Last night on the Late Show with David Letterman everybody's favourite talk show host candidly admitted to his audience that he had sexual affairs with his female CBS staffers and faced a $2 million extortion threat as a consequence.
Three weeks ago Letterman found a package in the back of his car, compiled by the suspected blackmail containing 'evidence' which could morally incriminate Letterman over perpetrated acts of adultery. The blackmailer threatened he would write a screenplay about Letterman and his sexual liaisons unless he agreed to pay him a bartering chip of $2 million to keep his silence.
Letterman immediately enlisted in the help of Manhattan District Attorney's Special Prosecution Bureau, participating in a 'sting' operation where he sent a 'phony' cheque to the blackmailer. An arrest was made on Thursday 1 October 2009.
In a testimony Letterman said "This morning, I did something I've never done in my life. I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury".
Acknowledging his sexual encounters he said "My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would."
He was motivated to testify because he felt "I need to protect these people - I need to certainly protect my family".
Letterman and Regina Lasko were married in March this year, but have been dating since 1988 and have a son, Harry, who was born in 2003.