Letterman Offered Screenplay Not Blackmail Says Halderman’s Lawyer
November 11th, 2009 | 
Author: Robert Halderman’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, in an interview on CBS “The Early Show” yesterday, said David Letterman was offered a $2 million deal for first rights to a “screenplay” by his client, Robert Halderman. Shargel said it was a business transaction, the way Hollywood works, not extortion.
Gerald Shargel, attorney for Robert Joe Halderman. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
Documents filed by Halderman’s lawyer claim David Letterman was having an affair with his former personal assistant, Stephanie Birkitt, much more recently than Letterman’s rep said.
The legal papers filed by the defense state that Robert Halderman confronted Stephanie Birkitt in December 2008 with evidence of the affair and she promised to end it. But Gerald Shargel, Halderman’s lawyer, claims the relationship continued “unabated” into this past summer.
Letterman’s rep has said the affair ended before Letterman’s marriage in March. Letterman came forward with the alleged extortion plot in early September.
Letterman’s attorney refused to say when the talk show host broke off his affair with Birkitt. Halderman’s lawyer did not elaborate about the sexual relationship and said he was looking forward to cross examining Letterman.
Shargel asked the judge to dismiss the extortion case, on grounds authorities were swept up in “the sensationalism surrounding the indictment” and the grand jury didn’t have enough evidence to target Halderman.
The lawyer claims the $2 million demand was “a pure commercial transaction” over a screenplay.
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