Breakfast w/Greg: Letterman’s disclosure; Austin Peck update; Ratings for “Glee” are up!

Happy Friday everyone!

Can you believe all this crazy stuff going on in the world?

I was reading Huffington Post awhile ago and you read the headlines and it seems like the whole world has gone crazy!

First of all, Chicago did not get the Olympics despite the efforts of President Obama. The finalists are now Madrid and Rio. I’ve been to Rio for Carnavale and it is paradise.

In other news, I haven’t weighed in on the whole Roman Polanski situation because I wonder why there is such a debate: he needs to face the music. I am stunned by how much of a divide this has caused among people. It’s bizarre that LA didn’t go after him sooner but it is hard to come down on the director’s side on this.

Then there is this David Letterman scandal. What the heck? One day he’s clowning around and eating pizza with Madonna and the next he’s telling his audience that he slept with some female staffers and was being blackmailed over it. The fact that it the blackmail was allegedly by an employee of CBS News makes it all the more scandalous.

Dave told his audience that he had to testify before a grand jury on Thursday: “I was worried for myself, I was worried for my family. I felt menaced by this, and I had to tell them all of the creepy things that I had done.”

He said “the creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. My response to that is yes, I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Yes, it would, especially for the women.”

“It’s been a very bizarre experience,” he added. “I felt like I needed to protect these people. I need to protect my family. I need to protect myself. Hope to protect my job.”

Wit his ratings soaring past The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien these days, I think Dave’s job is pretty safe for now.

AUSTIN OUT AT ATWT: Well this is annoying. Just as I began to really appreciate the work of the gorgeous Austin Peck on As the World Turns – and feature him as a Morning Man just days ago – comes word that he has been let go by the CBS soap.

Nooo!

“I’m not happy,” Austin tells Soap Opera Digest. “I love playing Brad and I love working with the people here. I love coming to work. I’m bummed.”

Austin, whose indie film Blue Toothed Virgin was released last week, said he was not expecting to be written out of the show: “I was surprised. I was disappointed.”

He tells the magazine that his exit is story-driven and not a matter of his being fired: “It was a well-thought out story … it involves a lot of different characters and everyone does a terrific job.”

With his looks and talent, I’m sure Austin will not be unemployed for long. Good luck to him!

GLEEFUL RATINGS: Well, some good news finally. The ratings for FOX’s wonderful show about a high school glee club are going up – a very promising sign for a new series.

The show’s fourth episode of the season was its highest rated to date and bodes well for the future of the show which has already been green-lit for an entire season. The show, which stars Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch as faculty members and a host of young talent playing students, drew 7.32 million viewers and won the 9-10 p.m. hour in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-34.