CBS employee charged with Letterman extortion plot

[Catty1]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1310953/

Top 10 Reasons why David Letterman will Survive his Sex Scandal

SIMON HOUPT AND ANDREW RYAN

From Saturday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009 03:32AM EDT

The late-night talk-show host revealed Thursday night that he was the victim of an extortion attempt threatening to expose his affair with one or more Late Show female staffers. But Mr. Letterman's career isn't headed for the gutter.

***

10 This is the best-ever Stupid Human Trick

As an investigative producer for CBS News, Mr. Letterman's alleged extortionist, Robert (Joe) Halderman, is intimately familiar with crime and punishment, yet when it came to the blackmail payout, he asked for a $2-million personal cheque, prosecutors say, one of the most traceable forms of currency in the world.

9 He's no Eliot Spitzer

When the one-time New York governor admitted his serial infidelity last year, he did so on a Monday, allowing the story to build through the weekly news cycle. But in discussing his own sins with viewers on a Thursday night, Mr. Letterman got his side of the story out just before the weekend, drastically reducing the number of reporters who will be chasing the story for the next two days.

8 He's the Tylenol of Late-Night Hosts

Experts say Mr. Letterman's mea culpa was textbook crisis management, allowing him to save both his own brand and that of CBS. "He was open, honest, forthright and transparent," said Harlan Loeb, head of the U.S. crisis management branch of public relations company Edelman. "From a reputational perspective, he had a fiduciary duty to CBS, and he made a clear effort to align his remarks with the enterprise risk he created for the company."

7 If the scandal continues, the world economy won't survive

Office workers across North America hit Twitter, Facebook and other social-networking sites yesterday to discuss the scandal, crippling productivity just as the United States announced another 263,000 lost jobs last month. Sure the scandal is good for tabloids, but you can't sell 'em if nobody's got the money to buy 'em.

6 He has friends in high places

If coverage of the affair turns ugly, his pals will rally to his side. Among his closest showbiz buddies: Don Rickles, Billy Crystal, Madonna and, yes, Oprah. The lead guest on Monday's Late Show is Steve Martin, who will undoubtedly help him defuse the situation. And if all else fails, he has the undying support of possibly the most influential man in TV today: Regis Philbin.

5 X ratings make the best ratings

Since the launch of the new TV season in mid-September, Mr. Letterman has steadily bested his late-night competitor, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, in Nielsen audience ratings, averaging five million viewers during the first week. Mr. O'Brien, meanwhile, is averaging 2½ million. If anything, Monday night's show will likely push Mr. Letterman's numbers past the seven million mark he reached for his mid-September broadcast with U.S. President Barack Obama.

4 Ketchup

Because it goes with everything.

3 Folksy humour makes scandals seem innocent

In making his Thursday-night confession, even Mr. Late Night seemed surprised by the audience response. "Why are you laughing?" he asked his studio audience after revealing details of his "creepy" affairs. He also got big laughs when he said: "If you know anything about me, I am just a towering mass of Lutheran Midwestern guilt."

2 Late-night viewers are more forgiving, or at least sleepier

Remember Hugh Grant? In July, 1995, the British actor chose The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as his first public appearance after his arrest for soliciting a street prostitute in Los Angeles. "What were you thinking?" asked Mr. Leno. Tonight Show ratings soared and Mr. Grant's career resumed (more or less).

1 Come to think of it,

what exactly did he do wrong?

Mr. Letterman's admitted to having an affair with co-workers, and apparently before his marriage to long-time girlfriend Regina Lasko last March. "If it was a consensual relationship, he's not in trouble for sexual harassment," said lawyer Deborah Katz on CNN yesterday. "Poor judgment, undoubtedly, but not legal trouble."

[Catty1]

Kinda insteresting, akshully

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain..._language.html

Letterman's 'Late Show' body language

Published: 10/03/2009 04:00:00

BY NICOLE LYN PESCE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

David Letterman's shame and fear were on full display during his televised confession - if you looked closely enough.

Body language experts who analyzed the mea culpa said Letterman did a masterful job of manipulating his tittering audience.

But a series of nervous tics broadcast his discomfort at being unmasked as a philanderer.

The giveaways included:

Too much blinking

"What's normal on TV is between 30 and 50 blinks per minute. ... He was at 60 blinks per minute when he said, 'I have had sex with women who worked for me on this show,' so that's high," said Joseph Tecce, a psychology professor at Boston College. "But he's saying something painful, so that's to be expected, because fast blinking indicates negative feelings."

Tecce said Letterman also became uncharacteristically camera-shy. "He looked down and away a lot," Tecce said. "Gaze avoidance, not looking up at the camera, not looking at your audience, is a pretty accurate indicator of shame, guilt and embarrassment."


Fiddling with his pencil

"That's a habitual thing, but it also provides a symbolic weapon. He used that to strike out as he was speaking about this man who blackmailed him," said Patti Wood, body language expert and author of "Success Signals."

"When he got to the statement 'unless I give him some money,' he put his hands up toward the audience, and in that second, he was emphasizing the fact that this was an absurd event."

Clasping his hands

"When he would finish with a difficult statement, he would kind of bring his hands together and hold his own hand over his heart to protect himself and keep himself from being truly vulnerable," Wood explained.

The smirk

"When he's talking about would it be embarrassing if he got caught, his eyebrow is raised dramatically, and he smirks - and that's an indication that he's asking for approval," said Gregory Hartley, author of the soon-to-be-released "Body Language Handbook."

"As soon as the audience starts to laugh, he knows it's okay. ...

"There's a part ... when he picks up his coffee mug after he gives his spiel with what happened, and he exhales, telling us he's thinking, 'Thank God that's over.'"

[RICHARD]

Age difference = I had my fun you silly twit, lose my number.

[Catty1]

Age difference = I had my fun you silly twit, lose my number.

Well, heck - I guess conversation at the breakfast table was lacking an intellectual partner.

Will leave it at that....

[RICHARD]

Well, heck - I guess conversation at the breakfast table was lacking an intellectual partner.

Will leave it at that....

"You are too young for me. I'm an old man knocking boots with you.
Thanks, You are dismissed."

As a guy?


I'll have to remember that line should the need arise....

[blue]

Yeah consenual sex is much worse then extortion or blackmail.

[Medusa]

Excuse my ignorance but exactly what is it that Letterman did that was "terrible, terrrible"? He had sex w/staff members, that's it? He had a girlfriend then, I get that, so what he did was smarmy and if he was my SO, I would dump him but "terrrible, terrible"? I don't know; it sounds as if perhaps Halderman had something else on Letterman. That doesn't excuse Halderman's attempted blackmail but it seems to me that Letterman could've said "Go ahead and spill the beans. I'm not paying you anything. My girlfriend already knows and the public won't care" unless he had something else to hide. I guess we'll find out during the trial.