Anyone else think there's more to the David Letterman thing? i.e. the mother of his son?

[cbdo2007]

I haven't seen many stories in the news mention this, though some have hinted or alluded that there may be something. They all seem to agree on one thing though, that the relationship which spawned the "extortion plot" was with his former assistant Stephanie Birkett that ended when she gave birth to his son.

Uh...the relationship conveniently ended with the birth of his son? Could he have gotten Stephanie pregnant by accident and she gave birth but he made her give it up? Could he have gotten her pregnant on purpose, as an agreement with her to give a child to him and his wife?

The "extortion plot" MUST have been more about him having sex with his assistant(s) as they were two consenting adults, so there is NO WAY this info could have been worth $2 Million. Instead, I think the guy found out that Stephanie had little Harry and was wanting to blow the roof off of the whole story.

After all, it said he had written screen plays and stuff about this and had found evidence...really, like most of our reaction has been, who cares if he had sex with her? What kind of incredible screenplay is that? But that he got her pregnant??? Awww, now that's more interesting. That's a bigger scandal that he could have thought was worth $2 Million.

Just remember on issues like this, Letterman is seen as admirable for bringing this to light on his own accord, which could just mean that he's copping to the easiest part so that nobody digs any deeper.

[HipChick]

1. they are both consenting adults...why do we have the right to know about their sex life?

[question everything]

4. When one of them is the boss, that "consenting" is not a real one

If a boss goes around picking women employees as if he is a medieval King "deflowering" virgin brides, this means harassment and the Supreme Court ruled about it.

Some CEOs had to resign for a similar relations with "consenting" subordinates.

[BlooInBloo]

9. Yes, clearly she was raped.

[glinda]

11. No one said he did that.....

[HipChick]

17. ever heard of star struck female? groupie?

I witness a young female come into our workplace, and throw herself at the boss for a year...he finally caved in, and left a 18yr marriage..women aren't so innocent either...

[question everything]

22. No, they are not. This is why he is the boss

and should deflect such throwing, moving them to different departments, if necessary.

[Kalyke]

29. He "caved in".

Really, now?

He could have resisted. Period. He "caved in" because the woman was younger and slimmer than the "
older" model at home.

Ridiculous.

(It's your wording I object to, not you. He didn't "cave in," he ruined his wife's life and the lives of any children they had, is what he did.)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

34. Do we know what his relationship with his wife is or what it was when they were living

together? I have no idea, do you? So far, the two women coming out in the open with their affairs with him, had them prior to his son being born and well before his marriage. Obviously he cares enough about the older "model" to have married her.

BTW...he only has one child

[aquart]

19. Bull shit.

You really do think women are idiots.

[saracat]

25. Well, Steph is now a lawyer, she can sue him if she wants. But it appears she really is quite fond

of Dave and has said so in the years since she worked for him.She wasn't a cjhild and they were both single.They remain friends. this didn't sound like harrassment to me, though the thought crossed my mind when the story broke.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

33. And where are the sexual harassment suits? It all depends on the boss and on the

employee. You are assuming that he's being predatory and you don't have a clue about what really went on, as I don't.

I had an affair with a boss and it had nothing to do with power or his marking his territory, etc. It was about mutual attraction. It didn't last long but I worked with him and remained friends with him for years.

[question everything]

37. Would you have had an affair were he not your boss?

Can you honestly say that his power and station in life were not a contributor?

Kissinger was right - power is a strong aphrodisiac, whether you admit it or not.

You don't have to have an open harassment to create a hostile work environment. How, do you think, did your co-workers feel when they realize - yes, they knew - that you were having an affair with the boss? It create a toxic environment where other women feel that you get all the plum jobs or that, when there is a downturn, your job is safer because of the affair.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

39. And what didn't you understand when I said

'it had nothing to do with power or his marking his territory, etc. It was about mutual attraction.'?
As to my fellow employees? I had great relationships with All of them.

[Skip Intro]

26. And that's all there is to it. No one has the right to judge here. nt

[WorseBeforeBetter]

2. You have a bit of a hard-on for Letterman, don't you?

This is reaching Yukon Barbie/Trig silliness.

[Common Sense Party]

21. Exactly. I guess Letterman nuttiness will have to tide us over until

Palin's book comes out.

[Avalux]

3. Wow. LOL. n/t

[KT2000]

5. No

the more to this story is coming from Halderman's attorneys.

[pnwmom]

6. Regina is the mother of his son, not Stephanie. n/t

[cliffordu]

7. Who really gives a rat's ass??

Besides you, I mean.

[XOKCowboy]

20. Amen to that. Another Letterman thread to hide....

[Garbo 2004]

8. It's Letterman. Not the grassy knoll. nt

[upi402]

10. is Letterman gonna give me Medical Insurance? A 40 hr job?

if not, I'm not worried about it. he probably wont give anybody I know sex for that matter either.

Letterman ridiculed Dukakis and Mondale. He touted Bush 1 and loved Clitnot's NAFTA crap. I used to get frustrated w/ him so stopped watching.

[blogslut]

12. Actually

The truth is that Dave is not human. He is a visitor from the planet Pantaloon, disguised as a homely yet tall comedian from the midwest. His parents found the wreckage of his ship on their cornfield. While Dave disguise is very convincing, there are two Pantaloonian features he is incapable of concealing: The gap teeth and goofy hair. He was sent here in a pant-shaped escape pod by his parents, Adele and Fred Astaire. Pantaloon had suffered a cataclysmic overload of a substance toxic to Pantaloonians - the mineral Idiotron. You'll notice that Dave becomes testy and impatient whenever he is exposed to Idiotron. (This is another clue to his other-worldy origin).

Joe Halderman discovered this when he was living with Dave's former romantic interest, Stephanie Birkitt. Being an honorable man, Halderman stole dairy pages and photographs from Ms. Birkitt. Halderman simply wanted the world to know that aliens had invaded Earth in the form of goofy-haired, gap-toothed comedians. Naturally, we can't expect Mr. Halderman to go unrewarded for his brave, brave efforts. It's perfectly understandable that he would attempt to extort money from Mr. Letterman because that's what honorable men like Halderman do - steal their girlfriend's personal possessions, use them to extort money and write screenplays about it.

Meanwhile, who knows that dangers await us as long as the Idiotron levels on Earth remain unchecked?

Stay tuned...

[marew]

13. We have more important things to think about.

Most of us could not care less!

[question everything]

23. Yes and no

It has been almost 20 years since Anita Hill caused many of us to take a look at the work environment. What many of us thought were just harmless flirts were, in fact, a form of harassment.

Especially with so many losing their jobs every day, with employers using the economic conditions to get rid of "troubled" employees, of older, higher paid ones, this could be an excuse.

I am not saying that Letterman fired or threatened to fire any woman who said NO, but we really don't know how many women did lose their jobs because they did not respond to "harmless flirt."

Men - and women - in a controlling position should not have an affair with a subordinate. Period.

[alarimer]

30. If there was any quid pro quo involved, it is harassment

"Sleep with me or I'll fire you", that sort of thing.

Too many people (even here) thing sexual harassment is a-ok. You know, "boys will be boys" or whatever. It can potentially create a hostile workplace, which nobody can seriously really want, can they? Certain things are always, without exception, WRONG in the workplace: dirty jokes, porn (unless I guess you are in that business), naughty pictures, comments about appearances (positive or otherwise), etc. Of course there are other forms of workplace harassment: ethnic jokes or comments, etc.

I think sleeping with your boss, coworkers, or people you supervise, need to be on the forbidden list. It is just pretty fucking stupid at best and actionable at worst. In a non-showbiz world, he would and should be fired.

[question everything]

31. I am sure that there never was a quid pro quo. Not outright.

But it can always be implied. Would they sleep with "Dave" if he were not the boss? Would women in the workforce sleep with any "Dave" if he is not in a supervisory position?

Yes, I agree with you. Sleeping with your boss, co-workers, even customers and suppliers should be forbidden. This is why many places prohibit any office romance and others draw the line when there is a supervisory relations. And, too often, when one of them has to leave the job, it is the woman.

It is really sad that in a supposedly progressive place like DU, people do not see it this way. Wonder what they would have said about Clarence Thomas pointing to Anita Hill that here was a pubic hair on his Coke can, especially if Thomas were a liberal judge.

[emulatorloo]

32. Pubic hair on Coke Cans and Long Dong Silver references are not "harmless flirts" and never were

You seem to be making a lot of baseless assumptions about Letterman when you try to equate him with Clarence THomas.

[cbdo2007]

35. this does seem like quite a stretch

[honkydonkey]

14. blah

This ranks right up there with Jon and Kate for me. I honestly don't care. There's bigger fish to fry.

[eShirl]

15. Had a lot of coffee tonight?

damn

[TreasonousBastard]

16. At birth I was endowed with 12 quarts of outrage and...

6 gallons of give-a-shit.

I am now down to several teaspoons of each, and prefer not to use them on Letterman.

[aquart]

18. What is that disgusting sewer smell?

It's not coming from Letterman.

[saracat]

24. No. But it did occur to me that Regina also worked for the show and

would also have been one of the women he was involved with.It could have been Steph and Regina. It could have been that he didn't what compromising photos of his now wife released.the idea of "getting Steph pregnant deliberately" is absurd. David's wife is much younger than he is and likely could have had her own child. David likely did not want to be married , nor did his wife.They were together for 23 year and didn't marry till the child was six years old. Gimme a break.

[SoCalDem]

27. I think Regina may have decided that remaining childless was a threat to her

and once Harry was on the way, the affair with Stephanie ended.

Regina was "Stephanie" in the mid 80's, and may have seen her as a potential "replacement" for her, at some point. Perhaps Harry was the "glue" that kept Dave close to home and reassessing his future, as family-man Dave:)

[Obamanaut]

28. Bill and Hillary had problems that should have been kept out of the

press as none of our business. John and Elizabeth, not our business. Letterman the same.

Get a hobby.

[CBGLuthier]

36. MYOB that's my advice

or MYOFB for the hard of comprehending.

[ShortnFiery]

38. Seriously? I could care less.

:eyes: