(Access Hollywood)

Just about four years ago – on September 18, 2005 – when Gossip Cop was a producer at Access Hollywood, I was stuck in legendary Los Angeles traffic en route to the 57^th Annual Emmy Awards. At a certain point, fearing that I would be late, I jumped out of the car and started hoofing it as fast as I could in my tuxedo to the Shrine Auditorium for the ceremony.

About three blocks away, I saw David Letterman, dressed in shorts and smoking a cigar, briskly walking away from the auditorium. With him was a woman dressed in black. That was Stephanie Birkitt, Letterman’s former assistant, with whom he had a sexual relationship, and who later took up with “48 Hours” producer Robert “Joe” Halderman, the alleged exortionist who reportedly used her diary and e-mails as proof of her relationship with Letterman in an effort to squeeze the talk-show host out of $2 million.

As I passed Letterman, who was to honor the late Johnny Carson that evening, I heard him mutter to Birkitt, “I’m not going in, I’m not going in” before plopping himself down on a nearby bus bench.

Surprised by what I had heard and seen, I had a cameraman from Access meet me at the bus stop, where I asked Letterman if I could ask him a few questions. He couldn’t have been more gracious.

First I asked Letterman what the heck he was doing on the bench with minutes to go before the Emmys. Letterman, seated next to Birkett, replied, “We’re just waiting on the bus.” Birkitt then added, “We’re actually about to go in.”

When I then asked Letterman why he wasn’t suited up in a tux, he joked that he was going to wear his shorts that evening: “This is it, this is… pretty expensive this is like an Armani,” before being cut off by Birkett, who said, “Are you ready?”

Birkett clearly enjoyed such a closeness with Letterman that she felt comfortable cutting him off while being interviewed on camera.

That was then. Now Gossip Cop hears that their sexual relationship ended before he married longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko in March 2009.

Gossip Cop also hears that there have been no recorded issues of sexual harassment. Letterman owns the production company behind “Late Show,” Worldwide Pants, and an inside source tells us there have been ZERO complaints.

As for how the talk show host is doing amidst the controversy, the source told Gossip Cop, “Eh, not so well.”

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