"Entertainment Tonight" Pulls Heath Ledger Drug Party Video Under Pressure from Hollywood

February 07, 2008 by
JON C. HOPWOOD  
JON C. HOPWOOD
JON C. HOPWOOD
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Entertainment Tonight  |  Perth  |  Michelle Williams

Ledger's Death Ruled an Accidental Overdose by the New York City Medical Examiner

The syndicated celebrity "journalism" TV program Entertainment Tonight canceled its plans to broadcast a 2006 video featuring the late actor Heath Ledger at an alleged drugs party after it experienced a backlash over its sister
"Entertainment Tonight" Pulls Heath Ledger Drug Party Video Under Pressure from Hollywood
 show The Insider running a "teaser" preview of the video on Wednesday, January 30, 2008. The preview showed a man that is NOT Heath ledger snorting cocaine, but did contain the late actor talking about his former marijuana habit. Entertainment Tonight reportedly paid $200,000 for the video.

Heath Ledger's death was ruled an accidental overdose of prescription medications by the New York City coroner. Ledger had six medications in his blood stream, including the pain killers oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone. Kim Ledger, Heath's father, issued a statement after the Office of the Medical Examiner's report warning the public about the dangers of prescription drugs and once again asking the press and public to respect the family's privacy.

The latest development in the Heath Ledger story comes a week after a brouhaha broke out over Entertainment Tonight's intent to further exploit the young actor's death. After cancelling its plans to air the Ledger video, the Web sites of both celebrity-themed TV shows carried a disclaimer stating, "Out of respect for Heath Ledger's family, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video that has been circulating in the world media." However, the real reason that Entertainment Tonight pulled the video was a Hollywood reaction against what was perceived as the exploitative treatment of the star's death.

The 28-year-old Australian movie star, who had been nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, died of an apparent drug overdose on January 22nd, in a Manhattan apartment he sublet from fellow celebrity Mary Kate Olsen. The death started a media feeding frenzy that reached its climax with the broadcast of the teaser preview on The Insider a week later. The Hollywood community was appalled, feeling it was bottom-feeding at its worst.

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  • Heath Ledger's death was ruled an accidental overdose by the New York City coroner
 
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When the camera began, Heath played his best even while he was sick. When the camera stopped taping, Heath coughed and appeared sick. Yet it was Heath Ledger's green light that made his body weaker, a curse of an actively determined mind. The video in question only picks up a couple sentences in audio as Heath describes that he should be with his girlfriend and daughter, plus how he carried around a rolled up piece of paper to remind him about his strengths since he quit smoking marijuana many months before. This, as friends clarified, answers the rolled up bill found after he passed. The tape suggests false ideas as Heath is not taking any of the drugs. It had to be pulled. The cast members, Heath's friends and the medical examiner in the investigation had all agreed that illegal drugs were not Heath's style. Remember Heath researched for his videos and movies so perhaps that was all it came to be, research. All the same, entertaining article indeed.
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Posted on 07/30/2008 at 10:07:10 PM

Heath Ledger may still be alive today if Hollywood wasn't hiding all of their boys' problems. I read in the NYTimes today that "a video of Heath Ledger hanging out at a drug-fueled party two years before his death would seem to constitue must-see material....But when such a video ended up in the hands of the producers of "ET," the program declined to broadcast it 'out of respect for Heath Ledger's family.'" Why isn't Hollywood pulling articles out of respect for Britney Spear's family and children? Maybe he'd still be alive and his kids would still have a doting father if they'd gone after him like the do (present tense--she's still alive) Brittney Spears. Also, why didn't we hear anything about Owen Wilson till he'd practically killed himself? This is a double standard that is not fair to anyone. (In an odd way favors the girls who hopefully take the opportunity of cleaning up their acts before the insane pressure puts them over the edge.)
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Posted on 02/17/2008 at 7:02:19 AM

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