During the first Late Show taping since David Letterman shared the stunning details of the latest extortion plot against him last Thursday, the host took the stage this afternoon to rousing audience applause. After making a few lighthearted monologue jokes at his own expense ("I get in the car this morning and the navigation lady wasn't speaking to me. Ouch."), Letterman delivered heartfelt apologies to his wife, Regina Lasko, and his Worldwide Pants staff for the indiscretions he admitted to last week. The apology transcript and monologue video after the jump.
"I'm terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position. Inadvertently, I just wasn't thinking ahead. 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."
"Now the other thing is my wife, Regina. 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. And 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."