Sources: ‘Late Show’ staffers were unaware of Letterman’s bombshell

Much of the buzz around David Letterman’s late-night revelation keeps circling back to one question: Why was the studio audience laughing? Viewers who watched it on TV or online immediately took to Twitter to express everything from bewilderment to outrage over the audience's reaction. Shawn Ryan, creator of the FX show "The Shield," opined, "What a fascinating confession/comedy act from Letterman. Audience didn't know how to respond at parts." Another Twitter user going by the handle "Brain" stated, "Letterman audience clapped when he said he had sex with staffers. It's a world gone mad." But maybe the reason the audience’s reaction was so odd is that the "Late Show" staffers who prepped them had no idea about Letterman’s bombshell.

Yahoo! News has learned from sources close to the show that employees who do audience prep were not made aware of the situation prior to the taping. Discussing the subject of who did and didn't know beforehand, one source said, "Only the show's producers knew what was about to go down," adding that many "Late Show" staffers learned of the situation watching off-stage monitors in real time as Letterman weaved his tale. So the routine in which the audience was prepped, which usually involves a heavy emphasis on laughing and applauding often and loudly, was not altered in any way. Thus, the audience, meticulously prepped for a good time at a nationally televised comedy show, probably thought that Letterman's story was a comedy bit, as is most often the case.

In the aftermath of Letterman's revelations, many will be watching to see what his late night talk show host cohorts do in response. Normally, scandals involving famous people that are sexual in nature make for great late night comedy fodder, but will Conan, Leno, Kimmel and Fallon band together to protect a member of the exclusive club they're in? Of that group, Jay Leno seems to be the most likely to make jokes about the situation, especially considering the past public feuds between the two, in addition to the frequent shots Letterman has taken at Leno and his new prime time show in recent weeks. And it's probably safe to assume that Craig Ferguson will steer clear of Letterman sex jokes, seeing that his show follows Letterman's on CBS and, most significantly, his show is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants.

Some are also wondering how the scandal will affect Letterman's comedy going forward. How could he possibly make fun of the sexual misadventures of people like John Edwards and Mark Sanford after his own dirty laundry has been aired for public consumption? Also up in the air is whether Letterman's audience, which recently eclipsed the Tonight Show's in size for the first time in years, will be so turned off by the revelations that they tune his show out. These and a host of other questions, some of them involving the legal ramifications of a boss engaging in sexual activities with underlings, remain to be answered.

-- Brett Michael Dykes is a contributor to the Yahoo! News Blog.