So David Letterman just admitted on his Thursday show that someone had been blackmailing him for $2 million. That someone apparently claimed he had information on the comic doing “creepy things.” Instead of paying up, however, Letterman set him up – and the blackmailer, a CBS producer, was promptly arrested.
Now, a lot of people are laughing at the sweet irony of it all: a comedian who makes millions poking fun at the predilections of politicians gets nailed for a few of his own (I`m dying to know why he won`t dismiss the adjective “creepy;” whatever he was doing must make Marv Albert blush).
But I`m not one of those people.
And before I defend him, let me say that I find Letterman especially dour. I worshipped him in the 1980`s – back when he truly was a gifted, experimental talent. But over time, he`s morphed into a grumpy, partisan ogre.
Here`s my defense: he could have afforded to pay the guy off, and no one would have known. Two million is but a small fraction of his wealth – a marginal price for a rich man to pay to protect oneself from humiliation. But despite knowing that that he`d be called a hypocrite for all those jokes about Clinton, Sanford and everyone else he`s mocked – he went public. He did what every person should do: he followed the law.
For all of you taking special glee in this, ask yourself: what would you have wanted him to do? Pay the guy off, and continue life as a veiled hypocrite – screwing around with staffers while insulting politicians for doing the same thing? No – nailing the extortionist immediately and publicly makes Letterman the butt of his own jokes, and makes it especially difficult for him to make jokes about perversion and infidelity in the future.
That`s fine by me.
Especially when those photos from my vacation in Cabo come to light (I believe I was drugged).
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