ET pays $200,000 for video of Heath Ledger snorting cocaine. *UPDATE*
I hope it’s worth it! Sheesh.
Entertainment Tonight and The Insider have purchased exclusive rights to tragic video footage of Heath Ledger allegedly snorting cocaine at a party two years ago.
The footage, which PageSix.com hears was bought for $200,000, was shot without Heath’s knowledge, at the Chateau Marmont hotel in L.A. following the SAG awards on January 29, 2006.
In the video, Heath is shown talking while at a private party after sniffing a cocaine-like substance off a table with a rolled up bill in his hand. As he speaks, his face noticeably twitches.
An insider tells PageSix.com that Heath says at one point, “I’m gonna get so much sh*t from my girlfriend. We have a baby together… Matilda, Matilda Rose.”
ET and The Insider planned to show the clip later this week. PageSix.com understands this is now “under review.”
UPDATE: ET has released the following statement…
Out of respect for Heath Ledger’s family, “Entertainment Tonight” has decided not to run the Heath Ledger video being released to the world media today.
Please credit a Spokesperson for “Entertainment Tonight.”
Out of respect for Heath Ledger’s family!?!!?!? YEAH RIGHT!!! If they had respected Heath Ledger’s family in the first place - they wouldn’t have spent $200,000 on securing the rights to the footage! They just probably got so much sh*t for stooping to such a low. I predict someone’s getting fired over this one!
January 30th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Well, I guess nobody every accused ET and The Insider of being classy.
January 30th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Listen, I hate to think about even the tabloid press showing this thing…but on the other hand, if it can dissuade one young person from taking that first hit, or save one cokehead form death, then maybe it’s worth it?
There are a helluva alot of actors and musicians that could be the next death announcement in this business. Anything that might stop that is a good thing.
January 30th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
oh boy… can’t the man rest in peace?
January 30th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I wonder if it would have helped him if that video had been shown before his death.
January 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
A video from 2 years ago? Who cares? I’d rather remember him as a great actor, a wonderful father and a person who didn’t disgrace himself in public every weekend. Let the man RIP.
January 30th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
What’s sad is that it doesn’t even show him snorting cocaine. It just shows him talking about how he used to smoke joints all the time, and to me it looked like he had a joint in his hand. Maybe I’m being naive, but…
January 30th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Ubie, I haven’t seen it but that’s not surprising - the media sensationalizing a story for publicity - SHOCKER! If that’s true, this is even more of an abomination. Snorting coke and doing heroin is one thing - smoking pot is quite another. And if I have to see that dumb bitch (AKA Naomi Campbell’s ex-assistant) on Inside Edition one more time talking about how she sold coke to him or something, I’m going to reach through my TV and strangle her.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
i wish they’d just leave this alone. he is not the ONLY celebrity in hollywood that does cocaine. that’s not saying it’s an okay thing to do, but he should not be singled out, especially since he is no longer with us. i think ET has stooped to a definite new low, & it’s sick. they showed a preview of the tape tonight, why would they say “out of respect for heath’s family” they didn’t show the whole tape? that’s just crap. they’re lower than low.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:04 am
That is JUST NASTY!!! Heath needs to R.I. P…And, whoever said the INSIDER & ET are trash, is RIGHT!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:42 am
I have been watching ET since I was a kid (am now 34). Harmless fun. But last night seeing Mary Hart’s hypocritical faux sympathy while abusing a heartbreaking situation made me switch it off for the last time. There was absolutely no value in showing an OLD video of someone at their worst AFTER THEY DIE. We have all done something at somepoint that we knew we shouldn’t do or knew was stupid and irresponsible but found ourselves in the situation nonetheless. Imagine if someone filmed you at that point. And broadcast it while pretending to care. ET really were EXCLUSIVE last night. I’ll exclude myself from watching their program from now on.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:23 am
I can’t believe that sh*t!! It makes me soooo mad!! A video like that, that is TWO YEARS OLD, is not something that needs to be shown. What if his daughter grows up…gets on the internet…searches for her dad and that pulls up??? That is NOT something I think should be out there for everyone to see— especially his daughter!!!!
LET HIM RIP!!!
January 31st, 2008 at 6:58 am
Katrina, well said. God bless his soul. And Fel, I totally agree with you. That was the last straw.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:59 am
Wow, so Heath was a drug user, who would have thought it. Celebs who make their way to rehab are ridiculed for doing so and those that drop dead because they have drug problems that have probably caused problems for them, because they can not handle life are turned into saints. Heath allegedly had a problem, there is a video of him taking or talking about taking drugs out there. Sure, this is a sad time and he conducted himself in public as if all was honky dory but the fact of the matter is that his life was not honky dory. The bloggers, internet have suddenly turned Ledger into some kind of god. If this video was of Brad Renfro, I wonder how many people will even grumble about it being shown.
A tragic thing happened but let the truth about Ledger be out there rather than him being made into some kind of James Dean.
January 31st, 2008 at 8:28 am
I, THINK WE ALL HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT HE WAS HUMAN, AND HE HAS WEAKNESSES JUST LIKE WE ALL DO, AND YEAH HE HAS MADE SOME BAD CHOICES, AND HAS TO PAY FOR THEM, HE IS GONE NOW I THINK WE SHOULD REMEMBER HIM FOR THE ACTOR HE WAS NOT FOR HIS FLAWS!! R.I.P. HEATH!!!