Letterman Extortionist Gets State Paid Vacation

New York - Robert Halderman, the former “48 Hours” CBS producer who attempted to derail David Letterman's career, will be spending more than 48 hours in the pokey – six months to be exact.  He was sentenced in a Manhattan courthouse today after having pled guilty to trying to extort $2 million from the talk show host in exchange for his silence over his affairs with staffers. Letterman, no stranger to embarrassment (see: Oscar hosting gig), went public with the plot. 

One of the women Letterman is alleged to have been having an affair with is Halderman’s ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Birkitt.  It is unclear whether she was “ex” before or after the shady producer read her diary and found out about the affair.  Her taste in men, however, remains suspect.

A “Late Show” staffer, who asked not to be named, said, “Well, I’m glad Halderman fessed up and did the right thing, but the whole plot seemed ridiculous to me.  We’ve certainly had plenty of women on staff in recent years, but they sure as hell weren’t hired as writers, so this is supposed to be a shocking scandal?   Rob will definitely have an easier time making friends where he’s going, compared to the prison that Dave’s been in the last six months and he's not coming up for parole any time soon, either.”