Letterman Discloses Extortion Threat, Admits Sexual Relationships W/Staffers
Earlier this evening, David Letterman told his talk show audience that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt—and that he had sexual relationships with staffers. He said (the show airs at 11:35 p.m. on WCBS 2), "This morning, I did something I've never done in my life. I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury." According to the Daily News, "The 'Late Show' host received a package from an individual who claimed to have information on his dalliances and said he would be outed unless he came up with $2 million." Letterman went to the Manhattan's DA office, which "instructed Letterman to mail a phony $2 million check to the individual, which led to the extortionist's arrest on Thursday." Letterman said of the affairs with staffers, "My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. I feel like I need to protect these people -- I need to certainly protect my family." The News spoke to Letterman's mom, Dorothy Mengering, who said, "I knew he was being blackmailed and that someone was arrested today. So far that's all I know. I'm looking forward to seeing the show tonight to see what he has to say." She added that she heard about the extortion attempt from Letterman's wife of 7 months, Regina Lasko (she and Letterman had "been together" since 1986 and have a 5-year-old son). UPDATE: According to TMZ, the identity of the arrestee "is Robert Halderman. He's 51 years old and lives in Norwalk, CT. Halderman has a business in Manhattan, where he was arrested today. http://gothamist.com/2009/10/01/letterman_discloses_extortion_threa.php _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key [email protected] [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World News Now Discussion List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/wnndl?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
