David Letterman confessed on air that he had affairs with some of his crew members, that he received a packaged containing info about his dirty little secret during one of those affairs and that someone tried to extort 2 million from him so that none of these secrets would be given to the media.

Last night, Letterman caught the viewers off guard when the audience thought he was still making jokes, but was actually explaining his real-life problems on live TV.  He said:

This morning, I did something I’ve never done in my life. I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury.” He added, “I had to tell them [the grand jury] all of the creepy things that I had done … The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would. I feel like I need to protect these people. I need to certainly protect my family.

Apparently, this guy named Robert J. “Joe” Halderman, who’s a producer for the true-crime show “48 Hours Mystery,” was the alleged extortionist. He pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to one count of attempted first-degree grand larceny, punishable by five to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors said Halderman, who was released after posting $200,000 bail, was desperate and deep in debt.

Although Letterman outsmart the alleged extortionist by confessing his private details instead of giving Halderman the chance to do so, David Letterman probably will put a strain on his marriage with Regina Lasko, who he has been dating since 1986, whom he married in March this year and whom he has a son with named Harry, born in 2003.