental (5.00 / 6) (#12)
by Jeralyn on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 09:40:50 PM EST

considering you don't know either of them. They weren't even married, and it was before their son was born.

Maybe forgiveness is a better course. I hope they work it out.


Oh, please (5.00 / 4) (#24)
by gyrfalcon on Mon Oct 05, 2009 at 11:51:14 PM EST

If every woman whose husband cheated on her left him, there'd be no marriages left in this country or probably anywhere else in the world.


My marriage would still be intact. (5.00 / 1) (#33)
by coast on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 07:29:53 AM EST

Thank you very much.


Did you read the comment you (none / 0) (#48)
by Inspector Gadget on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 10:35:38 AM EST

responded to?

It sounds like you are boasting that you can have an affair and your wife would not leave.


Maybe they have an "open" (none / 0) (#50)
by Fabian on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 11:07:04 AM EST

marriage? Maybe Letterman does!

Unfortunately, the public would be more sympathetic to a man who had some extramarital nookie than a woman who approved of his practice, or even worse, had her own extramarital fun.

Better to be contrite and talk about how much pain this is causing you and the missus. It plays well. Every entertainer and politician knows how to play to their audience.


Perhaps (none / 0) (#52)
by Inspector Gadget on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 11:10:15 AM EST

: Gotta be respectable! (none / 0) (#53)
by Fabian on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 11:28:00 AM EST

Can't remember if it was this week or last when I saw yet another ZOMG! He cheated on Her! tabloid headline. (Bradgelina? Another couple? Can't keep track.) I have to wonder if some celebrities cut out the middlemen and simply feed stories directly to the tabloids themselves.
I think Letterman is playing this well so far. The guy trying to do him dirty got caught, Letterman gets free publicity and increased ratings and people are suddenly thinking "If Letterman can score, I should be able to.".

Yes I read it. (none / 0) (#56)
by coast on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 11:47:23 AM EST

Gyrfalcon's statement that "there'd be no marriages left" implies that every husband has cheated on his wife. I have not cheated on my wife. Does that clear it up?


: It clears up your answer (none / 0) (#58)
by Inspector Gadget on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 12:06:33 PM EST

but, that's not what I got from gyrfalcon's comment. I've never thought the cheating statistics were nearly as high as the numbers released indicated.

And since just as many WOMEN... (5.00 / 6) (#34)
by Dadler on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 08:13:47 AM EST

...cheat as men, well, the gender-based indignation is a bit much too take. Human sexuality is a very complicated thing. And that IS what we are talking about here, human sexuality, not rape, not harassment, just humans and their base and deeply natural desires. If it weren't for sex and the sex drive, not a one of us would be here.

And, as the product of an inappropriate affair (visiting college professor has affair with student), it's pretty hard for me to make any judgements besides, well, that is life, that is people, and both are difficult propositions.


: Well said sir... (5.00 / 2) (#54)
by kdog on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 11:29:06 AM EST

well said...by the "outrage" in some of the comments one would think Dave made unwelcome advances to members of the TL community or something.