The big news today concerns David Letterman's blackmailer, some guy who was a producer for "48 Hours" that attempted to get 2 million bucks out of the "Late Show" host by threatening to write a screenplay and go to the press with stories of the comedian's relationships with women working in his office. And-- you're never gonna believe this-- turns out the dude's pretty sleazy, himself.
The internet's bloggers and commenters seem torn on their opinion of Letterman following the revelation-- but, for the record, it has been released that these relationships occurred prior to his current marriage-- but with details emerging on Halderman, it'll be interesting to see how this changes the debate, if at all.
The Daily Beast is running an article that's filled with information about the blackmailer, including quotes from CBS' Dan Rather and comments from Halderman's working associates and past acquaintances. Here are a few choice cuts from the article, in case you're not interested in pouring through the whole thing yourself:
Ironically, given his blackmail threat to Letterman, Halderman carried on extramarital romances both in the office and on the road, colleagues say, and didn’t do much to hide them. He liked to drink, colleagues say, and would occasionally get obstreperous. Once, years ago, Halderman “came stumbling into work in bandages and stitches,” a colleague told me, explaining that a bouncer had shoved him through a plate-glass window at an Upper East Side singles bar.Wuh-oh. That doesn't sound too good. Odd, then, that Halderman would target someone else for something he seems widely known for doing himself. But since when was hipocrisy a reason not to do something illegal?
Hey, Dan Rather, does any of this strike you as odd?
This is obviously a tragedy,” Rather said. “Frankly, I couldn’t be more astonished that this guy was involved in something like this than if you came riding through my apartment on a hippopotamus.Another colleague had this description of Halderman for the Daily Beast:
He was a very colorful guy—I’d label him a charming rogue,” said a colleague who worked with Halderman off and on over the past 25 years. “He was like a character out of Hemingway, or maybe like the Great Gatsby, without the nuance and mystery…He was famous for carrying on workplace affairs, bouncing from woman to woman.
His girlfriend dumped him a few weeks ago and his ex-wife took his kids out to Colorado in the last few months,” one of Halderman’s colleagues told me. “He lost his kids, he lost his girlfriend, and maybe he lost his mind.Several other websites are reporting that Halderman was paying over $6,000 per month in child support from a previous marriage that had fallen through due to his extracurricular romantic activities. His breakup with Stephanie Burkitt-- the woman at the center of all this, who is said to have been involved with Letterman about 5 years ago-- is being speculated upon as the reason that Halderman may have made his bizarre attempt at blackmailing Dave.
So, whatta you guys think? Surprising, or not? Knowing that Dave's relationship with this woman-- and, according to a statement issued by Worldwide Pants, Letterman's production company, any other women-- happened prior to his marriage, does it change your opinion of the situation? A poll over on the "Larry King Live" website found that roughly 75% of people didn't think negatively of Dave in the aftermath of this situation...but what do you think? Sound off below, folks.
Oh, and by the way: If you're reading this because you were directed here from the Examiner, feel free to check out some of the other non-Examiner articles on this site. If you're reading this without having visited the Examiner, then check out this page. You'll find roughly 200 articles that I've written for that site over the past couple months: many of them are decent. What are you waiting for? Get over there!
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