I’m usually the last person to hear about pop culture scandals and other news I can’t use. When Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson and VH-1 reality contestant “Punk” had a baby last month, I was shocked. When I watched this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, I wondered who the heck is this stringy-looking British guy hosting the show. But, there was no missing the story of today.
As soon as I opened my morning Huffington Post, the headline and video about David Letterman’s admission to having sex with his staffers—and I wonder how many staffers—were billboard-sized images on my computer. As a new fan of CBS’ The Good Wife, I could not help but find the rich irony of Letterman’s confession. CBS now has two highly rated shows that center around sex scandals.
Apparently, Letterman chose to come clean about the affairs with multiple staffers because a producer from another CBS television show, 48 Hours, threatened to publicize his exploits if he was not paid $2 million. Somehow, this producer—who works on a show that covers stories with legal angles—didn’t realize that his sleazy attempt to extort money from Letterman went way beyond employee misconduct but would be frowned upon as illegal by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
As an employment attorney, I can tell you which department at CBS will probably be working this weekend—the legal department. I will bet that this morning the Viacom/CBS legal department is running around feverishly trying to create some semblance of damage control. Do they have a situation of quid pro quo sexual harassment on their hands where staffers felt that if they did for Mr. Letterman, Mr. Letterman would do for them? Even worse, was there a culture where any producer, executive or any person with some clout pressured staffers to feel that the only way to get ahead—or keep their jobs—was to sleep their way to the top? Or, were the affairs consensual? If CBS is smart, they will conduct a full-scale investigation where everyone will be asked about what happened. Oh, the folks at CBS have some explaining to do.
Yet, while we wait for more facts, it is still curious how powerful men who fall from grace morph themselves into pathetic and sympathetic creatures. Usually, it’s a politician who says he’s sorry during a televised press conference, where he is flanked by his wife and a U.S. flag. In Letterman’s case, he used his television show as his platform.
During these moments of apologies and admissions, these men somehow attempt to get the public to forget the arrogance that brought them to point that they had to apologize. It is arrogant to cheat on your wife and think that you are above getting caught. It is arrogance that drives a man to flirt with and eventually have sex with his employee. And yes, it is arrogance that makes a man ignore the embarrassment that his children will endure due to his sexual indiscretions. The real victims in this sordid story are Letterman’s wife, son, and maybe even the staffers. They are the collateral damage.
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Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
Seriously, though, great post. I agree with you completley.
I do not know enough yet, personally, to go at the guy.
Men are essentially stupid beings that spend the bulk of their time trying to overcome their limitations. Sometimes, our limitations overcome us. Letterman just got served - by himself.
(1) I didn't think Letterman liked sex. How did I get this impression? I have no idea. I also had the idea he might be bad in bed. Again, how do I know this? I dunno, but according to the book I'm reading now, Malcolm Gladwell's BLINK, I must learn to honor my intuitive knowledge. Hence, this post.
But of course, the staffers who had sex with Letterman probably weren't doing it because they thought he was a sex God, maybe they just did it out out of curiosity -- ha ha ha ha!
2. Of all the people who would be fingerpointed as extortionists, I never even in my wildest dreams would have come up with "48 Hours Producer." So that goes to show how bad my intuitive knowledge is. I clearly need to finish reading Malcolm Gladwell's BLINK.
I would like to hear all the facts, but I question whether the people that work with letterman can be seen as "employees". letterman is not really the boss, he's just the highest paid guy on the team. everyone, yes, even including him, is a slave to the corporate Man.
Otherwise, if everybody involved was a consenting adult, it's his wife's business and none of ours.
I know the audience was caught flatfooted by the way Dave told the story, but I wonder how many of them now wish they hadn't clapped when Dave said, "Yes, I did have sex with women on the staff"? I sure hope that it turns out he just used poor judgement as opposed to being a creep who used his power to an unfair advantage.
vzn,
Letterman is the owner of Worldwide Pants, the company that produces the show and a few other shows. Even if he wasn't, pretty much anyone on that staff would be unceremoniously dismissed at his say-so. By your logic, a mid-level manager couldn't be charged with harassment because he's just an employee and not the CEO. Anyone who has the power to hire, fire, promote or reassign can abuse it and needs to be held liable if they do.
Mainly, we don't know the facts and they really aren't any of our business either.
Additionally, he has his own company, Worldwide Pants. So CBS isn't going to have to do anything legal about this except about their 48 hours producer who was charged with a crime. And I can just bet anyone will ever want to work with that turkey again.
He's a talk show host, people. All I want from him, and I hardly ever want even this after 30 years, is a funny monologue, a decent Top Ten list and a little witty banter with whatever brain dead star is promoting his/her crap movie.
I think that if he had been sexually harrassing staff members, some enterprising individual would have signed a book deal and made millions long ago.
Will Americans never stop going bonkers about the sex lives of public figures, especially of the extra-marital variety ? It is immaterial to the person's job performance and just plain boring.
Likewise, Ms Holder-Winfield, as an employment lawyer you understandably focus on the workplace legal implications of the case of David Letterman's liaisons with women who worked for him. As of yet, I know of no charges brought against Mr Letterman in regard to these relationships. It is a huge leap to view his actions as predatory or "pathetic."
To suddenly view any relationship of two coworkers as amoral and inappropriate is ridiculous. The Obamas met on the job. Is Michelle predatory because she was in a position of seniority over Barack when they worked together?
Letterman's wife and son are only "collateral damage" if the coverage of this case focuses on them. So let's leave them out of it, please.
He's dated his now-wife off and on for many years. I dare she she knows him better than any of us, and in the end, she married him. I highly doubt she is collateral "damage". His son is 6 years old. I don't envision him being "damaged" in the future by this. And to assume his employees, of whom he has gainfully employed 100's over the years, are collateral damge with absolutely no evidence of that, is just well, someone looking for a hot-button topic for a post.
When did this country get so uptight about normal human relations that have been going on forever?
I came back because I read this same blog on HuffPo. I guess we won't be hearing back from Ms Winfield in these comments. Ironic that I gace up commenting on ALL other sites because there is no feedback from the blogger, only to get tripped up here too. Blah!
The man attempting extortion only had evidence of ONE, but there was another, and then we could include the woman who became Dave's wife. She had worked on the show.