HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Paul Shaffer is speaking out for the first time on the $2 million extortion scandal involving his longtime TV sidekick David Letterman.
"Dave is my close and dear friend and there is nobody like him," the 59-year-old "Late Show" bandleader tells Entertainment Tonight. "There's nobody that I respect more."
"48 Hours" producer Robert "Joe" Halderman is accused of seeking $2 million from the "Late Show" host in exchange for not going public with Letterman's sexual relationships with staff members. Shaffer said he was advised not to comment on the situation since it was an ongoing legal matter, but he did recall how his boss pushed him into marrying his wife of 19 years, Cathy Vasapoli.
"We dated a long time before I actually gave in to the fact, and submitted to the fact, that this was the girl for me," recalls Shaffer, who discusses Letterman's influence in his new memoir, We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga. "Until that time, Cathy and I were on-again, off again."
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