**A man has been charged over an alleged plot to blackmail chat show host David Letterman over sexual relationships he had with female staff members.**CBS employee Robert “Joe” Halderman, was arrested after an undercover sting operation, New York authorities said.
Letterman confessed during a recording of his show, broadcast by CBS, that he had had sex with female colleagues.
He said a man had threatened to expose the relationships unless a payment of $2m (£1.2m) was made.
Letterman, 62, married long-term girlfriend Regina Lasko in March. They have a six-year-old son.
New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Mr Halderman, a producer for the true-crime show 48 Hours had been arrested on Thursday.
He was indicted on one count of first-degree grand larceny, an offence punishable by a prison term of five to 15 years, Mr Morgenthau said.
“Our concern here is extortion and that’s what we’re focusing on,” he is quoted by Associated Press as saying.
Letterman told his studio audience that he was first approached by the alleged blackmailer three weeks ago.
He said he had got in his car early one morning to find a package with a letter containing proof of the “terrible things” he was said to have done.
The letter, he said, was from a man who threatened to write a book and screenplay about the veteran broadcaster unless he was given money.
On the advice of his lawyer, Letterman said, he had contacted prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.