When David Letterman Sought Psychiatric Help After Cheating on His Wife with Female Employees

Few men admit to their infidelities and comedian David Letterman is among those rare people who confessed to cheating on his wife Regina Lasko in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. Back in 2013, the TV host revealed he's been under psychiatric care to become a "good person" after being unfaithful to his wife with female employees multiple times. 

The interview aired on Winfrey's network OWN where the chat show host said he was uncertain if his wife would live with her after he confessed on national television in 2009 that he'd been blackmailed over an affair. Although he noted that his relationship with his wife, with whom he shares a son, has "never been better," he is "still trying to fix it," as per Daily Mail. 

"For a long time, I thought I was a decent guy, but yet, thinking I was a decent guy, I was still capable of behavior that wasn't coincidental to living a decent life," Letterman confessed. "That's what I'm working for. I want to be a good person. I thought I was a good person and yet I was capable of behavior that is not consistent with that. My life is fun and full of joy now. [I] only pretended that before." 

Back in 2009, the now-77-year-old told the audience of his late-night talk show about his multiple sexual partners, specifically the female members of his staff. In addition, he revealed that he'd been receiving extortion calls on this matter for which he signed over a $2 million check to prevent further harm, as per ABC News.

"This morning, I did something I've never done in my life," said Letterman. "I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury." He told the studio people that three weeks ago, he received a package from the blackmailer threatening to reveal the affair's indiscretion "if Letterman did not pay the individual a large sum of money," later specified to be $2 million. 

The alleged letter threatened, "I know that you do some terrible terrible things and I can prove that you do these terrible things ... and sure enough what was contained in the package was proof that I do terrible, terrible things." The audience, probably clueless about how to react to the not-so-comic story, laughed nervously as Letterman continued to admit he did, in fact, commit infidelity. "My response to that [allegation] is, 'Yes I have.' Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. Especially for the women." 

Further in the interview, he told Winfrey, "I have no one to blame but myself. I hurt a lot of people. I have nobody to blame but myself. I'm not looking to blame anybody. I'm looking to find out why I behaved the way I behaved. Rather than being the actual one who was guilty, I thought maybe I could generate some sympathy," he concluded, "That's just awful."