newsmakers

September 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

newsmakers

Man in Letterman plot is freed from NY jail

NEW YORK

The former television producer who tried to blackmail David Letterman over the comedian’s office affairs has been freed from a New York City jail. City Department of Correction records show Robert “Joe” Halderman was released Thursday. He served four months of his six-month sentence and got time off for good behavior.

The former CBS News producer admitted he demanded $2 million in hush money last fall to keep from revealing personal information about Letterman. The case spurred the “Late Show” host to reveal on-air that he’d had sex with women on his staff.

Halderman’s lawyer says his client is glad to put jail behind him and is looking for work. Meanwhile, he has to complete 1,000 hours of community service.

Bob Dylan paintings displayed in Denmark

COPENHAGEN

Denmark’s National Gallery is displaying 40 acrylic paintings by Bob Dylan that never before have been shown to the public. Curator Kasper Monrad says the paintings in Dylan’s “Brazil Series” were made specifically for the Danish exhibition, which opens today.

The collection includes figurative scenes from Brazilian slums, farms and beaches. The 69-year-old folk singer sketched the scenes during visits to the South American country and then painted them on canvas in a studio. Dylan was not at Thursday’s presentation of the exhibition, which runs through Jan. 30.

Axl Rose’s tardiness riles Dublin audience

DUBLIN

Axl Rose, it seems, needs a little more patience — and a much louder alarm clock. The 48-year-old singer of U.S. hard-rock band Guns N’ Roses irritated thousands of his Dublin fans at the 02 Arena on Wednesday night by showing up nearly an hour late — a recurring problem on his band’s European tour — and then walking off after an unruly minority in the crowd hurled water bottles on the stage.

Most of the fans left, but Irish concert promoters MCD wouldn’t let Rose leave until he finished the gig. The band went back on stage an hour later to a mostly empty venue and didn’t stop playing until nearly 1 a.m.

MCD and the 02 issued a joint statement criticizing Rose for having “a long history for being late on stage” but emphasized that “no artist should be subjected to missiles and unknown substances being thrown at them.”

Vindicator wire services