Video: The obligatory freaky deaky “Letterman tells all” clip
posted at 10:13 am on October 2, 2009 by Allahpundit
He plays it for laughs all the way through, a fact some TV critics find “creepy” but which was really the only way he could have played it. Remember, this bit followed the opening monologue. How much more bizarre would it have been to segue from that to some harrowing retelling of a multimillion-dollar extortion plot? Besides, the humor’s a way of connecting with the public on a human level, which may be important depending upon just how terrible the details of those “terrible things” he did turn out to be.
I still don’t understand why he felt compelled to talk about this, especially at such length and especially if his misdeeds are nothing worse than having cheated on his wife with staffers. Not that that’s okay, but if every celebrity affair warranted a public confession they’d have to set up a new cable channel to broadcast them all. In fact, according to TMZ, his relationship with the staffer in question ended six years ago, before he married his then-girlfriend and she gave birth to their son. Is that really the makings of a $2 million extortion attempt? What else was in the package Dave received? See why piquing the public’s curiosity was such a bad idea?
Whatever other stuff’s going to come out, presumably it can’t be so terrible that Letterman will come to regret using a light touch in talking about it. Exit question: How excited do you think CBS is to have to cover a story about one of its employees blackmailing another of its employees over an affair with yet another of its employees?
Blowback
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and ths scumbag takes shots at the Hon. Sarah Palin?
Onager on October 2, 2009 at 10:14 AM
And he’s been hounding Mark Sanford. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Doughboy on October 2, 2009 at 10:15 AM
What won’t this guy do for ratings?
Rebar on October 2, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Waterloo
aquaviva on October 2, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I repeat:
Letterman using (or allowing) his audience to laugh at his pathetic example is astonishing.
The man has deep psychological anger and it is beginning to surface on a daily basis.
I think his relegation to being a second place performer has damaged his personal view of self.
He has issues – and he needs help.
jake-the-goose on October 2, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Meh, this is all a ploy to boost Dave’s ratings. Not gonna work.
rbj on October 2, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Pot calling kettle black.
Poor ba$tard got his commupance.
Karma’s really a bitc!
Badger40 on October 2, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Douche bag.
MES401067 on October 2, 2009 at 10:16 AM
Wait until it is revealed that the staffers he had sex with were men.
Guardian on October 2, 2009 at 10:17 AM
So critics consider this “creepy” but Polanski’s behavior is ok because ya know it wasn’t rape-rape. Maybe Letterman’s affair wasn’t an affair-affair.
vcferlita on October 2, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Will. Not. Ever. Watch. This. Immoral. Scumbag. Again.
I just posted in the Headline thread – any woman who was in that audience and applauded should go kill herself. In fact, any woman who didn’t get up and leave when he admitted this gross immorality and abuse of women should be ashamed of themselves forever. What if it had been YOU – or your girlfriend, or your sister?
I can’t wait to see if any of the liberal feminist idiocracy defends this a-hole today.
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 10:18 AM
I haven’t watched a Letterman show in years. Dave should just go to his extensive ranch in MT and not talk…ever again.
PappaMac on October 2, 2009 at 10:18 AM
I’m sorry, David who?
classicaliberal on October 2, 2009 at 10:18 AM
I sure hope the “staffers” got great promotions and big pay raises and hefty bonuses and paid vacations and golden parachutes… after having to submit to the sexual predations of this crotchety, slobbering boss.
And scrubbed with Lava soap and Lysol daily.
profitsbeard on October 2, 2009 at 10:19 AM
exactly. schtupping a staffer when he’s not married doesn’t seem very extortionable, it seems to me.
Mr. Bingley on October 2, 2009 at 10:19 AM
What a complete douche.
He should have Obama on again.
ObamatheMessiah on October 2, 2009 at 10:19 AM
But unlike Letterman, Sanford and Palin are not artistes. And if we’ve learned anything from Roman Polanski, it’s that artistes are not held to the same bourgeois standards as the rest of us.
CityFish on October 2, 2009 at 10:20 AM
If I may repost from last night.
*****************************
NOW THIS IS FUNNY! THIS IS FUNNY HARDY HAR HAR HARRRRR
TOP TEN THINGS HEARD BACKSTAGE AT THE “LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW”
10. Is today your day up on the desk or is it Mindy’s?
9. You know what I could use right before a show?
8. How about joinin’ me for some “stupid human tricks” after the show?
7. Is this how A Rod does it Dave?
6. You mean we can’t have healthcare but we can have this??
5. Once we get caught for this how the hell are you going to explain away all of those Palin jokes?
4. If I’m going to sue you Dave, I better do it while CBS is still paying you.
3. Y’know, that kidnapping thing regarding your kid Dave was scary, but it sure wasn’t as scary as THAT!
2. Your ratings sure do suck, so how about we go public with this whole sex thing and I’m sure you’ll get a little bump.
1. SARAH PALIN’S BOOK IS AT NUMBER ONE AND WHO THE HELL IS LAUGHING NOW DAVE!!!!!!!
ted c on October 2, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Who cares
Mr_Magoo on October 2, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Move to #1. Now that is C-O-M-E-D-Y!
Mr_Magoo on October 2, 2009 at 10:22 AM
He’s a nasty, bitter, old liberal. He used to make me laugh, just like the late George Carlin used to – before his anger, nastiness and bitterness overcame his ability to be funny. I feel badly for his wife and boy-but have no sympathy for him.
KateinCo on October 2, 2009 at 10:22 AM
It is’nt any surprise that such a classless sorry excuse for a human being is also a hypocritical degenerate.
CDM on October 2, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Modified limited hangout?
exception on October 2, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Well, well, well. Mr. Letterman, who exactly is the “slut” again?
Fuzzlenutter on October 2, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Mark Sanford and Bill Clinton must be laughing right now.
cubachi on October 2, 2009 at 10:23 AM
I’m still heartbroken.
Cuffy Meigs on October 2, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Ugh. Unless it’s happened to you, you have no idea how disgusting this behavior really is. I’ve been hit on by bosses and co-workers since I was 23 years old. It’s NEVER acceptable. It puts working women in an untenable position and degrades them. I’ve also seen opportunistic women sleep their way to the top, and that’s not OK either, because it degrades other women who are honestly trying to succeed and move up the ladder in the organization.
Once it gets around that the boss is screwing around with women in the office, it makes every woman in that workplace vulnerable and uncomfortable, and no longer feeling that her brains are all she needs to succeed. This is why the sexual harrassment statutes call it “creating a hostile environment.” If someone else is “putting out” for the boss, I’m going to feel like I have to do it too. If I am a moral and chaste person, it creates a hostile environment for me when others are immoral.
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Dave deserves this embarrassment. He is a nasty old fart. I feel bad for his wife and kid.
What a sick old dude.
cubachi on October 2, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Wow is AP up early, or at least posting early, today.
Of for the days when this activity would be shuned and ridiculed by the vast majority of society. Instead I hear Susan Q. Public on the radio say something like that its not to shocking, its what you expect to happens nowadays.
WashJeff on October 2, 2009 at 10:26 AM
ChickaBOOMer: Honk If You’ve Slept With David Letterman
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2009/10/honk-if-youve-slept-with-david.html
StewartIII on October 2, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Karma is a bitch and when he chose to put out into the world what he did, he was delivered the same right into his lap.
pjean on October 2, 2009 at 10:26 AM
This fool has hit rock bottom and he is starting to dig.
ted c on October 2, 2009 at 10:26 AM
He and Obama deserve each other…
“That was not the David Letterman that I knew…”
ted c on October 2, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Apparently being a “towering mass of Lutheran guilt” wasn’t enough to stop him from doing the “terrible” things though. Motivated by guilt explains a lot of liberal do-goodism.
ClanDerson on October 2, 2009 at 10:27 AM
maybe Obama will come do his defense, like he did for Gates….no?
ted c on October 2, 2009 at 10:27 AM
He needs to have his face rubbed in this relentlessly. I’m sick of this comedy-at-the-expense-of-others-then-protect-my-family-when-its-me crap…..
step off dave.
ted c on October 2, 2009 at 10:29 AM
BigFurHat strikes again!
mizflame98 on October 2, 2009 at 10:29 AM
This is the weirdest announcement ever on TV. Why he did this in between the monologue and a top ten list is even weirder. CBS must be proud.
d1carter on October 2, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Roman Polanski signs a petition to pardon Dave Letterman.
BrianA on October 2, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Letterman is such a victim.
therightscoop on October 2, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Probably why Letterman was, I presume, asked to confront it head on.
I mean, yeah, schadenfreude might seem sweet here, but extortion like this isn’t something I would wish on anyone. And, as it happened what…6 years ago?…it’s already old news. She wasn’t underage, or forced, or anything like that.
JetBoy on October 2, 2009 at 10:30 AM
I think we had the first good top ten last night.
crittenden has one but it’s pretty weak
ted c on October 2, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Can’t get myself to watch this immoral leftist make humor out of sexual harrassment and hear people laugh at it. Just can’t do it.
Christian Conservative on October 2, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Schadenfreude, baby.
Dave’s karma has run over his dogma.
turfmann on October 2, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Eh, his audience wont care.
Dash on October 2, 2009 at 10:31 AM
….what an aweful, aweful person.
How about another Palin joke, Dave. You know, about what a fool she is.
Not a word about his wife either.
And: where are the Feminists?
This despicable old goat abuses the women on his staff….and where are the feminists.
pseudonominus on October 2, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Wait a second!!?! A celebrity cheated on his girlfriend? America has lost her innocence.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Did he wear his velcro suit?
TexasJew on October 2, 2009 at 10:32 AM
The CBS employee played his hand wrong. Had he just used the sexual harassment code – both federal and NY States – he could have filed a claim – being it stretches across other employees within a company, not just the whores he banged.
Then he could have made a film, broke the news, etc., etc. without fear of blackmail charges.
But hey – he was a CBS employee, perhaps he was upset Paul passed him over or Dave just wanted him to watch…
Odie1941 on October 2, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Looks like CBS has a fever, and the only prescription, is more sexual harassment training!
rightside on October 2, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Top Ten Reasons to Accept That Job Offer from David Letterman
10. Get to find out “Worldwide Pants” refers to his breathing
9. Whenever he has trouble performing, he can always count on Paul
8. Stupid Prostate Tricks
7. Pillow talk includes fond remembrances of working with Calvert DeForest
6. “Can Jay do this? Huh? Can Jay do this?”
5. Share in wistful late-life transition from “My girlfriend doesn’t understand me” to “My wife doesn’t understand me”
4. Will It Rise?
3. Tries to be nice about it when he passes you off to Biff Henderson
2. “Whoops, looks like Cheney isn’t the only one who shoots people in the face”
1. After the sex, he lets you keep the Palin wig
pseudonominus on October 2, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Allah, what the heck are you doing up so early? Or perhaps you just haven’t gone to bed yet?
Anyway, good to see you working this time of day ;)
kerrhome on October 2, 2009 at 10:33 AM
From what I understand, they were consensual affairs. Most feminists don’t get too angry about consensual sex.
Ugh, it’s an f-ing monologue, people. He delivers 5 of them per week, all around 10 minutes a pop (I guess, I don’t watch his show). One offensive Sarah Palin joke and you guys are obsessed and celebrating bad things happening to him. That’s weird. And creepy.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Um, because sexual harrassment is illegal? Because Mr. Liberal Comedy Conscience of the Nation might not have wanted his female viewers to turn him off forever in disgust?
I guess only a single guy who lives in New York could think that what Letterman did was not worth blackmailing him because he wasn’t yet married.
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Dave Letterman “I had to protect my family”
Dave could have protected his family and actually maintained an honest and trustworthy relationship by not having multiple affairs with co-workers.
Typical liberal hypocrite.
Smears strong,honest,and successful women like Palin while he is out doing his best Bill Clinton impressions in the studio dressing rooms with co-workers.
I am sure liberals will defend him to the grave like Clinton,Edwards,Polanski,and Ted Kennedy.
Liberals just need to admit to the fact that they have no moral or ethical credibility.
Baxter Greene on October 2, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Nice necktie.
onlineanalyst on October 2, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Fire him for sexual harassment in the workplace.
jediwebdude on October 2, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Good one! He’s really obsessed with our Sarah!
SouthernGent on October 2, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Sarah…you magnificant basterd!
Don’t “FV<KK” with the ‘Cuda!
RobCon on October 2, 2009 at 10:37 AM
When a boss asks his subordinates for sex that bends the definition of consensual sex. It is sexual harrassment.
Christian Conservative on October 2, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Jerk. Go read the sexual harrassment statute sometime. Legally, there isn’t any such thing as consensual sex between a company CEO and a subordinate. And there isn’t as a matter of conscience either. Feminists do understand this. I don’t think they are going to be real happy with Mr. Letterman.
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Wrong.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Nope.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Apparently you were asleep during Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearings. But were awake for Lewinsky/Paula Jones/Juanita Broderick.
rbj on October 2, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Watch, as he goes on about other people’s unsavory behavior, and unpoor decorum.
franksalterego on October 2, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Dave is merely getting out in front of this story before it became framed by other news organizations. Doing this helps him break the news in a way he can control it. Classic, smart PR.
I don’t agree with or condone his behavior, but sleeping-around is nothing new in the workplace.
eanax on October 2, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Not a partisan thing. I don’t care about Letterman one way or the other. If he’d sexually harassed employees (and he may have, we don’t know), then I’d be as offended as anyone.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Top ten indicators that you are a dirty old man:
Hening on October 2, 2009 at 10:44 AM
The only people that get upset about the consensual sex of others are those that aren’t getting any themself.
Oh, the faux outrage!
Wake me up when it is reported that Letterman raped the woman. Otherwise, with exception to the extortion attempt, this is a no story.
Move on.
bileduct on October 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Letterman is a despicable coward.
To mix in jokes with his “confession”, thus confusing his audience and watering down his indiscretions, is just beyond douchebaggery.
I just cannot find the words to right now to describe how low this P.O.S. is. This is on par with John Edwards seeking out a doctor with the means to “fake a DNA test”.
David2.0 on October 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM
When does Katie Couric make her announcement?
d1carter on October 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Same experiences for me. It’s despicable and demeaning to both be harrassed, and to watch someone sleep their way up.
KateinCo on October 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM
And the studio audience applauds and laughs.
Disgusting!
Crux Australis on October 2, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Nice moral compass there, Dave. Ride gracefully into the sunset while you can.
kingsjester on October 2, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Stay classy.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:50 AM
I caught this last night after seeing it mentioned here (never watch this creep – can’t stand him)and it made me angry and sick to my stomach. He made it into a comic routine and his idiot audience was laughing and applauding all the way through. What has happened to the people of this country? There’s no decency among so many any more. I was thinking of this pervert’s treatment of Sarah Palin and her family and of the Republicans he recently made fun of, and he is the lowest of slimeballs. I think he is getting his just desserts for being a big sleazebag, and I don’t feel the least bit sorry for him. There’s a few others I would like to see have the same happen to them for their nastiness.
silvernana on October 2, 2009 at 10:50 AM
But then again a lot of co-workers end up getting married and some live happily ever after. I guess it depends on how you define “hit on”. Is asking a co-worker out on a date “hitting on them”?
(I acknowledge that bosses are a different situation as they hold a position of power).
Buy Danish on October 2, 2009 at 10:50 AM
According to feminists, at least during Thomas’ hearing, there can be no consensual sex between a boss & subordinate because it is always a power relationship. Hey, if that’s the lefty rulebook, ok, but play by it yourselves.
rbj on October 2, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Guess ragging on other people over affairs won’t work anymore, huh? Maybe I’m an a-hole, but I think this is great. Maybe Sarah Palin can come up with a few buck-toothed-creepy-old-wife-cheating-creep zingers.
Keef Overbite on October 2, 2009 at 10:51 AM
While earning millions for mocking other cheaters.
Funny stuff. Where did you get it?
Jim Treacher on October 2, 2009 at 10:52 AM
Here’s video of the girl, Stephanie Birkitt.
She’s 30 years his junior.
His pet names for her?
“Smitty,” “Kitty,” “Monty,” “Gunter,” and “Dutch.”
aquaviva on October 2, 2009 at 10:52 AM
hmmm, some “terrible things” …
lemme guess…
scatology… it’s what’s for dinner… for Dave!
max1 on October 2, 2009 at 10:52 AM
This was hardly a monologue. It was timed and isolated piece where this person thought a confession of guilt after being caught would let him rise above his actions. This same person has spent decades trashing individuals, who are usually conservative with base and sexually improper jokes. The latest was of the Palin family, and it did carry influence as far as making it somehow cool to jest about the adolescent daughters of the family being sluts (which is a far cry from who they actually are).
What is weird and creepy is that this person is still on television, and that people like you defend their behavior. The shadenfreude is is a far second from the ironic justice. Smear merchant’s own life catches up with him.
Hening on October 2, 2009 at 10:52 AM
One girl, one Dave, one cup? YUCK
Keef Overbite on October 2, 2009 at 10:54 AM
There are more names to come in the Letterman Affair saga. Halderman was friends with yet another staffer who did it with Dave.
I_C on October 2, 2009 at 10:54 AM
1. I’m not a lefty.
2. What the unnamed feminists’ crazy interpretation of the law is is not the law. Sexual harassment is against Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you can find something in there saying that sex between a boss and subordinate is against the law, then I’d like some of whatever pills you’re taking.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:55 AM
I enjoy this.
blatantblue on October 2, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Please tell me this is sarcasm. Letterman is the CEO of his production company that produces his show. Any woman who works there is a subordinate. There isn’t any such thing as consensual sex between a supervisor and a subordinate. It is is illegal for a reason, because it creates a hostile environment for all women working there.
This isn’t a political thing with me either. I was hit on and harassed all through the Reagan administration as a young appointee, and I saw women I thought were conservative using sex to get ahead. It’s an ugly, ugly business and anyone with a conscience should know better than to get involved with it. It hurts all women in the workplace whenever it happens. Women cannot be equals as workers if any of them are sleeping with the boss! Why do men not get this?
This also opens all kinds of questions to me – did Letterman have a ‘casting couch’ for hiring women? How many women did he have sex with? What happened to them when it stopped – were they fired, promoted, or what? Did good looking, busty women get promoted there more often than women who were not so attractive?
rockmom on October 2, 2009 at 10:56 AM
I’m sorry to say this, but is this totally karma from the jokes about Bristol Palin?
mjk on October 2, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Good grief. Get laid, please.
bileduct on October 2, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Interesting that she looks like a younger, more attractive version of his wife. Similar facial features.
aquaviva on October 2, 2009 at 10:57 AM
I DON’T feel sorry for his wife. This guy is disgusting and has been for years. If she “loves him” enough to have a kid, then get married to this piece of fecal matter, than she’s an IDIOT, or she’s as much a scumbag as he it. She’s know him since ’86, there’s no excuse. I do pity the kid though.
Jeff from WI on October 2, 2009 at 10:57 AM
No. Wrong. Incorrect. Epic fail. No mas.
Proud Rino on October 2, 2009 at 10:58 AM
The idea that the extortion is about affairs is ridiculous. Letterman has never has anything except scorn for sexual morality and until recently was single anyway.
The evidence of “terrible, terrible” things must show that he actually coerced these women into sex using threats to harm their careers. Perhaps there was even an intern position designed just to satisfy Dave. This public admission of “affairs” is to put it in the public meme that these relationships were consensual and not coerced and to cutoff any sexual harassment lawsuits that could result. I am sure he has probably already made some payoffs.
The girlfriend’s story isn’t enough to blackmail anybody. There must exist emails, letters and voice messages which show the coercion.
Rocks on October 2, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Bileduct v rockmom
round one
fight!
blatantblue on October 2, 2009 at 10:59 AM
1. Considering that you take the left’s side, it’s an easy mistake.
2. I am commenting on the feminists’ viewpoint regarding Clarence Thomas and their double standard.
rbj on October 2, 2009 at 10:59 AM
That may have been the most bizarre ten minutes of television I’ve seen in a long time.
“Hey… that’s blackmail.”
Crowd roars with laughter.
WTH?
cannonball on October 2, 2009 at 10:59 AM
watch out, he’s called people “creepy” for noticing far less.
I_C on October 2, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Were this a conservative, the media focus would be on finding out if the woman approached Dave, or if it was the other way around, since it’s hard to say ‘no’ to the man who controls your employment.
Obviously the credibility of the woman who’s married to the blackmailer is shot, but if there are others around and willing to talk, it will be interesting to see if they’re willing to say they just sluttily threw themselves at the boss hoping for a big romantic $core (a la Julie Chen with CBS boss Les Moonves), or if it was Letterman who instigated the affair(s).
jon1979 on October 2, 2009 at 11:00 AM
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