A former TV producer pressured by debt and riven by jealousy admitted on Tuesday he tried to extract vengeance by extorting money from David Letterman in a case that bared the late-night talk show host’s affairs with staffers.
Robert “Joe” Halderman pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny, acknowledging he tried to chisel US$2 million from the TV show host. He threatened to destroy Letterman’s reputation by airing his workplace dalliances, using information authorities have said he mined from a former girlfriend’s diary.
The plea deal by Halderman spares him a potential 15 years in prison had he been convicted. The 52-year-old is due instead to get a six-month jail sentence and 1,000 hours of community service.
The plea deal also spares Letterman the prospect of a trial that could have put his private life on display, though the comedian masterfully defused much of Halderman’s potential bombshell last fall by revealing that he had slept with women on his staff.
Under the deal, Halderman must give prosecutors all copies of any diary entries, photos, screenplay notes or other materials he has concerning Letterman and must agree never to reveal the contents.
The case at first dealt a blow to Letterman’s nice-guy image. Even he described his office affairs as “creepy” as he stunned viewers with an Oct. 1 monologue that disclosed the liaisons and the blackmail plot.
Letterman married longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko last year.
Halderman apologized to the host of the Late Show as he spelled out the details of his crime in a Manhattan court, reading a prepared statement at first so quickly that the judge asked him to slow down.
“I attempted to extort US$2 million from David Letterman by threatening to disclose personal and private information about him, whether true or false,” he said.
Halderman acknowledged delivering the threat to Letterman’s driver, in the form of a screenplay outline, or treatment.
“This so-called treatment was just a thinly veiled threat to ruin Mr Letterman if he did not pay me a lot of money,” Halderman said.
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