CBS won’t fire him. CBS is full of libs, and Letterman is their #1 lib. If he were anyone else they would have tossed his ass out, but since it’s Letterman, those libs will protect each other
Letterman is a sicko, who's clearly suffering from many personality disorders. But, he's also a shrewd business man.
He learned his lesson when he lost the Tonight Show to Leno and had to leave NBC. Letterman, unlike Leno, owns the Late Show, not CBS. Letterman (through his production company) owns the name, he owns the material, and he owns the archived shows themselves. And, he owns the Late, Late Show as well.
Even if CBS wanted to can him - and I'm absolutely sure they don't - they probably can't, just from a practical perspective.
There are a couple of other reasons CBS won’t can him. First of all, with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show struggling, Letterman is winning the late night ratings wars for the first time in more than a decade. What’s the difference between #2 and #1? Millions of dollars a year.
Secondly, CBS abandoned any pretense at corporate scruples a long time ago. If not for Buckhead and the gang at Powerline, Dan Rather’s journalistic fraud would never have been exposed.
Besides, CBS is run by a guy named Les Moonves, who dumped his wife (and kids) a few years ago to shack up with Julie Chen, the newsreader on The Early Show and the host of “Big Brother.” I don’t recall Mr. Moonves or Ms. Chen being disciplined for their conduct. It’s a fair bet that Moonves won’t call Letterman on the carpet for his indiscretions.
Still, Letterman will pay dearly for his actions. The would-be extortionists (who deserve to go to jail) will subpoena all of Dave’s consorts, and the tabloids will have a field day. No wonder Letterman could never catch Leno in the ratings. He was too busy running a casting couch above the Ed Sullivan Theater.
The one person I truly feel sorry for is Letterman’s six-year-old son. He’s just at the age where he realizes that Dad is famous and his life is far different than that of his peers. Letterman’s son is about to discover that his dad is a philanderer, lout and a lot more. If he’s lucky, his mom will file for divorce, grab a nice chunk of Dave’s change and get him the hell away from Letterman.
One more thought: Letterman has always been something of a cad in his treatment of women. He persuaded his first wife to go with him to Hollywood and she supported him while he tried to launch a career as a stand-up comic.
When his career took off, Letterman dumped his wife for Merrill Markoe, a successful TV writer. Markoe helped Letterman land a slot as a performer on Mary Tyler Moore’s ill-fated CBS variety show. That, in turn, got Letterman gigs on the Tonight Show, his own daytime program, and eventually, “Late Night.” Markoe was the head writer—and the primary creative force—behind Letterman’s early shows.
By the mid-80s, Letterman had tired of Markoe. With his clout as star and producer of Late Night, he pushed her off the program, and began a new romance with Regine Lasko, the girlfriend who eventually bore his son. For her troubles, Ms. Lasko got a luxurious lifestyle, her child, and (apparently) Dave’s serial philandering.
What’s left of Letterman’s reputation will be thoroughly trashed in the upcoming trial. That’s why he confessed to the affairs on air last night, trying to depict himself as the victim in all of this. No one should feel any sympathy for Dave; it’s a mess of his own making.