A CBS "48 Hours" producer was arrested Thursday for allegedly demanding $2 million from David Letterman in return for keeping quiet about the late night host's sexual affairs with female staffers, authorities said.
Robert "Joe" Halderman, 51, was charged with attempted grand larceny after threatening Letterman, the host of "The Late Show with David Letterman," with writing a screenplay and book about his relationships.
CBS said they had suspended Halderman Thursday. He is expected to be arraigned at Manhattan Criminal Court Friday.
Letterman alternated between humor and earnestness while retelling the story to a confused audience during the Thursday taping of his show. He admitted to having had affairs with women on his staff and having testified before a grand jury.
"My response is that, yes, I have" had sex with female staffers, he told the audience. "Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would — especially for the women."
The extortion began three weeks ago when Letterman found a package saying "I know that you do some terrible, terrible things" in the backseat of his car, he said.
"At six o'clock in the morning all you can think is every terrible thing you've ever done in your life," he said.
Letterman contacted Halderman after consulting with his lawyer and the Manhattan District Attorney's office and presented him with a fake check.
He joked that he tried to sell Halderman on accepting a giant check, like the ones from Golf tournaments.
An arrest warrant for Halderman revealed a screenplay treatment on a man referred to as "Client 1", reports MyFoxNY. Notes for a book referred to: "Client 1's great personal success and loving son."
Halderman apparently found out about Letterman's affairs from a woman he dated who had previously had a relationship with the comic, reports the New York Post.
A "Late Show" staffer, Stephanie Birkitt recently ended a relationship with Halderman, according to the Post.
Letterman emphasized how frightening he found the experience and thanked the District Attorney's office for their help.
"I feel like I need to protect these people — I need to certainly protect my family," he said.
Letterman married his girlfriend of 20 years, Regina Lasko, in March. The couple have a son, Harry, born in 2003. Lasko and Letterman met when she worked as an assistant on his show in 1986.
The affair Halderman referred to happened before the birth of Letterman's son.
Letterman was previously targeted by Margaret Ray, a Connecticut woman who stole Letterman's Porsche in the late 80s and claimed to be his wife when she was stopped by police.
Ray served several months in jail after she camped out on the tennis courts on Letterman's Connecticut estate and was later arrested near his mother, Dorothy Mengering's home in Indiana.
Ray committed suicide in 1998 by kneeling in front of a train in Colorado. At the time Letterman called her death a "sad end to a confusing life."
In 2005, a Montana handyman was sentenced to 10 years in prison for plotting to kidnap Letterman's son and au pair in exchange for $10 million ransom.
