Jezebel 
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New York, 7:04 PM
Mon Nov 9
52 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/03/09
But wait! Letterman's team fights back: It seems that his blackmailer was also a skeezy sexual harasser!
Another issue to consider in the power imbalance is that it doesn't just affect the boss and the underling. It creates a hostile work environment for everyone else. Trust me I've been there and it is tremendously annoying to have the boss use the department's salary increase allocation to award his girlfriend.
Jealous? In a sense, but I wouldn't have f*cked that fat bastard for a measly $5,000 a year more. Not even once.
10/03/09
And this is without even taking into consideration just how flat out skeezy the situation is. I mean, having an affair with an assistant? Really? I thought Letterman was better than that. It's very disappointing.
10/02/09
So, what if it did start out consensual? The power he wields over her livelihood is stilll there. What if she tired of giving the old coot BJ's but was afraid to stop because of fear of losing her job?
You people act like quitting or losing a job is no big deal. Glad you're all so well off.
That's the abuse of power here: the fear she could lose her job if she didn't put out. The fear she could lose her home, her car, her medical insurance, etc.
10/02/09
But what if your assistant fucks you?
I don't like language that implies women are only capable of being the recipients of fucking and not actually a equal participant in the said fuckfest. When you word it like that, it makes ALL SEX sound creepy.
If it was coerced and against her will, then he fucked her. But if it was consensual (and it seems from the information provided in this case it was), then they fucked each other. Was it in the best of taste? No. Is fucking people in your office a good idea? Probably not. But that doesn't mean that we can derive from any of the information given that it was an abuse of power. If he had pressured her, yes it would very clearly be. But what if she had a big ol' crush and WANTED to sleep with him? we just dont have that information and I'm not comfortable calling it an "abuse of power" without knowing if it actually was.
Polanski fucked a child. Letterman and his assistant fucked. There is a difference.
10/02/09
If Birkitt is getting screwed over by anyone it looks like it's her ex-boyfriend who went out of his way to humiliate her so he could fatten his pockets.
10/02/09
10/03/09
unless a misuse of power or coersion is proven (and in this case it is not), i dont like framing heterosexual sex as a man fucking a woman, because it takes away her agency in the situation. it would be one thing if she had no agency in the situation, but this assistant was a consenting adult whose livelihood wasn't at stake by refusing his advances (assuming she wasnt the one make advances, which is also possible!), then we can derive that she was complicit in the bumping of the uglies.
i just think that "he fucked her" is a patriarchal way to frame heterosexual sex.
10/02/09
Making that assumption would be simplistic, IMO, and possibly paternalistic as well. Both parties were consenting adults, and Stephanie Berkitt has never given any indication she was unhappy with the situation. The details here are too sketchy to conclude that sexual harrassment or abuse of power occurred.
10/02/09
It's none of our fuckin' business.
10/02/09
I find that this post infantilizes women. We are not babies. Women can choose to sleep or not sleep with their bosses. If they so choose, the consequences involved are their problem.
This woman is now getting dragged through the mud because her ex-boyfriend decided to try and extort her old boss.
10/02/09
10/02/09
My problem with the post was that it treats women as though we were children. Too immature and stupid to handle our business without being told we're being abused by our bosses when we willingly sleep with them.
This young lady entered a relationship; a consensual one. Since when is that something every other woman has the right to judge as wrong or right? My issue with this post is that it degrades us to the point of being children, unable to do the right and moral thing because of the big, abusive men in power. Puhleeze.
10/02/09
10/02/09
Let us not forget that Lasko herself was once a staff member on Late Night. Should we now judge their entire relationship and subsequent marriage as an abuse of power? If two consenting and enthusiastic adults are involved it's hard to find fault. Really the only problem I can see is that Dave was committing adultery.
10/02/09
10/02/09
10/02/09
Perhaps Lasko knew all along and it was only a secret because the public finds non-traditional relationship arrangements confusing and/or disgraceful.
10/02/09
10/02/09
I don't see anything to praise here, just a lot of seemingly sketchy actions.
10/02/09
10/03/09
10/02/09
10/02/09
letterman said it all on the air, and there's some kudos for that because he could have kept his mouth shut like every other person in power who has slept with their subordinates, but he would never have said word one if he hadn't been the victim of extortion.
10/02/09
News flash: this was the workplace situation that women have been fighting against for more than half a century. If we succeed in the workplace it should be because we are intelligent, skilled, and good at our jobs - NOT because we are willing to fuck our bosses.
Furthermore, all of the points about the awful power dynamics this kind of thing can create are true, and to everybody saying "well there are always going to be power dynamics, whatever," I cry foul. Just because something happens regularly doesn't mean we shouldn't work against it. Rape happens every day too. Should we just accept that?
10/02/09
If there was preferential treatment, that's unethical, but the sex itself is not automatically unethical unless she was pressured into it. Maybe she liked him and decided she wanted to have sex with him. She certainly doesn't seem to bear him any ill-will, and she's worked for him for 13 years.
10/02/09
Dave has a lot of influence on how people understand the issues of the day. If he belittles women, the way he belittled and slut shamed Palin and her daughters, people ARE more likely to think it's all "no big deal."
I don't want to see the guy impeached, but I don't want to see him get away with a boys-will-be-boys shrug, either.
10/02/09
10/02/09
No difference. It's morally reprehensible and morally wrong, imo, but nothing illegal in the act whatsoever.
Regarding Letterman: It's skeezy and gross behavior, for sure. But it's not illegal and institutionalized sexism has been around and promoted long before David Letterman came along.
10/02/09
10/02/09
And so? Politicians are hypocrites. So is David Letterman. The comparison is apt. In both cases, it's none of our damn business.
10/02/09
10/02/09
10/02/09
I did. A former boss of mine brazenly asked me to sleep over at his place while his wife (and kids!) were away. I laughed, thinking he was joking, and then he said it again. I said, "No." Before I knew it, every day became a fucking nightmare for me with him busting my ass and humiliating me every chance he had. And I was lucky because he didn't fire me!