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Heath Ledger: ET Nixes Drug Video, as Williams Fights Tabloid "Lies"
Heath Ledger by Serge Thomann/ WireImage.com
Though they both promoted the airing of a video allegedly showing Heath Ledger using drugs, Entertainment Tonight and sister show The Insider have elected not to broadcast the incendiary clip. "Out of respect for Heath Ledger's family, [we] have decided not to run the... video which has been circulating in the world media," the infotainment mags said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, Michelle Williams — Ledger's ex-fiancée, and the mother of his 2-year-old daughter — is lashing out against Us Weekly, which in its new cover story posits that the actress once tried to take Ledger to rehab, only to have him refuse. "Much of the tabloid reporting is inaccurate," says the onetime couple's publicist. "This fabricated story of Michelle Williams attempting to bring Heath Ledger to rehab is just one lie among many. The speculation is heinous. Let this family grieve privately."
Related:
• Ledger's Final Film Might Be Completed
• NYPD Has "Absolutely No" Plans to Interview Olsen Twin
• Day-Lewis Dedicates SAG Win to Heath Ledger
• Photo gallery: Heath Ledger's Life in Pictures
• Photo gallery: Heath Ledger Remembered
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Jan 31, 2008 11:45 AM
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I'm now officially done with stories about Heath Ledger. Let him rest in peace and let his family grieve and heal in peace.
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Jan 31, 2008 12:02 PM
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At least someone with a little decency at ET put a stop to that. The promo they ran during yesterday's show for today's planned airing of the tape was unbelievably salacious and low class!
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Jan 31, 2008 12:28 PM
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Tape? I'm wondering if there is even such a recording. Sounds like pure publicity bullsh!t, to me.
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Jan 31, 2008 12:32 PM
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I read elsewhere that a big publicity firm (that represents Jake Gyllenhaal, among many many others) threatened to make their entire roster unavailable to ET if they aired it. Whether the video is real or not, it's out of context, and shows nothing of Heath doing anything but drinking beer.
I'm with lovejackbauer...so tired of the muck being raked. I'd like to hear the final autopsy reports, just to know, but the rest, yes, I'm done with it.
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Jan 31, 2008 12:45 PM
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Well, thats fantastic that they're not airing it - nevermind the fact that the first headline on every "news" website is about how they're not going to show it!! Its gotten more publicity than if they had aired it.
And don't think for a moment that they pulled it out of decency. It was under durress from decent people, as another poster mentioned.
If the media want to provide stories about Heath because they think thats what people want to see, how about writing tributes to the man, showing clips from his work, or doing stories about his early career that people may not know about? He was not a notorious partier or a troublemaker, he was a sky and kind man. I wish he could be treated with respect.
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Jan 31, 2008 1:33 PM
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And yet, sadly, so many others will feel it their right to know *the truth*. To buy US Weekly, People, watch ET and The Insider. Because they feel they are entitled and to hell with the privacy and respect for the dead.
Only ratings and money matter to these *news* agencies (and I use the term EXTREMELY loosely). They'd sell out their own kids and families for the opportunity. And worse, the American lemmings, err... public, would still buy it all up.
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Jan 31, 2008 2:05 PM
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Ahhhh. It is SO refreshing for a tabloid to take the high road for a change... or it would be, if only one of them actually would!
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Jan 31, 2008 2:08 PM
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I am so tired of all these paparazzi people looking for any flaw in anyone. Let him and his family rest. The only thing the public is "entitled" to anymore is the cause of his death if even that.
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Jan 31, 2008 2:11 PM
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I am so glad that these shows won't be airing this video ... when I first heard about it I was irate. It's so inconsiderate of Heath's memory and of his friends and family. I'm also glad Michelle spoke out. It's good to see that even when a Hollywood couple breaks up (as they did last September before his death last week) that they can still stick up for one another. I like that girl more and more each day and Matilda Rose is very lucky to have her as her mother.
To all the tabloid magazines and tv shows out there ... Please let Heath rest in peace and let his friends and family grieve in peace.
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Jan 31, 2008 3:04 PM
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what a disgusting story. ET gets to say to the world "look at us, look at us, WE got the video...", and then pretend they are such "decent" people for choosing not to show it. what scum!!!
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Jan 31, 2008 3:09 PM
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As for the video of Heath Ledger--it's obscene that any legitimate news outlet would show this. Unless someone proves that he died from an overdose of illegal drugs, what he did in 2006 is not relevant. It's sensationalism and exploitation of the worst kind. His family and friends are suffering enough without this trash.
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Jan 31, 2008 3:27 PM
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I stopped watching ET a long time ago. They seem to have no boundaries and nothing they say is ever important. That video that they were so eager to show is not important just like it is not important to show Britney going to the gas station every day. Heath Ledger is gone and his family and friends should be able to mourn his death without dealing with idiots trying to show him as a drug addict. No one knows why he died yet. What happened to the days when after someone dies, people express their condolences, say something nice about the person and leave it that?
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Jan 31, 2008 3:54 PM
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Did anyone see Heath's mention by Joel McHale on The Soup? I thought it was nice. They are never nice to anyone, but seemed to feel that his personality and decency warranted a personal plea to the rest of the media to stop raking his memory over the coals. It was touchingly out of character for that show. Way to go, Joel.
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Jan 31, 2008 4:55 PM
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Entertainment Tonight:media :: Dr.Phil:doctor
ET, US Weekly, The Insider, etc. these are all "media" sources that thrive on lies. There just is NOT enough entertainment news to keep these outlets running without deceit. Nearly every minor story they grasp onto, they destroy with lies and deception. Leave the guy alone. Enough is enough.
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Jan 31, 2008 5:05 PM
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