Joan Ball is a business professor at St. John’s University in New York and the author of Flirting with Faith: My Spiritual Journey from Atheism to a Faith-Filled Life.
By now you’ve probably heard: David Letterman’s been the victim of a blackmail attempt to extort $ 2 million to keep quiet about sexual affairs he had with female staffers. Instead, Letterman chose to go on the air and, well, air his dirty laundry before the blackmailer could.
Watch a clip here:
Amazingly, his audience seemed to laugh along with him, even cheer at times, though perhaps they simply didn’t know what to make of what he was telling them.
Personally, I always thought the guy was a bit of a lech and a creep, and I haven’t found his show funny since back in the days when he used to dress up in Velcro suits and fling himself at Velcro walls. There’s always been something derogatory in the way he leers at women, the way he speaks of his wife (and of avoiding marriage as long as he could), and I feel sorry for her being dragged through the mud along with these other women who will now surely also find themselves in the spotlight.
I’m not suggesting he ought to have paid the blackmail to keep his ‘creepy’ misdeeds quiet–blackmail is no better than infidelity–but I am saying, I think the guy ought to have considered his public position, his wife’s feelings, and the staffers as well before his own desires. Why did he have to go public about this? I suppose news of the arrest would have hit the news at some point, and Letterman was hoping to get out ahead of it. Still, I hope this decision to defuse the blackmailer’s threats publicly was made in consultation with his family as well as the women with whom he had the affairs (it’s not clear when he slept with them, whether before or after he finally married his girlfriend of 2 decades, Regina Lasko, though I’m not sure that would ameliorate any moral ugliness here).
Will the network keep him on? Almost certainly–he’s suddenly kicking Leno’s ass. Will you keep watching? I won’t… but then, I found him unfunny before. Now I just find him unsavory as well.
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posted October 2, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Right on! He’s been unfunny for a long time. Now he’s unfunny and unsavory!
posted October 2, 2009 at 1:44 pm
He is a creep and I feel sorry for his family and child, who he is only “trying to protect.”
He is a pig and I find it ironic that and poetic justice that his karma is coming back to bite him on the ass.
posted October 2, 2009 at 3:08 pm
i think he did the right thing by speaking out first and by reporting it to authorities. as far as his personal life and values, he is no different from so many other men in power. men get away with this behavior because women allow it. the women he was involved with knew he was married. should they also bear the responsibility? or do we let them go a ‘victims’?
posted October 2, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Whether you realize it or not, men still control the halls of power; men make more money and hold more positions of power across the board. Lettermen set the tone of his work place and it was abusive for him to have sexual relationships with employees. Letterman had authority over these women, he even held the key to whether or not they succeeded in their job and that is a great deal of power. These woman might have been ambitious, or just desperate to support their families, who knows? Letterman is obviously a narcissist who thinks people are disposable and can be treated as objects to gratify his personal needs and is so arrogant he goes on Television and tosses off a confession so he can get back to the business of making money. Letterman set in motion a lot of pain and psychological damage that resulted in an extortion threat. Power abuse and raw ambition at the expense of your neighbors should be seen for what they are, a form of evil.
posted October 2, 2009 at 3:50 pm
David is the victim here, perhaps you should display some sympathy.
He never stood in public and proclaimed ‘family values’, he’s an entertainer for heaven’s sake. He was blackmailed and humilliated. For whatever wrong, he and his family doesn’t deserve judgement on high from the public for what is essentially a very private matter between adults.
And of course, the women he slept with are blamess girl-women unable to tell right from wrong in a big bad world run by evil sex crazed men. So much for responsibility…
posted October 2, 2009 at 3:51 pm
David is the victim here, perhaps you should display some sympathy.
He never stood in public and proclaimed ‘family values’, he’s an entertainer for heaven’s sake. He was blackmailed and humilliated. For whatever wrong, he and his family doesn’t deserve judgement on high from the public for what is essentially a very private matter between adults.
And of course, the women he slept with are blamess girl-women unable to tell right from wrong in a big bad world run by evil sex crazed men. So much for responsibility…
posted October 2, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Sorry my comment was posted twice… Some screen refresh issue…
posted October 2, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I think he’s beating Conan’s ratings these days. Leno’s not hosting that slot anymore. But aside from that, the fact is that this was a personal matter between him, his family, and these women he slept with. He brought it forward before prosecutors do. I don’t find him leering or creepy at all, but I am a fan so there’s that. I also think that aside from his snarky-old-man persona which he has actually lightened up on since having a kid, judging him pre-Harry and post-Harry, he’s always been a guy who shoots straight from the hip and calls it like it is.
He has also been notorious for being a private person who does not go on other shows to talk about his own life. He’s kept his marriage and relationship with his girlfriend/wife out of the limelight as much as he can – and I admire that. If he’s had affairs (which I’m sure he has – he says so himself!), I’d bet anyone a million dollars that his girlfriend/wife has been aware of them. Who says they don’t have an open relationship? Or maybe before they finally wed? Who knows? Nobody really knows what goes on behind closed doors in one’s relationship. I think it was a good, positive move on his part to just admit it all because someone called him on it. Now he can get on with his life and so can everyone else.
posted October 2, 2009 at 9:07 pm
My nights of watching DL are over. That was TOO-MUCH-INFORMATION!
posted October 2, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Creep with no class.
posted October 3, 2009 at 7:36 pm
He has been a rejected weather reporter for many years in Indianpolis, IN.
His education is marginal, his military experience is NADA, his humor is
borderline ridiculous, his morals are questionable, he has a very low rating
as far as TV hosts, plus contributing very little if anything to the betterment
of this country, it’s outlook, and hopes for the future!
Letterman………… A COMPLETE JOKE……I WOULDN’T WATCH HIS SHOW OR HIS
VIEWPOINTS IN THE PAPER SINCE MY PET BIRDS REFUSED TO HAVE HIS PAPERS,
OUTLOOKS, COMMENTS, OR PERFORANCE, FOR THEIR DROPPINGS.
WHAT A YO YO!!! Suggestion……..get a real job and contribute to the welfare
of this country instead of poor taste, and, truly worrying about QUITE OBVIOUSLY
your “inferior complex”!!!!!
I feel more than confident he would have real problems in truly having a female
who wanted him for just himself versus just what the hell he could do for them
outside of the TV Studio.
Get a life ding dong and gain some self respect. WE DON’T NEED PEOPLE SUCH
AS THIS!!!
Signed…………..
Tell it as it is!!!!
posted October 4, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Might there not be an ethical question in deciding whether you can judge someone as creepy without knowing the facts as you admittedly do not?
posted November 4, 2009 at 12:18 pm
There are no excuses for such bad behavior! Regardless of his intentions to excuse himself by comming clean. His format for his show offers no one any positive feelings. I used to tune in a few years ago……….. However he has now established himself as mud slinger creep! Laughter can be healing…….taking part in negative humour leads one to guilty by association and a clone of David Letterman
posted November 13, 2010 at 11:46 am
Letterman is lucky that that CBS producer didn’t kick the crap out of him. Look at all of the facts and you’ll realize what a repugnant slimeball he is. Have you noticed that all of a sudden, he’s Mr. Family Man, referencing his wife and kid and their family outings? Family didn’t seem to matter to him a short time ago when he was having his cake and eating it. And by the way “Dave,” start showing W a bit more respect. Your snide comments notwithstanding, you’ll never be as big a man as he is.