EON

Letterman’s Late Night Mixed Blessings

It has been a year of mixed blessings for David Letterman. The good news is that for the first time in years, “The Late Show” has managed to edge out the competition for the top spot in late night TV. The bad news, however, is that this surge in popularity has come with an unusual amount of ugly controversy for the late night host.

The first major flap involved a joke about one of former governor Sarah Palin’s daughters. The sketchy joke drew much criticism, leading to multiple on air apologies of varying sincerity. Though that hubbub has died down, Letterman announced a more recent kerfuffle that is far more personal.

According to “The Late Show” host, he was the victim of an extortion plot, which stemmed from a number of affairs Letterman admits to engaging in with various Late Show staff. Refusing to give in to the demands, Letterman instead worked with the district attorney’s office to trap the perpetrator of the crime. Letterman recently gave a testimony to the grand jury in regards to the case.

Letterman came clean about the entire episode on air this week, confessing both to the affairs as well as to his role in bringing the suspect to justice. CBS later confirmed that the accused perpetrator was an employee of the network who worked for “48 Hours,” and who has since been suspended. Some sources within the network have suggested that the accused is Robert Halderman, an award winning director for “48 Hours.”