Staff Reporter
In the wake of David Letterman's on-air admission that he had affairs with more than one of his staffers, media attention has shifted to one of the late-night TV host's purported mistresses and his alleged blackmailer.
CBS News employee Robert J. Halderman pleaded not guilty Friday to trying to blackmail Letterman for $2 million (U.S.) as he was arraigned in a Manhattan court on one count of attempted first-degree grand larceny, punishable by five to 15 years.
Assistant District Attorney Judy Salwen told the judge Halderman was in debt. "The evidence is compelling," she said. "It shows the defendant is desperate, and he is capable of doing anything."
Halderman, hands cuffed, stared at the floor during most of the hearing and said only, "Not guilty."
It was the latest in a story that has garnered Letterman both support and condemnation since the late-night talk show host admitted on Thursday's show that he had affairs with several colleagues.
Bob Reid, chief media strategist with the Toronto-based Veritas Communications, said Letterman handled the situation masterfully.
"He's been bang-on in his approach," Reid said.
"He was forthright, he was honest about what he's been up to, he was a little blunt at times and, in that traditional Dave way, he was self-deprecating. He also showed candour and sensitivity to the other people involved, including the women and his family members. It was absolutely the right way to handle it."
The revelations set off a tidal wave of news coverage in the U.S. on Friday, when Halderman was indicted.
But for all the noise, Letterman wisely got ahead of the story.
"He knew it was going to become public and it was going to be big," Reid said.
"The decision he had to make was: 'How much of a role do I play in it? Do I say nothing? Do I pass it off as a private matter? Or do I get out in front of it and be the lead voice in my own story?' Which is what he ended up doing, and that was absolutely the right move to make."
Michael Levine, a veteran Hollywood publicist, echoed Reid: Letterman's approach was perfect.
"It was very important for him to get on offence, because nothing in this world is private any longer," said Levine.
"We're just living in a very different kind of world today than 10 or 20 years ago. And so I think the best defence is an offence, and the only offence is relentless."
Like Letterman, Halderman works for the CBS television network. He is a highly regarded journalist known for his war reporting and was working on the reality-based cop show, 48 Hours Mystery.
His lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said Halderman worked at CBS for 27 years and had no prior criminal record.
He described him as an involved father, who coached soccer, baseball and football for his two children, ages 11 and 18.
"This story is far more complicated than what you heard this afternoon," Shargel said outside court.
Halderman was released Friday on $200,000 bail.
The TV producer earned about $214,000 in 2007. He was ordered in 2007 to pay his ex-wife $6,800 per month in child and spousal support until May 2011, when the payments will be reduced to $5,966 until May 2014, according to papers filed in Stamford Superior Court.
Public records show that until August, Halderman lived in Norwalk, Conn., with Stephanie Birkitt, a 34-year-old woman who works on the Late Show and used to work at 48 Hours Mystery.
TMZ.com reported that Birkitt and Letterman had an affair that ended in 2003. Halderman may have used some of Birkitt's belongings, including her diary, as blackmail material.
Birkitt was a former personal assistant to Letterman and frequently appeared in comedy skits on the show. Last month, she moved to Manhattan's Upper West Side. There was no answer Friday at a phone listed in her name.
Videos of her cameos circulated widely on the Internet as the curious sought glimpses of her.
It was unclear how many women were involved in relationships with Letterman. All of the affairs took place before Letterman's marriage, said Tom Keaney, spokesman for Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants.
Keaney also said Letterman "is not in violation" of the company's harassment policy "and no one has ever raised a complaint against him."
Letterman, 62, was married in March to Regina Lasko, his companion of 23 years. They have a 5-year-old son.
The bizarre case created a messy legal and professional problem for one of CBS's most valuable personalities. Commentators and bloggers accused Letterman of hypocrisy because he has made a career of mocking politicians mercilessly for their sexual transgressions.
But from a business perspective, Letterman's confessions on Thursday's show were an immediate success: His overnight ratings were up 38 per cent over the same night a week ago, the Nielsen Co. said.
Advertisers spent $145.2 million on the show from January through June this year, according to TNS Media Intelligence, and appear to be holding firm behind the host.
Letterman has taken over as the king of late-night in the ratings this summer, and last week he beat NBC's Conan O'Brien for the first time among young viewers.
With files from The Canadian Press
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