US talk show host David Letterman said on his show on Thursday that he had been the victim of an extortion attempt over charges of sexual affairs with staff members, claims that he conceded were true.
Letterman said on The Late Show, on CBS, that he had been approached by a person who wanted US$2 million not to go public with information that Letterman had been in sexual relationships with women who work on his show.
Letterman said that he had testified before a grand jury and had admitted to the relationships.
“My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would,” he said on the show. “I feel like I need to protect these people. I need to certainly protect my family.”
In March, Letterman, 62, married his longtime girlfriend, Regina Lasko, whom he had been dating for two decades. They have a son, now six.
In outlining to his audience what had taken place Letterman said that three weeks ago, he received a package from a person who claimed to have information about the relationships. He said he contacted the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
In the course of the investigation, Letterman was asked to write what he called a fake check for US$2 million. The suspect in the case was arrested on Thursday.
In a statement late on Thursday night, CBS said the suspect was an employee of the CBS news program 48 Hours and was arrested on charges of attempted grand larceny.
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