Arrest Made in Letterman Blackmail Scheme

The man arrested in a $2 million blackmail scheme against David Letterman works on the CBS true-crime show 48 Hours, the network announced.
Police have identified the man as Robert Halderman, a 51-year-old Emmy-winning producer who allegedly threatened to write a screenplay or book about Letterman sleeping with several staff members, according to the New York Daily News.

Letterman admits affairs, claims extortion
In a statement, the network said: "CBS was made aware of an ongoing police investigation involving David Letterman and an employee at 48 Hours, who was subsequently arrested earlier today on charges of attempted grand larceny in the first degree."

The employee had been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, the network added.

On Thursday's Late Show with David Letterman, the 62-year-old Letterman began telling the sordid tale by saying: "Do you feel like a story?"

He appeared to be setting up a comedy routine, and the audience laughed as he unfurled the story.

"This morning, I did something I've never done in my life," Letterman said. "I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury. ... I had to tell them all the creepy things I had done."
Once the audience laughed again, Letterman asked: "Now why is that funny?"

Finally it appeared that Letterman was quite serious about this, and got into " all the creepy stuff."

"I have had sex with women who work for me on this show," he said. He confirmed that he admitted the affairs to the grand jury.

"Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would _ especially for the women," he cracked. "But that's a decision for them, if they want to go public and talk."

David Letterman marries
In March, Letterman married girlfriend Regina Lasko. The two have a 6-year-old son together, Harry.

Letterman said the "whole thing has been quite scary," concluding: "I don't plan to say much more about this on this particular topic."

"Mr. Letterman addressed the issue during the show's broadcast this evening, and we believe his comments speak for themselves," the network said in the statement.

Letterman's show became the most popular in its time slot over the summer after NBC replaced Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show.

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Details about the liaisons — and when they occurred — were not offered. His Late Show has aired on CBS since 1993. On NBC, Late Night with David Letterman aired from 1982 to 1993.

It's the second dustup in four months for Letterman. He wound up apologizing to 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin for making a crude joke about her 14-year-old daughter in June.