David Letterman Shocks Audience with Revelation of Adultery, or Did He?

David Letterman made the shocking allegation,or perhaps announcement is the better word, that a former staff member was attempting to black mail him because he had had a sexual relationship with her. The news is all over the early morning news show. I saw it on Morning Joe on MSNBC and it was on my news feed this morning when I clicked on my laptop.

After listening to the bare facts presented by both sources, my first thought was one I believe will be shared by lots of Americans. And this is funny, why? Because the presentation I saw, showed Mr. Letterman making the announcement as part of his opening monologue. He presented the information as a joke. The audience laughed and seemed to concur with Mr. Letterman that this indeed was just another trivial event, something that could be further trivialized by Mr. Letterman as part of his comedy routine.

I wondered what his wife was thinking, and the other women that he alluded to as having been sexual partners through the years. We've watched Mr. Letterman use other people's marital affairs and indiscretions as fodder for his comedy routines. We might have even laughed with him over the constant barbs he slung at Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandals or John Edwards recently with his baby and mistress scandal.

I suppose it won't make any difference to Mr. Letterman's audience, but for me, I find myself agreeing with Sarah Palin for the first time ever. Mr. Letterman's trivialization of human lives, relationships and events seems low and mean. I supposed we are to believe that he is the victim, the one being blackmailed. Apparently he's trying to take a page from John Travolta who refused to give into blackmail over some incidents related to the death of his son. Mr. Travolta filed charges against the blackmailers and now we see Mr. Letterman doing the same.

But the sympathy we felt for John Travolta having had to deal with such a horrendous act during the death of his son, cannot be transferred to David Letterman. David Letterman comes off as the jerk he often is. Should that surprise any of us? Probably not, but at least we've had it confirmed.

I must confess to having been a fan of the show, especially in his early years. He can be dynamic and truthful. He came from the alma mater of one of my sons, Ball State University in Indiana. His mother is often seen around Indianapolis and Indiana. She's a state treasure, and David Letterman has always been a native son that has made Indiana proud of his roots.

Now, I find those roots sullied by his flippant announcement of adultery on his evening show. Not that I'm naive enough to believe that such adultery would not have occurred. Of course not, it's entertainment, adultery is part of the package for most "stars", I'm sure. His making light of his own adultery and using it as part of his comedy show isn't funny to this viewer and sometimes fan.