Blackmail: Letterman’s Lesson

by: KATIE MARASCO, ESQ.

David Letterman recently turned the tables on the man allegedly blackmailing him by tricking the blackmailer into revealing his identity. Letterman also proceeded to discuss the turn of events on his talk show. Clearly the blackmailer wasn’t an expert in committing the crime, or he just foolishly picked a target unafraid of the publicity.

Now everyone is in trouble however. Letterman is now facing criminal charges of his own, while the alleged blackmailer is facing, well, blackmail charges. Some lawyers who have dealt with cases of this nature are reprimanding Letterman for the way he dealt with the situation. Had he kept it more private he might not now be facing a lawsuit of his own.

Blackmail is the use of private and character damaging information to obtain something of value from the target. In Letterman’s case a producer of his show threatened to reveal an affair between Letterman and a staffer unless Letterman paid the man $2 million. Unfortunately in this situation it doesn’t look like anyone will come out unharmed.

For more information about Blackmail visit LawInfo to find a criminal attorney in your area.