Tabloid Frenzy Didn’t ‘Occur’ To Letterman? Did Dave Just Move To NYC?

by Glynnis MacNicol | 9:10 am, October 6th, 2009

Last night, after a weekend of being battered by the press, David Letterman apologized on air to both his wife and his staff. Was it sincere? You can watch here and decide for yourself. Here’s what struck me as utterly insincere and unbelievable: that he didn’t see it coming.

And it did not occur to me last week when I was discussing having had sex with women who worked on this show, that then what would happen is reporters and newspaper people and radio and TV would start hounding the staff and saying, ‘What do you say, are you, and this and that.’ It was very, very unpleasant and I would just like to set the record straight, no, I’m not having sex with these women, those episodes are in the past.

Really? Really it did not occur to him that the tabloids would have a field day with this story and do their best to dig up all parties involved? Come on. Did David Letterman just move to New York City? Was this past weekend his first encounter with the morning newsstand tabloids? I’ve never met David Letterman but I’m pretty confident that the answer to both questions is no. A big resounding no.

This story arrived straight out of central tabloid casting; no matter how upset or distracted Letterman was — and no doubt he was both — the man has too much media savvy not to know better. You don’t announce multi-million dollar extortion sex scandal on a national television program in the manner in which he did without some forethought. Anyway, the question now is how many more days can the papers stretch this story out as cover material (we’re currently on day five – gallery below) and how completely will Stephanie Birkitt’s life be ruined before a) this is over, or b) she pens a book deal to turn those infamous diaries into a proper book?

The Five Day Arc of a Tabloid Scandal – Day One

nyp1002 gal_frontpage_1002

NEXT: The Five Day Arc of a Tabloid Scandal – Day Two

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

share this post

filed under

cbs, Dave Letterman, David Letterman, David Letterman Affairs, David Letterman scandal, David Letterman sex with staffers, Joe Halderman, Late Show WIth David Letterman, Robert J. Halderman, Robert Joel Halderman, Stephanie Birkitt

2 comments

Gianrico says:

October 6, 2009 at 10:44 am

Reading day one to five in the tabloids, one would be hard put to discern what crime was alleged. The meat of the story should be the alleged attempt at extortion. The private affairs of D. Letterman other than with Ms. Bitkitt are irrelevant to the story. The “media” is focused on titillating and appealing to the prurient interests of it’s readers, benefiting financially from such and trying to bring down another celebrity with ostensibly lurid tales of an out of control sexual appetite. The reporting of the whole episode is more of a scandal. It’s an indictment of low journalistic integrity on the “media”.

Magister says:

October 6, 2009 at 2:15 pm

I really don’t see how Ms. Birkitt can go back to work.

First of all, there’s the fact that if she steps back into the vicinity of the Ed Sullivan theater unless Dave hires Blackwater for her protection, she’d be victimized by one hell of a scrum. Not to mention that if she could get into the building, it was her former boyfriend that has caused all the trouble. I’m sure Dave can easily forgive her for her boyfriend’s crimes, but this whole media frenzy is another matter, altogether.

I really don’t see how she’ll be able to function as Dave’s assistant, after all is said and done. Not only will there be possible resentment on his behalf, but the rest of the staff has been besieged and what is she going to do, place phone calls using her real name?

@Gianrico: Judging from comments around the blogosphere, it looks like Day 5 is when the public’s patience starts to run out. After another couple of days and barring an actual lawsuit, the story should be relegated to the back burners. IMHO.

If you would like to comment, please login or register:

» Login » Register

» Or connect with your Facebook account:

CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin: Supreme Court Will Not Overrule ‘Deem and Pass’

by Frances Martel | 5:44 pm, Friday

video

Bad news for Republicans should they be counting on using the Supreme Court as a last resort to block the Senate health care reform bill. Jeffrey Toobin visited Rick Sanchez today to talk about the chances of success Republicans will have if they try to legally oppose a "deem and pass" vote that would indirectly put the bill on the President's desk, and he didn't waste any time in telling the GOP that, quite simply, it's not going to happen.

» 9 comments

CNN’s John King, USA Premieres On Web With Rehearsal Show

by Steve Krakauer | 4:47 pm, Friday

video

There are two very distinct things to note about the way CNN has introduced the upcoming 7pmET show John King, USA to its audience - the show itself and the way it happened. John King hosted a trial run of the program today on CNN.com/live, which gave a sneak peek at what the show will be, but also gave viewers a chance to give their take on the first look.

» more inside

More TV headlines: