NEW YORK — David Letterman apologized to his wife Regina Lasko on Monday's "Late Show" — his first program since admitting to being the victim of a $2 million extortion plot centered around his sexual relationships with staff members.
"She has been horribly hurt by my behavior, and when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it's your responsibility, you try to fix it," the 62-year-old host told his studio audience. "At that point, there's only two things that can happen: Either you're going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you're going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me."
Making his first appearance since he dropped the sex scandal bombshell on Thursday's "Late Show," Letterman also acknowledged the impact on both his current and former staff members.
"I'm terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position. Inadvertently, I just wasn't thinking ahead," he said. "And, moreover, the staff here has been wonderfully supportive to me, not just through this furor, but through all the years that we've been on television and especially all the years here at CBS, so, again, my thanks to the staff for, once again, putting up with something stupid I've gotten myself involved in."
Letterman mixed in his trademark humor throughout the night, at one point saying: "This is only phase one of the scandal. Phase two: Next week I go on 'Oprah' and sob."
Letterman's guests also got into the action, with Steve Martin remarking: "It proves that you're a human being. And we weren't really that sure before."
Martin later found fellow guest Martin Short plopping onto his lap, which allowed Letterman to poke fun at his situation.
"You spend one more minute on his lap, you're gonna get blackmailed," he quipped.
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