PR Firm Hypocritical to Ask ET to Pull Heath Ledger Video

Recently, the television show Entertainment Tonight came into possession of a certain video which allegedly shows a celebrity in a state of intoxication. Normally, this would be commonplace on such a show. Why is this particular video causing such a commotion?

The celebrity in this video is none other than deceased actor Heath Ledger.

Ledger died in his New York City apartment on January 22 from what is believed to have been a drug overdose. It is thought by authorities that the overdose was accidental and as of the writing of this particular article no illegal substance have been found in Ledger's apartment nor in his system. Still, a video showcasing an under-the-influence Ledger would be a money maker for any paparazzi show such as ET.

Unfortunately for the show, it doesn't appear that the video will be airing on ET anytime soon. According to an Associated Press story, Ledger's PR firm requested that the video not be shown by ET. The AP story goes on to say that actresses Natalie Portman and Sarah Jessica Parker also contacted ET to persuade the show to not air the video.

Reports state that the video does show drug use taking place at the party. However, it does not display Ledger taking any illegal substances. Ledger is seen drinking a beer in the video, hardly an illegal activity. The AP story reports that at one point during the video Ledger states that he "used to smoke five joints a day" but that alone has no correlation with the actor's death, especially considering that the video is from two years ago.

However, the AP reports that ET decided to pull the video for the clichéd reason "out of respect for Heath Ledger's family." Of course, neither ET nor multiple news stations around the world found it to be inappropriate to show the medical examiner's office wheel out a body-bagged Ledger from his Manhattan apartment. There's no question that ET would not have pulled the video if not for the public relations disaster it would have brought to the show.