Letterman: 'Even my sat nav won't talk to me'

A judge has refused to throw out the criminal case against a TV producer who is accused of trying to blackmail late-night TV host David Letterman. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

David Letterman, the late-night comic who astonished his audience last week by detailing an alleged extortion plot against him over affairs he had with female staff members, is now using his airtime to apologise to his wife and production team.

The veteran CBS talk-show star, 62, married his long-time girlfriend, Regina Lasko, with whom he has a young son, in March this year. Last week the District Attorney's Office confirmed it had arrested Robert Halderman, a producer with the CBS show 48 Hours, on charges of grand larceny. Mr Halderman denies trying to extract $2m (£1.25m) from Letterman, below, in exchange for not going public with details of dalliances with his employees.

Much of the media focus has since turned to a former assistant of Letterman, who dated Mr Halderman until recently. The woman, Stephanie Birkitt, apparently recorded details of her contacts with the comedian in a diary which Mr Halderman became privy to. It was partly with that material that he made the alleged blackmail attempt last month.

Mr Halderman's lawyer, Gerald Shargel, has tartly accused Letterman of portraying himself as the hapless victim when there is more to the story. "The public is not getting the full story from Mr Letterman," he said.

On Monday, the comic admitted he was in a bit of a hole with his wife and joked: "I got into my car this morning and even the navigation lady wasn't speaking to me."