Crisis Management… Letterman Style

David Letterman may have won the first round in his sex-with-staffers crisis, but it remains to be seen whether his strategy of announcing the scandal in a comedy monologue will help or hurt him over the long run.

A cardinal principle in crisis management is taking charge of your crisis: Don’t leave it to others to define you; define yourself. Letterman did just that. He preempted the media by addressing the situation himself, live on his popular late-night television show. And he did it in the style he knows best, hoping to win over viewers and the studio audience through humor. It was a masterful performance. “Good old Dave; there he goes again!”

Under those controlled conditions, he was also able shift much of the focus away from the affairs and toward the blackmail attempt, thereby eliciting sympathy as a crime victim.

Letterman had at least a couple of other options for taking charge of the bad news:

1. He could have announced it on his show in a serious manner, asking for forgiveness and understanding as so many philandering politicians do. But that is wearing thin and therefore becoming less and less effective. And a serious announcement at the beginning of “Late Night” would have put a damper on the entire remainder of the show. Announcing it at the end would have been just as bad, ending on a down note.

2. Letterman could have broken the news himself by issuing a news release and/or conducting a press conference, but this would give him much less spin control than a “Late Night” announcement. And a press conference would entail answering questions about his sexual conduct, without the comedy. He can dodge most media queries from this point on by refusing comment, so as not to interfere with the investigation in

One thing Letterman knew he couldn’t control was the fact that the news was going to get out, one way or the other. He made the right choice in preempting the media, and in the setting and manner in which he made the announcement.

However, his comedy monologue would have been a bit more helpful to his situation over time had it been more self-deprecating and apologetic in tone. Letterman is a master at his craft and could have pulled it off. Instead, he was almost flippant. It was all, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, “Aren’t I just a loveable little devil pulling the most outrageous stunts?” That could come back to haunt him.

Letterman’s overall strategy for handling his crisis is to weather the storm and survive as the host of “Late Night”. He won round one by delivering ratings and not hurting his show.
What happens from here?

Letterman’s flippant “apology” could eventually backfire.

-Posted by Tony Lentini 10/29/09