Robert Joel Halderman, the CBS News producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman, made a plea deal today that landed him 6 months in Jail time, 1000 hours of community service and 4 1/2 years probation. Also as part of the deal Halderman must stay away from Letterman for 5 years.
Admitting to attempted grand larceny, Halderman, said he wanted to “put the ordeal behind him” even though his attorney said all along the case would go to trial.
Halderman’s former girlfriend was Letterman’s assistant and apparently his secret lover too, a relationship that made Halderman furious. He then concocting a plan to get even with Letterman by exposing him as a lecher. Halderman contacted Letterman threatening to release a screenplay that depicted the Late Night host in numerous compromising situations, sexual situations. He also wanted $2 million dollars.
On Tuesday night, Letterman said on air that the ordeal had made him feel “full of anxiety and nervous and worried.” He then thanked the district attorney’s office and New York Police Department for handling the matter “professionally, skillfully and appropriately.”
Okay, so we know David Letterman is getting some serious criticism right now! But hey, he’s a player and well, sometimes players pay! Let’s face it, Dave puts on a good show and in the end it’s all about the entertainment.
This photo of the hot boys was taken on top of NYC’s Ed Sullivan theater. There is something I love about David Letterman and Regis Philbin when they are together. It’s like a crush I have on the duo. I just love em’ together!!!!! Great photo!
Britney Spears is set to appear on the David Letterman show tonight, Tuesday! Britney will be reading off the ‘Top Ten’ list for the show. Watch at 11:35 p.m. PT/ET.
Wonder if she has any other things planned while visiting the show. A surprise performance? Pleaseeee!!!
Britney, Madonna and Drew Barrymore are always the best on David Letterman!
Who would have thunk it? Jay Leno is out and Conan O’Brien is in. NBC had big hopes, ratings wise for Conan, however it is David Letterman that is winning the viewer-ship war.
Early on in the fight, yes, yet very telling ratings as Letterman whips Conan in the fight pulling in 800,000 more viewers than Tonight Show newcomer Conan.
Right now, there seems to be some kind of disconnect with Conan sitting at that desk. Maybe it’s the fact that Conan had to move his operation from fast moving New York City to laidback Southern California and it seems that laidback vibe of So Cal that has negatively embraced Conan.
I’ve seen both shows recently and I think I know how to help Conan, “Turn up the fun!” Conan needs to bring more of what made his own late, late night show a hit, more skits, skits, skits and maybe a Starbucks on the set.
David Letterman has beatenConan O’Brien in the ratings again. Last week, The Late Show with David Letterman beat The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brienby more than 800,000 viewers. This is Letterman’s best run since 2000 when he recovered from heart surgery. He’s had a great guest list, including Sacha Baron Cohen and, most recently, Paul McCartney. Also, his publicized feud with Gov. Sarah Palin boosted his ratings even more. Things have really been going well for Mr. Letterman.
Not that Conan’s doing poorly. He is well-received by the critics and seems to be keeping his fanbase intact. Indeed, Conan is cleaning up when it comes to the coveted 18-49 age demographic. That means that while my dad watches Letterman, I’m watching Conan. As we all know, advertisers are constantly aiming to attract young viewers so NBC is quite happy with Conan’s ratings. Of course, I’m sure they’d like to be number one.
A little late night competition never hurt anybody. For viewers, it’s a win-win either way. David Letterman is hilarious and an obvious influence on Conan O’Brien, who delivers great comedy night after night. As a late night viewer, I’m happy with both shows. We can all exist in harmony! Still, it’s fascinating to watch this little back and forth ratings battle.
Former Beatles member Paul McCartney returned to the theater that change his life last night, performing atop the famous Ed Sullivan Theater. Paul was a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman where he talked about that iconic performance 45 years ago. You know, that little performance that altered popular music forever.
“Just the memory of being here was great…it was kind of scary the first time,” McCartney said. You better believe it was scary; 70 million people watched The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
Paul also talked about the late Michael Jackson. He even talked about the oft-discussed Jackson purchase of Paul’s music. He said the two were very close but “…it actually kind of fell apart a little bit later because he was talking to me and asking my business advice, and one of the things I said to him was, ‘Think about getting into music publishing.’ And he looked at me, and I thought he was joking, he said, ‘I’m going to get yours.’” Ouch.
McCartney then performed on top of the marquee of the theater. Crowds gathered below as Paul performed a couple songs on the show and then more after the cameras stopped rolling. Truly an awesome musical experience.
“Fire Dave! Fire Dave!” the crowd of about 50 protesters chanted as Letterman fans filtered into the Ed Sullivan Theater for the show’s taping today.
“I hope to have him see the light,” said demonstrator Josephine Sarnok, 59, of Newark. “I think it was over the line.”
BettyJean Kling, 61, accused Letterman of using the Alaska governor’s family to boost his ratings. She stood by a large plywood sign with the words “Fire the pervert” spray-painted across the front.
The demonstration was today, following the accepted apology from Letterman to Palin that was said on the Late Show last night.
David Letterman has officially and undoubtedly apologized to Gov. Sarah Palin regarding the controversial joke he made about Palin’s daughter.
On tonight’s episode, Letterman will reportedly say he is sorry “to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke.” Letterman will also say that he confused the two Palin daughters and should have stuck with making fun of Rudy Guiliani instead.
“I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception,” Letterman will say.
As we all know, Letterman made an off-color joke a couple weeks ago about Sarah Palin visiting New York with her daughter and her daughter promptly getting impregnated by Yankee’s slugger AlexRodriguez. The joke caused outrage for many on the right and created a small media firestorm. However, this looks like it’s the end of it for now.
King of all media, Howard Stern, made an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman last night and spent a good amount of time trashing Letterman’s former rival, Jay Leno. Calling him a “robot”, Stern said that he never liked Leno and didn’t seem too big a fan of Leno’s replacement, Conan O’Brien.
Letterman tried his best to keep out of the one-sided argument but thanked Stern for his loyalty. You can watch the entire video segment here and judge for yourself if Stern went too far. This is Howard Stern we’re talking about, however, so remember that his boundaries aren’t like yours and mine.
An interesting note though: Stern noted that he had been told last night’s episode was expected to beat O’Brien in the ratings. That would put Letterman ahead of The Tonight Show for the first time in something like fifteen years. We’ll see if it all panned out like planned.
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