Letterman Reveals Extortion Attempt Over Office Sex

In a highly unusual moment during the taping of last night’s Late Show, David Letterman confessed to his studio audience that he had had sexual flings with female staffers on the show, and that they had become the basis for a $2 million extortion attempt by a CBS news producer. The alleged con man, identified by police as Robert Halderman, an Emmy Award winner for work on 48 Hours, was arrested yesterday, the Daily News reports. At one point, Letterman met with him under police surveillance and gave him a fake $2 million check.

Letterman told his audience, who seemed unsure whether it was a joke at first, that he found a package in his car with incriminating information several weeks ago and went to police. He later testified before a grand jury. “Would it be embarrassing if it were made public?" he said to the audience. "Perhaps it would. I feel like I need to protect these people—I need to certainly protect my family.” Letterman has been with Regina Lasko since 1986, and married to her since March, Variety notes. (More David Letterman stories.)