Reaction to David Letterman's "announcement"

[BucknellAlum]

Okay, I don't usually get involved with the entertainment headlines too much, but this thing with David Letterman fascinates me for some reason.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/1...ion/index.html

I am not all that surprised that a big celebrity was out cheating on his wife, I suppose, but he doesn't really seem to express any remorse about it, or apologize to his wife/girlfriend. And I am curious as to whether this will hurt him professionally, not that I really care. But like I said, I am fascinated

[TieKitty]

Actually, his new wife was one of the staffers.

[bobmark226]

His apology and remorse are for his family and his loved ones and really not anyone else's business. Presumably he's done that.

Bob

[Cafe Latte]

I thought it was ridiculous how the audience reacted to it by laughing, ahd how he seemed to make a joke out of it all. He really needed to be more serious about the situation (from what I saw on the news clips this morning).

[VALERIEA234]

He has made it everyone's business, by confessing.
With him i think it is all about the $$$$$$$$ not that he is sorry.
He should be fired!!!!
I for one will never watch his show again.

V.

[charley]

I give him kudos for not playing the Edwards/Sanford card.

[sneezles]

Originally Posted by bobmark226

His apology and remorse are for his family and his loved ones and really not anyone else's business. Presumably he's done that.

Bob

I agree 100%!

[cminmd]

I got the impression his affairs were before he was married (this March) and even before he and his now wife had the baby together.
I was mostly amazed that anyone would think this is worth blackmailing someone over. A single adult had sex with another single adult co worker? Hardly a shock.
I did think the guy doing the blackmail was a nasty piece of work. He apparently took his now girlfriends diary and used it to come up with a screenplay to blackmail Letterman with. She says he did it without her knowing about it. If she isn't lying that makes this guy a double looser.
I feel sorry for Letterman. First the stalker, then the crazy plan to kidnap his child, now 2 million dollar blackmail plot.

[zwieback]

I agree with Bob. While I don't think what David Letterman did was right (the affairs - assuming he was cheating on his girlfriend/now wife), I can't pass judgement on him. I don't know the full story nor do I know his arrangements with his wife. Maybe they have an open marriage. Maybe marrying her was part of their deal. Who knows? I don't agree with cheating on a spouse, but as long as the affairs were consentual and not forced, it's his business and is definitely not deserving of being fired. Whether people decide on their own to stop watching because they don't agree with DL's actions, is up to each viewer. But, I don't think this having an affair merits being fired. At least not in his profession. He's not a public servant, he's not a priest. He's an entertainer.

[Shugness]

The local news had a clip of his announcement this morning and I knew nothing else about the situation prior to that - I was a little confused too by the audiences laughter. I honestly thought whatever the allegations were was a bunch of bologna and he was being sarcastic, thus why they were laughing. Very strange.

As for his lack of visible remorse, what Bob said - that's between him and his wife, we don't know the whole story and never will - it's quite possible this is old news to her, she may have already known and they dealt with it - water under the bridge type of situation. She's the one he has to make this right with - not us.

[bobmark226]

Originally Posted by cminmd

I got the impression his affairs were before he was married (this March) and even before he and his now wife had the baby together. .

His wife was one of the office affairs!

Bob

[jellyben]

Originally Posted by cminmd

A single adult had sex with another single adult co worker? Hardly a shock.
.

But it wasn't a co-worker, it was a subordinate. Letterman is the boss. Not sure how I feel about the whole thing until more is known, but isn't a boss having sex with an employee a pretty big no-no?

In the grand scheme of things this seems pretty minor on the celebrity sex-scandal list.

[Mpenny1001]

I don't care who sleeps with who, unless I happen to be one of the people involved. In terms of the whole situation, I'm not surprised the blackmail attempt didn't work. It's not as though Letterman has ever held himself up as a particularly moral guy, or has a job that depends on his image as a wholesame, monogamous role model. If I were a blackmailer, I certainly wouldn't have picked Letterman to extort for this particular issue.

[TieKitty]

I saw last night's show and it seemed to me that the audience wasn't aware of the extortion plot at the time. Given Letterman's flippant statement I can see why people laughed. They probably thought it was a joke and were waiting for the punchline.

[cminmd]

I don't think even the blackmailer was insinuating that their was any element of coercion in the affairs. Also, just because he is the celebrity, doesn't make him everyones boss. The lady involved with the blackmailer worked for the production end of the business. She left and worked for another TV show, then came back to work for Letterman.
My aunt and her husband met at a CPA firm where she was a partner and he a junior associate. She "outranked" him, but that doesn't make her his boss.

[KristiB]

I don't care about any of these people and their lives.

[bobmark226]

Originally Posted by KristiB

I don't care about any of these people and their lives.

Can we throw Jon & Kate in there too?

Bob

[BucknellAlum]

I agree with everyone who said the remorse, etc is between him and his wife. I just thought it was unusual to come out with this confession and then not publicly give lip service to apologizing to the wife. If his wife was one of the staffers, then I wonder when these affairs took place? I read he has been with his wife since 1986 or something.

I also think the extorter is slimy. Even if Letterman was coercing the women (which I doubt) or commiting sexual harrassment, it's no business of his (the extorter) to get involved in that way!

And I don't think he should be fired - entertainers do all sorts of other questionable things without getting fired. It's not as if he is being held up as a paragon of virtue anyway.

I guess I'm just curious why he gave it airtime? Was he concerned that since he went before the grand jury it was now going to come out in the tabloids, so he thought he'd get ahead of the story and possibly defuse it?

[KristiB]

Ughhh!! I haven't seen the Goslin show yet I know far too much about them just from hearing people talk and from standing in line at the grocery store and looking at tabloid covers.

[bobmark226]

Originally Posted by BucknellAlum

I guess I'm just curious why he gave it airtime? Was he concerned that since he went before the grand jury it was now going to come out in the tabloids, so he thought he'd get ahead of the story and possibly defuse it?

To defuse the situation on his own terms with his audience, which he apparently did successfully. He took away the shock value of it appearing in the press first. (I think Letterman is bigger than the tabloids.)

Why would he take an amused tone? Well, there's a certain irony that this behavior in others (politicians) is fodder for his own material. Credit him with using that irony in his own situation.

(BTW, I'm not especially a fan.)

Bob

[wallycat]

I skimmed the comments...here's mine.

People are clearly bored or think "movie-stars" have better lives than us plain folk.
WHO GIVES A RIP about peoples' sexual escapades.
If you are a willing participant in something, that is YOUR business. Keep it to yourself.
Of course if job security or promotion are involved and there is discrimination, that is totally different.
If 100 consenting adults want to "do it," I really don't care.

I have had my share of fun and it was my choice what I did and with whom.
Married people need to consider THEIR OWN FAMILY first...do not expect someone OUTSIDE your family to tell you NO if you can't keep it in your pants. Figure out your issues.
and make sure you don't share it with the world

[Jazzmatazz49]

I don't watch Letterman, but while watching the clips on TV, I felt uncomfortable for his wife that people were laughing. He did say it in a way that sounded like he thought it was a joke, but still...

[TKay]

I didn't see anything but the very brief clip of his admission. But as a long-time Letterman fan, I will point out that he has said time and time again, he wasn't a good husband the first time he was married and he didn't think he'd make a good husband again. I'm not sure what specifically he was referring to, of course, but he has never professed to be anything but a faulted human being. I took his admission to be nothing more than it was. He was communicating to his audience in the way that he knows best. He was also beating his accuser to the punch. I think the audience's laughter had to do more with what people above have pointed out. They were expecting a joke. I didn't find Letterman's tone to be too flip at all. It was self-deprecation, something he does on a regular basis.

[FLFlygirl]

I had Letterman on a couple of flights many years ago.
Not a pleasant experience. At.All. Haven't liked him since.

Having said that, I sure wouldn't want MY business all over the street. So I feel for him there.

[Kay Henderson]

I appreciate the fact that Letterman refused to be blackmailed and involved the police who to set up a sting to catch the perpetrator. It is going to be a tragedy for the producer and his family, but making an example of him will hopefully discourage at least a few folks from trying this nonsense.

Kay

[bobmark226]

Originally Posted by Kay Henderson

It is going to be a tragedy for the producer and his family

Especially for his ex-wife who was collecting $6K+ alimony a month, now that he's out of a job!

Bob