David Letterman’s On-Air Apology: “Terribly Sorry” To Staff, Wife

David Letterman returned to tape a live show today — his first after his on-air mea culpa on Thursday night wherein he revealed that he had been the victim of a $2 million extortion attempt over multiple affairs he’d had with female staff members. Letterman, who initially said he did not “plan to say much much more on this,” came out tonight with an on-air apology to his staff members — many of whom were blindsided by his shocking announcement — and his wife, Regina Lasko. The full statement, from Gossip Cop:

“I’m terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position. Inadvertently, I just wasn’t thinking ahead. And, moreover, the staff here has been wonderfully supportive to me, not just through this furor, but through all the years that we’ve been on television and especially all the years here at CBS, so, again, my thanks to the staff for, once again, putting up with something stupid I’ve gotten myself involved in.

“Now the other thing is my wife, Regina. She has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it’s your responsibility, you try to fix it. And at that point, there’s only two things that can happen: either you’re going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you’re going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me.”

When you consider that “I have had sex with women who work for me on this show” was just the beginning, that makes sense.

Letterman’s Late Show is on tonight at 11:35 pm; on the upside, expect huge ratings.

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David Letterman’s Apology today to his staff and wife [Gossip Cop]
Letterman Apologizes to His Wife and Staff [NYT]