NEW YORK — Whoops!
It turns out Lindsay Lohan was never really booked to read the Top Ten list on Thursday's Late Show with David Letterman after all. That's because the show supposedly got punked by a fake rep for the starlet.
NEW YORK — Whoops!
It turns out Lindsay Lohan was never really booked to read the Top Ten list on Thursday's Late Show with David Letterman after all. That's because the show supposedly got punked by a fake rep for the starlet.
NEW YORK — Joaquin Phoenix returned to the Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday night, his first visit since an awkward appearance last year that turned out to be an act for his new movie.
NEW YORK — Robert "Joe" Halderman, the man accused of trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted grand larceny in a Manhattan courtroom.
NEW YORK — Robert "Joe" Halderman, the man accused of trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman, is seeking to have his case dismissed on the grounds that he was only trying to sell the late-night host a screenplay.
"There was no extortion. There was a screenplay for sale," Halderman's attorney, Gerald Shargel, told reporters outside court Tuesday. "This was a commercial transaction. Nothing more."
Shargel's comments came after he asked a judge to toss the attempted first-degree grand larceny case against the former 48 Hours producer. The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Jan. 19.
The scandal began when Halderman allegedly delivered a package to Letterman on Sept. 9 at 6 a.m., demanding a "large chunk of money" because he knew about the host having sexual relationships with female members of his Late Show staff.
Letterman responded by immediately contacting his attorney, who in turn met Halderman at the Essex House hotel on Sept. 15. At the meeting, Halderman allegedly attempted to blackmail the star in exchange for keeping quiet.
Last month, Halderman posted $200,000 bail and was released from custody after pleading not guilty to the charge. If convicted, the 51-year-old Emmy winner faces up to 15 years in prison.
Letterman revealed the alleged scheme during an Oct. 1 broadcast, calling the situation a "very bizarre experience."
"This morning, I did something I've never done in my life," said Letterman. "I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury."
"I was worried for myself, I was worried for my family," he continued. "I felt menaced by this, and I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done ... The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would."
Prosecutors contend that Halderman is in debt and likely hatched the plan to escape financial troubles. Court records reveal that he is on the hook for $6,800 a month in child and spousal support to his ex-wife, Patty Montet, with whom he has two children, ages 11 and 18.
"It's classic blackmail, no matter how Mr. Halderman's lawyer wants to dress it up," Letterman attorney Daniel J. Horwitz said outside court.
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — New details are emerging about the letters at the center of David Letterman's extortion scandal.
According to New York's Daily News, the diary kept by Stephanie Birkitt had juicy enough details to convince Robert "Joe" Halderman that Letterman was having an affair with his then girlfriend.
LOS ANGELES — A jealous boyfriend led to a plot for revenge against David Letterman, according to new details in the "Late Show" host's extortion scandal.
Sources tell the New York Post that Letterman's ongoing affair with Stephanie Birkitt led to her live-in boyfriend, "48 Hours" producer Robert "Joe" Halderman, seeking to get even with the TV star. Birkitt, a former "Late Show" staff member, allegedly kept a diary that contained details of her ongoing sexual relationship with Letterman, which Halderman first read in December.
Up until then, Halderman was under the impression that Letterman and Birkitt were simply good friends. In fact, at least once a week Letterman would give Birkitt a ride to the Norwalk, Conn. home she shared with Halderman, who divorced his wife in 2004.
According to the Post, the secret lovers also went hiking together last fall at Letterman's expansive Montana ranch, the same site of his March wedding to longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko.
Letterman also allegedly offered Birkitt a job as his "personal lawyer" after she graduated from Benjamin Cardozo Law School in June 2008. Halderman often worried about the close-knit friends, but Birkitt would ensure her boyfriend that it was simply "a platonic relationship," a source said.
Halderman pleaded not guilty Friday to a felony charge of attempted grand larceny. On Monday, his attorney, Gerald Shargel, told Ann Curry on the "Today Show" that the public shouldn't rush to judgement in the case.
"I look forward to cross-examining David Letterman," said Shargel. "If you only hear David Letterman's side of the story, take it at face value and say, 'Turn off the sets, that Halderman's guilty' — I think that's plain wrong."
NEW YORK — David Letterman apologized to his wife Regina Lasko on Monday's "Late Show" — his first program since admitting to being the victim of a $2 million extortion plot centered around his sexual relationships with staff members.
"She has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it's your responsibility, you try to fix it," the 62-year-old host told his studio audience. "At that point, there's only two things that can happen: Either you're going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you're going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me."
Making his first appearance since he dropped the sex scandal bombshell on Thursday's "Late Show," Letterman also acknowledged the impact on both his current and former staff members.
"I'm terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position. Inadvertently, I just wasn't thinking ahead," he said. "And, moreover, the staff here has been wonderfully supportive to me, not just through this furor, but through all the years that we've been on television and especially all the years here at CBS, so, again, my thanks to the staff for, once again, putting up with something stupid I've gotten myself involved in."
Letterman mixed in his trademark humor throughout the night, at one point saying: "This is only phase one of the scandal. Phase two: Next week I go on 'Oprah' and sob."
Letterman's guests also got into the action, with Steve Martin remarking: "It proves that you're a human being. And we weren't really that sure before."
Martin later found fellow guest Martin Short plopping onto his lap, which allowed Letterman to poke fun at his situation.
"You spend one more minute on his lap, you're gonna get blackmailed," he quipped.
LOS ANGELES — The attorney for the "48 Hours" producer accused of trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman is anxious to go head-to-head with the "Late Show" host.
"I look forward to cross-examining David Letterman," Gerald Shargel, the lawyer for Robert "Joe" Halderman, told Ann Curry during an interview on Monday's "Today Show." "If you only hear David Letterman's side of the story, take it at face value and say, 'Turn off the sets, that Halderman's guilty' — I think that's plain wrong."
Halderman pleaded not guilty Friday to a felony charge of attempted grand larceny after Letterman shocked viewers one night earlier by disclosing the scheme. Prosecutors claim that Halderman blackmailed the TV star in September by threatening to go public with information about Letterman having sex with members of his staff. The 62-year-old host admitted to the sexual flings on a platform that Shargel contends offered a distorted view of the facts.
"The public should not rush to judgment. The public should not simply take the word of David Letterman," said Shargel, who believes the prosecution's case against Halderman "makes absolutely no sense."
The interview then got a bit heated when Curry noted that Shargel now had a public forum of his own to defend his client.
"You know what? David didn't give his side of the story," the attorney replied. "David Letterman said what he wanted the public to know, he wanted to get out ahead of the story, and that's exactly what he did."
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LOS ANGELES — A former intern who worked for David Letterman nearly two decades ago claims the pair once enjoyed their own special bond.
Holly Hester, who worked alongside Letterman in the early '90s, tells TMZ that the now 62-year-old host secretly asked her out to the movies one day.
"I was madly in love with him at the time," recalls Hester, a producer who has since worked on such shows as "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." "I would have married him. He was hilarious."
The NYU grad says the relationship eventually fizzled out, with Letterman ending things due to the couple's age difference.
Last Thursday, Letterman revealed that he was the victim of a $2 million extortion scheme as the result of a sexual relationship he had with a member of his staff. "48 Hours" producer Robert "Joe" Halderman was arrested in the plot, having since pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of attempted grand larceny.
Stephanie Birkitt, 34, another former intern of Letterman's, has been identified as the woman at the center of the scandal, according to a search warrant obtained by Fox 5 News.
During his on-air confession, Letterman admitted to having several affairs, most likely while he was dating his longtime girlfriend and now wife, Regina Lasko, who he married in March. Another former staffer tells the Daily News that Letterman kept a secret bedroom above his set in the Ed Sullivan Theater, an area dubbed "the bunker" that was reserved for his favorite young female employees.
"He doesn't have to come out," one staffer says. "He has a suite upstairs."
NEW YORK — "48 Hours" producer Robert "Joe" Halderman has posted bail after pleading not guilty Friday to an extortion plot against David Letterman.
Halderman, 52, posted the $200,000 bail and was released from custody after his not guilty plea to a felony charge of attempted grand larceny, the Associated Press reports.
Prosecutors claim that Halderman blackmailed the TV host in September by threatening to go public with information about Letterman having sex with "Late Show" staff members. He allegedly demanded $2 million in order to remain silent.
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