Things That Go Pop!

As long as the sexual relations were with a consenting adult and there was no champagne and quaaludes involved, who gives a f___?

Go Dave. I think that is what Bill Clinton may be pondering this moment too.

I thought Letterman handled that realty well. He was open, honest, admitted to the allegations and managed to make it funny at the same time. I think people have more of a problem with celebrities, politicians, athletes etc. lying about affairs than with the affair itself. Good for Dave for admitted it. It takes a big person to do that.

So David Letterman had "sexual affairs on air"? Or do you mean that "he came clean, on air, about his sexual affairs"?

As media, your writers should, at least, communicate clearly! ( The English language is not that difficult.)

Good for him. Nothing creepier than somebody trying to mess you up like that.

There's definitely a sexual harassment/abuse of power issue at play here. Letterman is a powerful media figure, and sleeping with employees is always problematic, but particularly so for someone like him who could make or break the career of a young woman in his employ.

That said, without knowing more about the character of these relationships and how they came about it is too soon to judge.

Someone at NBC needs to find out (and not necessarily make public): Who were these women? What happened to their careers? What about the women (and men) who didn't sleep with Dave? Were they passed up for promotions? Did they get smaller raises?

In many companies, a superior found sleeping with subordinates would be disciplined or fired. I doubt anything like that will happen to Dave, but that's not necessarily right.

Wow. The first workplace in the world where co-workers are having sex!

Not only is he a stand-up comedian...he is a stand-up fellow!

You showed class Letterman, protected what needed to be protected...stood tall and refused to let a "creature" rule your life.

Miss Chriss

An incredible moment of honesty from a funny but human man. He addressed this issue very well and I'm glad that he sought the help of the courts.

Only in North America would something like that even make news! So what? I just dont care! why do people care? If everyone who ever had sex with a coworker had a blackmail letter in the back of their car, we'd all be reading one and laughing at it. In other countries this stuff just doesnt matter. Why? Because most of the world has figured that for your lawyer to do his job as a lawyer he doesn’t have to be a saint in the sack. Or for your engineers to their job correctly they dont have to be monogamous or sexually sanctioned by whatever moral you think is acceptable. It just has no bearing on your ability to do your job. Only politicians and popular figures have to worry about such a thing, even though it still has nothing to do with their job description. What lettermen does in private with his pants down, should stay in the private and out of my news feed. It’s amazing how long it has taken me to find the Parliament’s voting results on a possible ELECTION IN CANADA! And meanwhile I've bumped into this story 3 times already. Go quality news!

Oh for pete's sake. Who cares?

As far as I'm concerned David Letterman has handled this situation most appropriately. I suspect that the action he took will deter others who are or have been contimplating such devious endevours.

I'm not saying I approve of his antics but I respect that they are in regard to his personal life choices and nobodies business but his and those involved (including his partner/wife).

Regardless, I wll certainly continue to watch his show.

Letterman is a blackmailer's worst nightmare! I am very impressed.

Way to man up Dave! Good for you!

Miss Chriss wrote:

"Not only is he a stand-up comedian...he is a stand-up fellow"

yeah... a 'stand up fellow' who cheated on his wife multiple times with multiple women

Well said John Osterman and Nima. I agree with both your comments. I am fed up with trash on what should be a quality source of information. I wish I could opt out of paying any of tax dollars to CBC until it cleans up its act.

LOL...why do we care? Because it is going to make for some really funny jokes!

I wonder if he would have ever came clean like he did if someone wasn't trying to blackmail him.

Good for him for nipping the blackmail plot in the bud but come on people. The man is a cheater, and thats pretty disrespectful thing to do. Not to mention his kids will have to grow up know that if they ever get in a insult duel with someone they'll lose cause someone can always say, well least my dad didn't go on tv to let everyone know hes a dirty cheater.

What this apology really was really Dave choosing his money over respect for his family.

Nima:

I live in the UK - it was news here too.
And David Letterman isn't even shown here on basic channels!

She shoots! He Scores!

At least the ladies in his office believe he's sponge worthy.

I agree with DanD. NBC has some investigating to do about sexual harassment in the workplace.

Letterman was protecting his own butt by this monologue - financially and career-wise. I don't think he deserves much of the praise he's received in these comments. "I'll be darned Dave's had sex" got some chuckles, but what about "Dave's had sex with a number of women who are/were employed/promoted, or whatever, because of him; and he is married with children".

It would be nice to have confidence that people you trust and admire do the right thing, however we hope Dave with his on air revelations that he has revealed all. He has been quite gritty to bear all?? and he has great concern for those involved and others.
The NBC man should be dealt with and dealing through the authorities was correct in every way. I am sure we have not heard all, but trust Dave has been fully honest. In life the cardinal rule is never give at the office as you keep it straight, no pun intended.

Well orchestrated confession by PR spin doctors to limit any additional fallout from others who may want to cash in. He had a long term relationship with someone on the show (not sure of the name - Marilyn Marco??)before his current wife.

Everyone has skeletons in their closets!

Uhm... Dave letterman has been broadcasting on CBS since the early 90's. Not quite sure why "the NBC man" needs to get involved.

Personally Letterman is such a weasel I almost wish someone had gotten away with blackmailing him.

Although it's rather embarassing to disclose your sexual activities, there's nothing illegal or shameful in what Letterman has done. He wasn't married at the time so there's no infidelity. Nor have any female employees complained about sexual harassment at work by him. There's nothing that says he can't have sexual relationships with female staff in those circumstances. We don't like to talk about it but that doens't mean it's wrong.

As for the alleged extortionsit, he's an idiot.

It makes sense that Letterman would take the initiative away from the blackmailer by making the disclosure himself. Why on his show?

The audience listened to his explanation assuming that he was performing. It wasn't until after he had finished, that the seriousness registered with viewers, which affected the rest of the program. Letterman was clearly distracted, and viewers were too.

Commitment to matrimonial fidelity is an issue between Dave and his wife but extortion is a crime and dealing with the threat by making a personal confession takes courage. I admire Dave for that and hope he's able to sort any resulting marriage issues out.

I'm surprised how many people are saying "not a big deal." I guess adultery isn't that big of a deal in society anymore. I feel sorry for his wife and kids.
I respect him that he is coming clean with this. Not sure if he would have ever come out with this if it wasn't for the blackmail threat though.

This guy is truly not professional.

Nobody gets hurt.eh!

Some blogs are either naive or in denial!

I can't believe the comments. You guys are praising the guy for being clean and saying "so what he had an affair". The guy would've kept this quite and from his wife for years, had not this come out. He made a joke of the whole thing. What ever happened to the commitment between husband and wife?

Those of you who are criticising Letterman for "sexually harassing" the women involved are assuming that they were incapable of deciding for themselves whether to enter into the relationship or not.

Believe it or not, it is possible for an intelligent woman to decide to have an affair with someone higher up in the company, even the Big Boss.

It's also entirely possible that THEY pursued HIM and talked him into it.

The fact is, we don't know. Yet you're assuming that the women were incapable of thinking for themselves and must have been dominated by an evil man. Why are you so sexist?

Wait for the facts, please.

The man makes a joke about having an affair! This is made as normal nowadays. MMMMM, wonder why our kids are so messed up.

What I love the best is that you linked to a pirated copy of copyright material. Granted you aren't hosting it but really. Excellent work, perhaps CBC you might consider a little more effort on the reporting and a little less on the copy and paste.

So Dave takes advantage of his celebrity status to get some, by taking advantage of one or more women much less wealthy and powerful than he is, and he's even able to dodge the not unexpected repurcussions of a woman scorned. As for his long-time partner, who cares what she feels?

Wow. What a hero. I stopped watching his self-absorbed self a long time ago.

Let's see how soon he gets another female guest who believes in gender equity.

Dan in Calgary

Probably just a lead-in to yet another brain dead reality show.

"I was screwed by Letterman" or "I did 'em all, short and tall" by D. Letterman.

Vintage Letterman. An amazing human, warts and all.

Letterman is my hero. The best, always will be.

David Letterman exposed the blackmail attempt simply because he thinks he can get away with his sexual misadventures.

It's unfortunate there are so many childish people who have nothing better to do with their time than to watch this egotistical clown make fun of other people for a living. David Letterman is a symbol of the corrupt morals and hubris that is destroying America.

Leave Dave alone.Who,in his right frame of mind wouldn't want to tap an intern.

Who cares?!! I can't believe the press this is getting. I am truly suspicous that this is just another desparate ratings-booster attempt. Just like Jay Leno's first guest on his new show was amazingly Kanye West after West's idiotic demonstration at the Much Music awards.
Any publicity is free publicity...and no doubt people will watch and boost viewership.

"yeah... a 'stand up fellow' who cheated on his wife multiple times with multiple women"
Cheated on his girlfriend.
Worldwide Pants announced earlier that the affairs happened before he was married. It sounds like this wasn't a big secret and also that his now-wife probably knew before they got married and they got past his infidelities.

DanD and Janice, why does NBC have to investigate anything? His show is made by Worldwide Pants Inc. and aired on CBS. NBC has nothing to do with it.

Was it wrong for Letterman to cheat on his then-girlfriend? Yes. Is it our business? No. Does it change how funny he is? No. When there are people like Polanski in Hollywood and others defending him because he made some good movies, it seems odd to focus your rage on Letterman.

Good for Mr. Letterman. Why should anyone be embarrassed to discuss their sexual affairs? What I love most is how this scumbag tried to extort Mr. Letterman on something he thought was embarrassing. The poor idiot did not realize that having sexual affairs is nothing to be ashamed of. However, blackmailing IS something to be ashamed of. Now he'll pay the consequences.

David Letterman...sex machine...
who knew?...lol

Consider it a public service announcement for how to handle blackmail - the truth shall set you free in more ways than one. Not only did Letterman expose the scum that lurked within the corridors of CBS, but his straight shooting approach also lifts some of the weight of his own baggage. I hope some take strength from this very public confession and resolve not to be victims to similar extortion attempts.

It's amazing how many people continue to attack Dave for committing adultery, no matter how many times others point out that he was not married at the time and so was NOT committing adultery. It says a lot about the way some people rush to judgement. Apparently, they're in such a rush that they can't bother checking details like "was he married or not".

Sex happens to everybody. If you don't know the details of the people involved or their circumstances, your opinion is worth exactly 1 data point in 6.67 billion (the population of the planet).

good mr. letterman...

It doesn't bother me that he screwed around on his girlfriend, that's between the two of them. However what bothers me is him having relations with someone with whom he has a position of power over such as an employee or intern. There is an inherent coercive nature to it and could be illegal if he in any way pressured an employee to have sex with him.

So he is a cheating pig too, makes you wonder about these so called celebrities, I pity his family, maybe she will leave him and find a real man.. if you think about it though, someone must have been pretty hard up to make it with him (no offense to his better half), barf.

I thought what David did was brilliant. He took the wind out of everyone's sails. Including the other late night jocks....who made comments but not very funny ones.
I've always thought Letterman a classy guy...and it's really no one's business what he does in his personal life. Of course if there was coercion involved with the female[s]
in question that's another story but until that becomes a fact then it's between him and those involved.
He's broken no laws. He entertains me. He's an intelligent man...I'll still watch.

Nima, you sure have a lot to say about something you don't care about.

Honestly, it is non of our business, at least that is what I think. However if he cheated with his wife, that I guess he will lose credibility. You should not commit adultery regardless who you are. I was surprised by it for sure, I did not see him to be like that.

letterman