The Sad Truth About David Letterman's Relationship With His Wife

When longtime late-night TV host David Letterman left his show in 2015 after more than three decades on the air, his wife, Regina Lasko, and their son, Harry Joseph Letterman, appeared in the final episode of "The Late Show with David Letterman." Sitting in the audience, Lasko beamed a wide smile at her husband even as Harry looked uncomfortable with all the attention. When Letterman presented his wife and son that night, the family seemed like a strong and cohesive unit, and after more than 30 years with Lasko at the time of this writing, that may very well be the case. Though, as anyone who has followed the acclaimed comedian and TV personality knows, Letterman's relationship with Lasko has seen rocky times. 

Regina Lasko is not David Letterman's first wife. Letterman and his first wife, Michelle Cook, were college sweethearts who married in 1969 but they divorced about nine years later. Letterman was in another relationship with the head comedy writer on his show, Merrill Markoe, when he met Lasko in 1986. He told Rolling Stone in 1993, "When I met her, she was equipment manager for the Rangers. Marv Albert introduced us one night between periods. She was leaning on the Zamboni, and I knew then my life would never be the same." 

He split with Markoe and Lasko became his long-term partner. Lasko started working at "The Late Show" and eventually became a production manager there. Letterman often dated women he worked with, and those poor professional boundaries on his part would come back to haunt his relationship with Lasko after they finally married in a courthouse wedding in Montana in 2009.

The couple dated for more than two decades before tying the knot, and in 1996 David Letterman told Rolling Stone he was the one dragging his feet. He said Regina Lasko had been his girlfriend for eight years at the time and she "really, really, really would like to get married. It makes perfect sense, but I still have not brought myself to that commitment just yet," Letterman admitted. "It's not because I don't care about her, it's not that I have any deficiency or she has any deficiency, it's just ... I feel like, well, I did that once and ... it was my fault it didn't work out ... I guess I'm being immature — emotionally I'm very immature."

While David Letterman and Regina Lasko's long relationship garnered little public attention and the couple kept a low profile, that all changed in 2009 — about six months after Lasko and Letterman were married. Due to an attempt at blackmail by the boyfriend of Letterman's former lover, the comedian confessed to his infidelities on a 2009 airing of "The Late Show" (via YouTube). After explaining the blackmail attempt, he told the audience, "Yes I have. I have had sex with women who work for me on the show." Letterman admitted the affair on the air, and it was subsequently revealed that the woman at the center of that scenario, Stephanie Birkitt, was not the only employee with whom he had cheated on Lasko. 

A week later David Letterman went back on the air to make a public apology to his wife, saying, "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. At that point there is only two things that can happen, either you are going to make some progress and get it fixed or you're gonna fall short and perhaps not get it fixed" (via YouTube). Luckily for Letterman, the relationship withstood the sex scandal. 

According to what Letterman told Oprah Winfrey on the podcast "Super Soul" in 2020 his relationship with his wife at the time was "never better," but he added of the pain he caused, "I'm still trying to fix it. It hasn't gone away it. It will never go away." He says though he can't forgive himself, every day he is still working to make her trust him and he praises Lasko's courage and intelligence. He credits Lasko with the happiness the couple has reached after working through the difficult time after he admitted what he'd done. 

And just as Letterman went public on his show about his infidelities and an apology to Lasko, he also expressed his appreciation for his wife and son during the final airing of "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 2015 saying, "I want to thank my family. Thank you. Just seriously, thank you for being my family. I love you both and really nothing else matters, does it?"