Letterman Body Language: What Signals Was David Sending?

By Jo Piazza Posted Oct 6th 2009 11:49AM

David Letterman seems to be handling his recent sex scandal with his characteristic coolness and grace. But if you watched closely during Monday night's monologue apology to his staff members and his wife Regina Lasko, there was a strong sense of rage at the media boiling below the surface in addition to the very honest remorse for what he is putting his family through.

After the jump, PopEater's body language experts break down Dave's first show back since he admitted to having sexual relationships with multiple female members of his staff to tell us what's really going down with the late night host.

First, watch highlights from Monday's show (if you haven't already) and analyze it yourself.

Your Turn To Play Body Language Expert

"In the beginning of the monologue when Dave was making a lot of jokes about the weekend flying by, hiking on the Appalachian trail and his GPS not talking to him, he started doing several of what we in the business call 'tongue erasers,'" says body language expert Patti Wood.

" A tongue eraser is where the tongue visibly moves from one side of the mouth to the other and it signifies that this person does not like that he is saying. It shows that Dave doesn't like that he has to take a comic's stance on what is happening and it is leaving a bad taste in his mouth," says Wood.

When Dave told the audience, "Ladies and gentleman I need to tell you this entire exchange is being videotaped," he folded his hands over his lower pelvis. Wood, the author of "Success Signals," called this 'the fig leaf'. "It is as if he is putting a metaphorical fig leaf over himself to cover up and is a sign that in that moment he was really feeling the exposure of all this."

Psychologist and body language expert Kevin Hogan tells PopEater that Dave's wetting of his lips and occasional strains in his voice signaled the anxiety he was feeling in the moment. "And his movement was much tighter than usual," Hogan says. "But he didn't lie. He was scared to death at times and he was deeply appreciative of the support he got."

Dave's anger rose to the surface when he talked about newspapers, radio and other media people browbeating and humiliating his staff. "His hands came up in fists when he was talking about the media. These were the strongest non-verbal cues he gave, signifying that he has very aggressive emotions towards the media," Wood says.

He then began his apology to his wife by clutching his own hand. "He held his own hand as a way of pacifying and comforting himself and you could see it was a real moment of pain for him," Wood says.

"My wife Regina has been horribly hurt by my behavior," Dave told the audience.

"His palms went up and straight out from his body in a sign of supplication to his wife. I felt a great sincerity in that nonverbal request for forgiveness," Wood explains.

Overall, Hogan dubbed Letterman as "brilliant." "There were no denials. There was no deception. He did a great job walking into the propeller and making it out without losing anything. It was rather a tutorial on how public figures should handle stuff like this in the future."

Tags: david letterman, david letterman apology, DavidLetterman, DavidLettermanApology, late show with david letterman, LateShowWithDavidLetterman, regina lasko, ReginaLasko

Comments

(208)

Wednesday 07 October

By AJ

Vote down Vote up Report this

As always, the media, specifically, and people, in general, amaze me.

Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky was made public, and he denied it, saying, "I did not have sex with that woman." Then, when it became obvious he was NOT telling the truth, his excuse, or "rationalization" was that oral sex was NOT sex. The American public, for the most part, agreed and he was *not* impeached.

As far as I'm concerned, when a president is IN the Oval Office, he is, in effect, ON THE PAYROLL ... the payroll that MY tax dollars pay. Clinton should have been working on our nation's issues, not his own sordid adventures.

I cannot remember how many people defended him, saying, "it wasn't anyone's business but Clinton's." What about his wife and daughter ... and the American public and voters?

David Letterman is, of course, high profile due to his profession and success in same.

As a number of people have pointed out, WHERE is the outrage concerning the extortion plot?

Letterman is NOT running this country; he is a somewhat ascerbic talk show host with a sense of humor. Yes, he takes pot shots at others who have been in the same or similar situations. None of this excuses the extortion plot.

How Letterman handles his now openly-admitted affairs in his personal life, with his wife and son, are THEIR business. Sadly, his family will be the ones to suffer.

While I'm disappointed in him and concerned for his wife and child, at least Letterman had the courage to to be extorted. In doing so, he did NOT refuse admit his indiscretions and apologized, on national television, to his wife and his staff.

This is something Clinton did not do until he saw no other option, after he was caught out with his lies.

Yes, Letterman is a public figure, but at least he is NOT in the highest elected office in this land, or any elected office, for that matter.

I sincerely hope and pray Letterman and his wife, Regina, can work this out amicably, for both of their sakes, not to mention their young son's.

I also hope any damage done to any of his staff will be appropriately addressed and their reputations be vigorously defended.

I don't agree with Letterman or his staffers' choices or actions. However, at least Letterman took a difficult stance and took full responsibility for his own actions.

By Robert M

The point is that he did this with people who WORKED FOR HIM. This is a man who abuses his power in the workplace. Do you think any of these women had sex with him because they were afraid for their jobs? Do you think they may have been hired because Dave thought they were easy marks for sex? Do you think he may have had sex with them before hiring them and only hired them after they passed the "casting couch" test? This is about a lowlife that cares about his sex life more than anything - even his marriage/relationship etc.

He should be suspended by CBS and an investigation opened up as to the extent of his crimes if any.

By Cheryl

MORON? Nice.
I have no comment on the personality or the life of David Letterman. Extortion is illegal. It's as simple as that. And, for ANY reason, I would not want it to happen to me.

Tuesday 06 October

By Kristyll38

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

The fact that we know so much about his personal life is the real problem! I feel horrible for public figures who have all their personal issues aired out for everyone to see. I know EVERYONE makes mistakes, I cant judge him and neither should you. You will never know what it is like to be him and if you would or would not do the same thing in the same situation. He is a talk show host..should this situation effect his career, no!! because it doesnt mean he isnt funny...it just means he made a mistake and unfortunately we ALL know about it!! Look into your own past I am sure there is something there, that would cause you complete humiliation, if you were prominant enough for anyone to care enough... to tell the whole world about!!

By Jim

So Dave has underlying rage at the media? Let him stew in the same juice his constant "piling on" in the media (he is a member of that group, you know)has put others in.

By Bob

Your right.All during the election campaign he was picking on Sara Palin and now it's coming back to bite him. He should lose his show for this. I have stopped watching him and alsoNBC because they are so one sided.

By Milton The Monster

Letterman is a LOSER. I'm sure is MOMMY is VERY proud of her wonderful full of himself son. Let us ALL enjoy his pain. :)

By B

How many politicians has Letterman made fun of on stage further embarrassing the families of who ever the *sleaze of the moment* might be.
Now letterman is the *sleaze of the moment*.
Why have a wife and child if this is how you want to live?
I think I understand why his company is named World Wide Pants...

By Georgia

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I don't defend what Dave did, however this was presumably done BEFORE he was married. I remember all the times he had Stephanie on his show. She would bring gifts to the audience, etc. Also he was always calling her on the phone and asking her dumb questions. I am a woman but I am sometimes shocked at how brazenly some women outwardly go after a man. They have no shame. It is terrible.

By MARY BAISE

DAVID LETTERMAN IS JUST LIKE MOST MEN HE HAS HIS BRAINS IN HIS PANTS HE WAQS NOT THINKING ABOUT ANYONE AND THIER FEELINGS HE WAS ONLY THINKING ABOUT HIS OWN SEXUAL PLEASURE AT THE TIME. AND I,LL BET IF HE HAD THE CHANCE FOR ANOTHER SEXUAL ENCOUNTER AND DIDN"T THINK HE WOULD BE CAUGHT HE WOULD MOST CERTAINLY DO IT AGAIN.

By Angel

Literally, you should all get over yourselves! He who is without sin cast the first stone. I'd like someone to shine a light on the last 20 years of your life, I am sure you never ragged on anyone, were mean spirited, or did something that was not socially acceptable. The man was single, I applaud him for his honesty. I know a lot of women who love to screw and not just their husbands, so it is not necessarily a man thing either. Hope none of you ever have someone try to blackmail you, hurt your family and then judge you.

By Csulli

It's a shame that the body language expert didn't analyze the final part where he gave a fake apology to Sarah Palin's family. He's a low-life and while I don't think his offenses stoop to the level of losing his job, he needs to eradicate any and all future alleged jokes he makes at the expense of others - such as Sarah Palin, George Bush, Bill O'Reilly or others that he has enjoyed bashing in the guise of "humor". Funny, he isn't. How many of those women had sex with him because they thought it was the way to keep their job? How many of them still are employed by him or his program or the station? LESSON TO BE LEARNED: SCREWING WITH THE BOSS WILL NOT GET YOU TO THE TOP. Think Monica Lewinsky and now this.

By Fay

Interesting that you only chose to name some of the Republicans Dave has made fun of.
That being said, I doubt he would have married Regina had she not become pregnant.
I can only think of one reason women would sleep with David Letterman. He represents power and a way to get ahead. It certainly couldn't be because they find him attractive!

By annettea

He is only sorry he got caught!

By Ann

Why don't all of you commenting get your facts straight! No. 1 -- these affairs/relationships were BEFORE he got married, albeit during his long-term relationship with his eventual wife. No. 2 --what happens between consenting adults is their business. The only one here who has been offended is his wife and she is the one to determined if she wants to forgive him for sleeping with other women while she was living with him as a girlfriend. Her relationship with him began before his last relationship ended back in 1986 so for a while she was the other woman. When a person is such a high profile figure where else is he going to meet women other than at work? He meet his wife at work and she was apparently one of the affairs he had.

By Ruby In The Dust

What is the BFD? There is no workplace sexual harrassment going on here - it was between consenting adults. So he cheated on his girlfriend (at the time). Not nice for her, but no laws were broken, except by the extortionist who is victimizing him. Dave is getting all the attention for his indiscretion, and the blackmailer is being defended for his actions by his attorney. It's a personal problem between Dave & his wife, not something to publicly hang him for!

By Jack

You mean like when JERK Letterman was badmouthing Sarah Palins Daughters? If Harry his son was someone elses, Letterman would be calling him a b@stard.

By S

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

It was consensual and neither party was married so leave it be.

By hrtofmttr

He may not have been married at the time, but he was in a long term relationship with the woman he eventually married. AND, they only recently chose to get married, so they were essentially acting like husband and wife. He does act remorseful, but has absolutely no reason to be angry with the media, because let's face it folks, his monologue is media driven.

By CSulli

Can you name a democrat that he has skewered? I already mentioned Monica. His wife spent 20 years with him, living together. She has to know what he was like but I really think he didn't need to address the issue the way he did, to humiliate her. There was another way to do it, but, he comes out smelling like a rose. That he waited until his child was 5 to marry speaks volumes - sad thing, if she decides the humiliation is too much, she probably signed a pre-nuptial agreement and would only be eligible for anything that occurred SINCE they got married.

Page 2 of 11