X17 News

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Robert "Joe" Halderman, an Emmy Award-winning CBS producer who worked for 48 Hours has been arrested for trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman over sexual affairs the late night host had with female employees.

Halderman was taken into police custody yesterday by two plain-clothes police officers outside of the CBS studio in New York City on charges of attempted grand larceny. Halderman threatened to write a screenplay that would reveal Letterman's conquests, and he left left a package with a letter in Letterman's car demanding $2 million.

On The Late Show last night Letterman told his audience that when he got in his car three weeks ago, he found a package with a letter saying, "I know that you do some terrible, terrible things and that I can prove you do some terrible things." Letterman said, "At 6 in the morning, all you can think about is every terrible thing you've ever done in your entire life...If you know me, I am motivated by guilt. I am just a towering mass of Lutheran, Midwestern guilt...So I get to the office and I say to myself, 'I hate doing things like this, but maybe I'll call my attorney.'"

Click here to watch David Letterman talk about the incident on last night's Late Show

Letterman called his lawyer to set up a meeting with Halderman, and after two meetings took place, a check was delivered. "I was worried for myself, I was worried for my family," the late night host said. "I felt menaced by this, and I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done. The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. My response to that is yes, I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Yes, it would, especially for the women."

Click here for all of X17online's David Letterman stories

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Though it was previously revealed that David Letterman's extortionist, Robert Halderman was the jilted ex-lover of the woman Letterman was allegedly having an affair with, it looks like the comedian is focusing more on himself and less on the fact that he cheated on his poor wife.

Though Dave apologized to his wife on The Late Show last night, he also took a few minutes to play his own pity card. "I wasn't going to talk about it anymore but it seemed like people wanted to talk about it. When you're blackmailed, its a crime and you're a victim - it's felony extortion." Dave continued, "It's a nasty thing to do to people," and he kept using the word "victim" in reference to himself.

Click here to see X17online's gallery of Dave and his wife Regina

"It's fall here in New York City, and I spent the whole weekend raking my hate mail. It's cold, too - chilly outside, chilly inside my house," he continued. "This is only phase one of the scandal. Phase two: Next week I go on Oprah and sob."

Click here for all of X17online's David Letterman stories

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - One of the very few female writers on the staff of Late Night With David Letterman revealed the reason she quit the talk show almost two decades ago was because of the sexually charged atmosphere.

Nell Scovell wouldn't name names or dates in her piece for Vanity Fair, but she says what led her to ultimate quit her "dream job" after less than a season was because she felt the affairs Dave and other high-level male execs were having with female employees created a "hostile work environment."

"Was I aware of the rumor that Dave was having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Was I aware that other high-level male employees were having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Did these female staffers have access to information and wield power disproportionate to their job titles? Yes. Did that create a hostile work environment? Yes. Did I believe these female staffers were benefiting professionally from their personal relationships? Yes. Did that make me feel demeaned? Completely. Did I say anything at the time? Sadly, no."

Nell said the her last day on the show, Dave, who never hit on her, summoned her to his office to ask why she was leaving. "I considered telling him the truth, but with Dave’s rumored mistress within earshot, I balked. Instead, I told him I missed L.A. Dave said, 'You’re welcome back anytime.'”

CLICK HERE to see all of X17online's David Letterman stories

MANHATTAN, New York (X17online) - David Letterman has created his own record label called Clear Entertainment Music.

The late night talk show host has already signed the Huntington Beach pop punk band Runner Runner to his C.E. Music Label. The band will be releasing their debut album this summer, but fans can already hear their first single, So Obvious, on MySpace.

Clear Entertainment Music is a venture under Letterman's Worldwide Pants, Inc., and is in partnership with Capital Records and MRV Alliance.

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno keeps widening the ratings gap between The Late Show with David Letterman.

This past week, the Tonight Show averaging 1.29 million viewers secured a 41% margin lead over The Late Show who pulled in 914,000 viewers. For the past 22 weeks, Leno has held on to the top spot.

Back on March 1, Leno came back to host The Tonight Show after NBC's failed experiment with The Jay Leno Show at 10pm. Conan O'Brien, who had replaced Leno for a short time before being let go, has since moved his late-night show to TBS on cable.

MANHATTAN, New York (X17online) - David Letterman's blackmailer, Robert "Joe" Halderman, has been freed from jail after serving only four months of his six-month sentence.

The former 48 Hours producer pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny. Halderman had demanded $2 million from Letterman in hush money.

Reports claim that Halderman was released early from the Rikers Island jail complex for good behavior.

Halderman, 52, must still complete 1,000 hours of community service.

NEW YORK, New York (X17online) - David Letterman has received a death threat on Shumukh-al-Islam, a message board frequented by members of Al-Qaeda.

Taking offense to jokes that Letterman made about Osama bin Laden and Ilyas Kashmiri, an accused Al-Qaeda leader who was killed in June, the commenter called on readers to “cut the tongue of this lowly Jew and shut it forever.” It should be noted, however, that Letterman is not Jewish.

The New York Police Department and the FBI are investigating the threat.

This is not the first time that death threats have been made against media personalities on the message board; most recently, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were threatened after depicting Muhammad in a bear suit.