Joe Halderman

Joe Halderman

Joe Halderman, a producer of CBS’s “48 Hours,” was arrested Thursday for an alleged extortion plot to expose David Letterman’s multiple affairs with women on his staff. The scandal was revealed Thursday night, when Letterman told his studio audience he was being blackmailed for $2 million by someone who threatened to expose his sexual relationships with female employees. The Late Show host contacted the Manhattan District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Bureau, and was told to cut a phony check to the alleged extortionist. Letterman testified this morning at a Grand Jury hearing, and was asked if he had ever slept with a member of his staff. Halderman, 51, was arrested for attempted grand larceny in the first degree, and has been suspended from “48 Hours” pending the results of the investigation.

He runs a production company, Worldwide Pants. The danger: Yes, Dave is the 62-year-old CEO of a company that supplies programs to CBS, and he has admitted to having multiple affairs with subordinates. The additional danger: While none have stepped forward claiming harassment, the implications in situations such as this are always the same -- that a powerful man used his position to extract sexual favors from employees. That may very well not have been the case at all, but the implication still exists -- a reason why CEOs are held to the very highest standards, and why companies talk constantly about sexual harassment in the workplace. Again, I caution: No one is making this charge, but the questions now arise. Letterman has been a lightning rod for the right wing after his Palin daughter joke bombs over the summer. The danger: This could be real -- they could muster advertiser boycotts, for example -- or a mere shrug of the shoulders blip. "See! We told you what he was like," they could say. But he is not the host of a children's show either, but host of a late night talk show . . . If they do, however, organize advertiser boycotts . . . watch out.

CBS will almost certainly launch an internal investigation. The danger: Oh yes, it will. The minefield will be especially acute here, because CBS News will have to get involved as well as CBS corporate. They will seek to find out who this man was, how the situation got out of hand, and again, what the nature of the workplace environment is like over at the Ed Sullivan Theater. Ratings will be huge. The danger: But they'll be huge for all the wrong reasons. Millions will tune in to see what Dave might say again. Millions will look for additional meanings in his monologue jokes. Millions will think -- this guy admitted to have multiple affairs. This is what people do -- and why there are huge traffic jams near accidents on highways. People slow down to take a look, to see the carnage. Letterman's image has suddenly been shifted. The danger: Come on! Let's not get too carried away here! He's never held himself up as a moral exemplar. But for his longtime fans, he was never really considered a person who was particularly libidinous either. He's Dave! He doesn't chase women. In a funny way, that made him even more appealing -- good old Dave, who may be funny and nutty, but he doesn't he have any grubby impulses that would make us think askance. Now, we must wonder .