WASHINGTON - David Letterman has never hesitated to poke merciless fun at philandering politicians, but now the late-night comedy icon is in the doghouse along with his regular targets.
Letterman, however, has managed something politicians like Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer and Mark Sanford have not -- the comedian, the target of an alleged extortion ploy, came clean, making no attempt to deny any wrongdoing or to blame a lack of self-control for his troubles.
There's been no indignant "I did not have sex with that woman." No pleas for understanding from a lovesick Lothario. No talk of a sex addiction. And therefore, in all likelihood, no need to resign.
Instead, after telling his studio audience Thursday night about the extortion attempt, there was this: "I have had sex with women who work for me on this show."
Bob Reid, chief media strategist with the Toronto-based Veritas Communications, said Letterman handled the situation masterfully.
"He's been bang-on in his approach," Reid said.
"He was forthright, he was honest about what he's been up to, he was a little blunt at times, and, in that traditional Dave way, he was self-deprecating. He also showed candour and sensitivity to the other people involved, including the women and his family members. It was absolutely the right way to handle it."
The revelations set off a tidal wave of news coverage in the U.S. on Friday, when a CBS News employee was indicted on charges he attempted to extort US$2 million from Letterman. Robert Halderman had pleaded not guilty.
Radio talk jock Don Imus called Letterman a "creep."
The New York Times pondered whether he'd committed sexual harassment.
Countless blogs and websites accused him of being a hypocrite, pointing to his many quips and famous Top 10 Lists on everything from Clinton's tryst with White House intern Monica Lewinsky to Spitzer's fondness for hookers as onetime governor of New York.
Even actress Drew Barrymore, who once flashed Letterman her breasts during a memorable appearance on his show several years ago, weighed in.
"I hope I didn't start anything by jumping on his desk," she said on CBS's "The Early Show."
But for all the noise, Letterman wisely got ahead of the story.
"He knew it was going to become public and it was going to be big," Reid said.
"The decision he had to make was: `How much of a role do I play in it? Do I say nothing? Do I pass it off as a private matter? Or do I get out in front of it and be the lead voice in my own story?' Which is what he ended up doing, and that was absolutely the right move to make."
Michael Levine, a veteran Hollywood publicist, echoed Reid: Letterman's approach was perfect.
"It was very important for him to get on offence, because nothing in this world is private any longer," Levine, who's represented stars that include Michael Jackson and Demi Moore, said in television interview on Friday morning.
"We're just living in a very different kind of world today than 10 or 20 years ago. And so I think the best defence is an offence, and the only offence is relentless."
Letterman might also benefit from the fact that most of his past jokes about high-profile sex scandals, in fact, have rarely moralized about the actual philandering. One comment about Spitzer, in hindsight, seems particularly telling.
"As always, it's less the infraction, it's less the violation, than the judgment surrounding it," Letterman said in June.
"For example, Eliot Spitzer enjoyed dating prostitutes. And rather than just use the governor's petty cash, he would put it on his gold card or whatever he was doing and now all of a sudden they've got an interstate transit record and that's how they hunted him down and said you can't do that."
About Sanford, the South Carolina governor busted for having an Argentinian lover, he continued: "Just say you need to be in South America to take care of business; just come clean on it, don't say: `Oh, I'll be on the Appalachian Trail.' Just say: "There's a board of trade meeting, I'm going to be down there looking at some silos."'
Reid said that sort of non-moralizing tone is helpful.
"As a result of that, he's in a position that he could take the stance that he did," he said. "But make no mistake, despite how well he's handled it, it by no means gives him a free pass on his conduct. But he was in control of the first news cycle. He's said his piece and he'll move forward from here."
As well, Letterman's confession has had a pleasant side benefit. The pre-publicity surrounding the extortion attempt helped boost ratings for "The Late Show with David Letterman."
The show won its time slot in its best performance of the week. CBS said Thursday night's ratings were 22 per cent higher than Letterman's season-to-date average.
