ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Duke's Damage Control</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style4 { font-size: x-large; } .style5 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } .style6 { text-align: left; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="116" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="081609.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="24" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="465" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="18" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="283" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="26"> <td width="624" height="26" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="1"> <td width="116" height="2574" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="489" height="1" colspan="3"></td> <td width="18" height="2574" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr height="2573"> <td width="489" height="2573" colspan="3" align="left" xpos="116" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="5"><b> <br /> <br /> Letterman Must Go</b></font><p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> by John M. Curtis<br> (310) 204-8700</b><br> </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Oct. 8, 2009<br> All Rights Reserved.</i></font></p> <p><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4">&nbsp;</span></span><span class="style5">A</span>fter blackmailed for $2 million by CBS news producer Robert Halderman, 62-year-old  Late Night host David Letterman confessed Oct. 5 on national TV that he indeed had numerous affairs largely with female underlings over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Stating that those affairs  are in the past, the late-night comic admitted his wife Regina Lasko was  horribly hurt by my behavior. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Letterman s mea culpa was directed at his wife, not the scores of writers and co-workers, corporate sponsors, network bosses, and, yes, millions of viewers that accepted him into their living rooms each weeknight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Let me tell you folks, I go my work cut out for me, said Letterman, referring to repairing his marriage but ignoring the damage done to everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While there was nothing  illegal about his peccadillos, the damage done to CBS was incalculable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Letterman played fast-and-loose and got burned.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves can t ignore the damage done by Letterman to CBS s brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While no one expects celebrities to be perfect, his depravity does far more damage than former CBS  Evening News anchor Dan Rather, forced to resign in Nov. 23, 2004 because of his failure to properly vet forged documents about former President George W. Bush s military service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Despite his departure, Rather continues to battle to salvage his reputation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Consumed by the tabloids, Letterman s affairs dominate the headlines, diverting attention away from more responsible CBS programming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> If we are now holding late-night talk-show host to the same moral accountability as we hold politicians or clergymen, I m out, said CBS  Late, Late Show host Craig Ferguson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I m gone, trying to make light of what looks like a career-ending mistake.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <![endif]>Letterman s entourage is well-aware of the potential consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Giving some exculpatory background, his production company spokesman Tom Kenny confirmed that his boss affairs occurred before Letterman s March 19, 2009 marriage, nearly six years after the birth of his son Harry in 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>How Kenny s admission help s Letterman is anyone s guess?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He basically admitted that far from a youthful indiscretions, the depravity with young CBS female employees and interns continued up until March.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever Halderman s motives in admitting Letterman s affairs money or retaliation he opened up a can of worms for CBS, now expecting endless sexual harassment suits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sexual harassment suits are no laughing matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> My thanks to the staff for, once again, putting up with something stupid I ve gotten myself involved in, said Letterman, ignoring what he s done to CBS Corporation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="style6"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Letterman s former assistant Stepahnie Birkitt detailed her affair in a diary found by her boyfriend<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Halderman, a CBS producer of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>the true-crime show  48 Hours Mystery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> His attempt to blackmail his girlfriend s ex-boss helps create more sympathy for Letterman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Corporations, like CBS, have more at stake than whether Letterman beats NBC s  Tonight Show with Conan O Brien in the Nielson ratings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>NBC made a huge miscalculation moving former  Tonight Show host Jay Leno to a new ten-o clock evening time-slot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> While there s a slight difference in the ratings, Letterman should have creamed O Brien.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Letterman s survival now has more to do with sponsors, than whether he can poke fun at his indiscretions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>CBS President Les Moonves won t find it too funny when the sexual harassment suits begin crossing his desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Behind closed doors, Mooves examines his options.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Last January, Letterman was in contract talks with CBS, reportedly through 2010 for $30 million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While it s unclear whether or not he finished signing contracts, there s usually a moral turpitude clause, giving Moonves a way out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Now that the shoe s on the other foot, Letterman seems less comfortable with his late-night friends poking fun at his sexual indiscretions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He was especially brutal when former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer got caught with a high-priced call girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I mean, can you imagine, said Letterman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> If this happened to me how fast they d have my . . .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>[backside] out of here? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Politicians are usually held to higher standards than celebrities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>In Spitzer s case, it was hard to forgive the tough-minded former NY prosecutor who relentless went after prostitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sexually harassing female employees exposed CBS Corporation to potentially unending litigation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>President Les Moonves and the CBS board of directors must take a serious look at how Letterman damaged the CBS brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever his feeble attempt at on-air damage control, it doesn t put the genie back in the bottle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Network sponsors don t like the kind of notoriety that Letterman now brings to their products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sexually harassing female employees up until his recent marriage in March 2009 doesn t bode well for CBS as more victims come forward in the near future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>CBS should seriously consider accelerating Letterman s retirement, beginning talks with Comedy Central s  Daily Show host Jon Stewart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Of all the network or cable talk show hosts, none would make a more seamless transition than Stewart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Moonves must act quickly with Letterman or further risk damage to the CBS brand, currently under siege with the latest mishap with its on-air talent.</p> <p><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet </a>and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma.</a></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2573"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2573"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="116" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="116" height="1"></td> <td width="24" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="24" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="283" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="283" height="1"></td> <td width="18" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="18" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homene.net" target="_blank">img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2002 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>