David Letterman: New York magazine reports on his troubles
Was it only last month when New York magazine ran its "Leno Who?" cover, featuring Letterman triumphant? Now comes a much darker piece, "The Devil in David Letterman," written by Robert Kolker. After a slew of hyped-up articles with no new revelations (we're looking at you, Entertainment Weekly), this one actually contains some fresh meat, including numerous interviews with unnamed sources at the show.
Because the host is such a recluse, we learn that he and his many assistants are effectively walled off from the rest of the staff -- "[t]o the rank and file of the show... Dave is almost a nonentity now." And that has led to "a new level of palace intrigue." Says one ex-staffer: “There’s a level of mind games and chess that goes on, starting from the top down. They rule by fear. You don’t want to make Dave mad or so-and-so mad, so you better do a good job. Everyone there is scared of their shadow all the time.”
Some staffers apparently wish Dave had just paid Joe Halderman the $2 million in hush money: “Some people are thinking, ‘Aw, man, I can’t believe Dave did this to us. We were just winning in the ratings, we were really doing good, and he had to come out and make this a pissing match between him and Joe?’” Kolker posits that Halderman thought Letterman's ultra-private personal life meant "he would never allow the revelations about Birkitt to become public. But what Halderman hadn’t counted on was that the other side of Letterman, the self-loathing Letterman, won out. It always does. 'Dave is like, "No one fucks with me. You fuck with me, you die,"' says a source. 'All Dave cares about is his career.'"
One of Kolker's sources believes that Letterman's wife Regina never suspected that Dave and Stephanie were having an affair. Her relationship with Halderman "made her less threatening to Regina. 'Stephanie was someone she trusted,' the source continues. 'I’m sure Dave’s wife felt some comfort because Stephanie lived with her boyfriend that she was clearly over the moon for. I think Regina let down her guard. You have to know Stephanie. She just doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d be sneaking around with your husband behind your back.'"
The whole story is definitely worth a read for anyone who's been following this case.
2 comments :
I read the article on 'new york mag' and i did not find the article to be negative.
the fact is people who hate letterman will do so even without all the controversies.
I happen to like letterman & his show---so unless he goes out and kills someone, i will not stop watching the show.
His show is funnier than any other late night show right now including leno on primetime. He always has great guests, segments and great live music & and his interviews are just fun coz you never know what u gonna get.
And, I read comments from lot of people who say he is a bad role model and stuff----Let me just say this to you people "If hollywood celebrities , tv host or juiced athletes are your role models, I think you have a problem--and sorry to say You are going on the wrong side'. coz when i grew up your parents used to be the role models.
And lastly, its not always man's fault when u have an affair---There is no evidence that letterman forced her to do that. and as far as i know his stuff loves him--are loyal to him--coz most of them are working for him for more than 20 years. he even paid his staff during the writers strike (his own money)
so people stop making this event as the 'end of the world' event.
chill out.
I found the article interesting and a good read. Thats IF you put any weight on the so-called anyonymous sources he quotes. I never trust anyonymous sources, as they can very easily be made up to add a nice kick to a story/article lagging in any kind of verifiable and NEW infomation.
I do agree with the above commenter in that this whole thing has been blown out WAY out of proportion. He didnt kill babies people! he had affairs. Is that such an awful thing considering the fucked up world we live in? Id say 98% of the ppl I know have cheated on their girlfriends/bfs at some point, and I still dont think of them as the devil. It happens. Get over it.
Post a Comment