The Misleading Coverage Of David Letterman’s Extortion Case

Thus far Stephanie Birkitt, former Letterman staffer and onetime girlfriend of alleged extortioner Robert Halderman, seems to be bearing the brunt of of all this shock and awe. Again you’d be forgiven for assuming, based on the headlines, that Birkett was actually knowingly involved in the extortion case against Letterman. In fact, as far as we know, Birkett had nothing to do with it and is apparently mortified that Halderman has allegedly used her diaries and correspondence to extort her old boss.

So yes, slightly less tawdry and dramatic than the coverage might lead you to believe — except of course the part where someone tried to extort Letterman for $2 million, which is tawdry and dramatic but sort of seems to be getting lost in the mix.

Does any of this actually matter? Thus far, not so much. Granted the story is still in its early stages; as noted we have yet to actually hear from any of the women allegedly involved, though no doubt Stephanie Birkitt is currently fielding a lot of offers. Also, it’s the weekend, and the tabloids and the talk shows have pretty much had free rein to run rampant, come Monday Letterman has a pretty powerful platform from which to comment on all this, and as he’s demonstrated he’s not afraid to use it.