Tag: David Letterman

David Letterman Apologizes to his Wife on Monday’s Show

From the Associated Press, via the Sun-Times:

David Letterman apologized to his wife on Monday’s “Late Show,” saying she had been “horribly hurt by my behavior.”

The late-night host vowed to repair his relationship with his wife, Regina Lasko.

“Let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me,” said Letterman, according to an early transcript of the program released by CBS.

Letterman also apologized to his staff.  From the New York Times:

The comedian also apologized to the members of his staff saying, “I’m terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position.” He labeled his mistake as inadvertent because “I just wasn’t thinking ahead.” He thanked the staff for being supportive and for “putting up with something stupid I’ve gotten myself involved in.”

Though Mr. Letterman said last Thursday that he hoped not to have to make any further comment on the incident, the details of his relationships, especially with a personal assistant, and his future at CBS, have continued to be the subject of intense scrutiny in the media.

Last week, some of his staff members suggested that Regina Lasko, Mr. Letterman’s wife, might make a statement of support. But that did not take place. Monday night Mr. Letterman said, “When something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it’s your responsibility, you try to fix it. 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.”

Meanwhile, the lawyer for the man accused of the extortion attempt made a threat to “put forward evidence” that Mr. Letterman had engaged in sexual harassment of his staff members.

Look, I like David Letterman, but the question of sexual harassment is very real and the primary question here, as far as I’m concerned.  Unfortunately for the man accused in the alleged extortion attempt, it doesn’t matter if Letterman engaged in sexual harassment.  Extortion is a crime.  If there was suspicion of sexual harassment, the accused Robert Joel Halderman should have pursued legal avenues to expose the alleged harassment.

It’s too early to tell if Dave gets to keep his job.  That’s really up to CBS executives, and I suspect they’ll carefully consider the media perception and ratings.

Well, I know I’ll be watching tonight.  That’s enough of a hook to grab my attention.


David Letterman Admits Affairs with Female Staffers; Targeted by Alleged Extortionist

Here’s the scoop from the Chicago Tribune:

David Letterman acknowledged on Thursday’s show that he had sexual relationships with female employees and that someone tried to extort $2 million from him over the affairs.

During the taping of his CBS late-night show in New York, Letterman discussed receiving a threat to either pay $2 million or risk the relationships being made public.

In a release from the show’s production company, Letterman said he referred the matter to the Manhattan district attorney’s office and that an investigation ended in an arrest Thursday. Letterman did not identify the person he said was arrested.

As part of the investigation, Letterman said he issued a “phony” $2 million check to the individual and the arrest followed — along with testimony by Letterman.

This one really didn’t take me by surprise.  I really don’t have much to say.

It’s Thursday night, and I’m watching his opening monologue now.  He sounds fine.  I suspect we’ll hear more than we care to about all of this in the days and weeks ahead.


Obama on Letterman: “I was actually black before the election.”

President Obama, in response to a question by David Letterman as to whether the vitriol at health care forums was motivated by racism, said, “I was actually black before the election.”

Letterman responded, “Really? How long have you been a black man?”

I just think it’s incredible that we can witness a conversation on race in this context.

Letterman and President Obama spoke about the economy, health care, the kids.

And, on the economy, I just heard the President say, “We lost $5 trillion of wealth” because of this economy.

I hope the President is reading Paul Krugman.


Top Ten Reasons President Obama Agreed to Appear on Letterman

Enjoy this video from tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman: the top 10 reasons President Obama agreed to appear on the show.


Gail Collins on Sarah Palin’s Implosion

Once again, the best I can say is I have no idea why Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska.  Why show you’re not a quitter by quitting?  Why leave the highest office you’ve ever held?

Nothing about this move makes sense.

Gail Collins shares her thoughts at the New York Times.  Collins quotes from Palin’s rambling press conference:

“And a problem in our country today is apathy,” she said on Friday as she announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. “It would be apathetic to just hunker down and ‘go with the flow.’ Nah, only dead fish ‘go with the flow.’ No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time … to BUILD UP.”

Basically, the point was that Palin is quitting as governor because she’s not a quitter. Or a deceased salmon.

Sarah Barracuda made her big announcement Friday afternoon on the lawn of her home to an audience that appeared to include only Todd, the kids and the next-door neighbors. Smiling manically, she looked like a parody of the woman who knocked the Republicans dead at their convention. She babbled about her parents’ refrigerator magnet, which apparently had a lot of wise advice. And she recalled her visit with the troops in Kosovo, whose dedication and determination inspired her to … resign.

“Life is about choices!” declared the nation’s most anti-choice politician.

Is this a brilliant move (as Mary Matalin asserts)  for a rising star launching her run for the White House?  Collins comments:

So if she’s starting to run, it will be as the same reporter-avoiding, generalization-spouting underachiever that she was last time around.

Now we know she not only doesn’t have the concentration to read a policy paper, she can’t focus long enough to finish the job she was hired to do.

I want to hear George Will try to spin this one.

And you betcha I’m looking forward to commentary from Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and David Letterman.