Robert ‘Joe’ Halderman thought David Letterman had sex with ’six or seven’ staffers, says pal

The CBS producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman was convinced the comic king bedded “six or seven” female staffers, a pal of the newsman said Thursday.
Robert (Joe) Halderman believed Letterman seduced the young “Late Show” staffers by plying them with perks, the friend said.

“He would fly them out on a chartered plane to the Indy 500 and put them up in five-star hotels,” the insider said.
Letterman spokesman Tom Keaney declined to comment on the allegations the 62-year-old comedian had sex with half a dozen female underlings.
Although the TV funnyman has admitted on air he had sex with staffers, a longtime ex-Letterman staffer dismissed the idea women were lured into romps.
“To say that he preyed upon women is absurd,” the former employee said. “The interns may have had crushes on him. They’re impressionable, but they’re smart women. They’re not shrinking violets.”
Halderman was arrested last week for allegedly trying to extort $2 million from Letterman with a screenplay proposal about his affairs with “Late Show” underlings - including the “48 Hours” producer’s ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Birkitt.
Halderman grew resentful of Letterman in December when he read a love letter that Birkitt, an assistant to Letterman, had written to her boss, the friend said.
Birkitt’s long hours at work and frequent appearances on the show convinced Halderman that Letterman was trying to keep a hold on his 34-year-old “Girl Friday,” the friend said.
As Halderman’s relationship with Birkitt ended this summer, she revealed she planned to buy a house near the Housatonic River, which runs through Massachusetts and Connecticut.
“In the midst of Joe struggling to pay alimony and child support, Stephanie tells him she’s buying a $300,000 house in Connecticut,” said the friend. “He wondered, ‘Where’s she getting the money?’”
A Letterman pal insisted the comic had nothing to do with the house.
The last straw came when Halderman spotted Birkitt and Letterman “in a very passionate embrace” when he drove her home one night, Halderman’s colleague, Dr. Bob Arnot, told “Good Morning America” Thursday.
After Halderman was arrested Oct. 1, Letterman revealed the plot and his affairs on his show. On Monday, he apologized on the air to his wife, Regina Lasko, and to staffers.
Fox News reported on its Web site Thursday that his wife - his companion of two decades and mother of their 5-year-old, Harry - pressured him into it.
“[It] wasn’t something Dave wanted to do at all,” a source told the Web site. “He wanted the whole thing to blow over, but Regina told him he better make an apology to let everyone know how sorry he was for how much he hurt and humiliated her.”