Top Ten Moments of the Oscars

An on-stage musical extravaganza. Two epic gay rights speeches. Sean Penn's upset win for Milk. The 2009 Oscars were easily the gayest yet. More »

Mary-Kate Olsen Beats Coppers — Again

Mary-Kate Olsen WINS. Twice law-enforcement authorities have tried pressuring the dopey lil' actress into telling what she knows about the death of close personal friend Heath Ledger, and twice now she has successfully beaten them back — the only person connected to Ledger to successfully do so. Federal sources told first the Daily News and now the Post that U.S. prosecutors have withdrawn their investigation into the death of actor Ledger, forcing the Drug Enforcement Administration to drop demands to interview Olsen. That's a fairly humiliating retreat for an agency that just two days ago implied it would use a Grand Jury subpoena to force Olsen to tell what she knows after word leaked of frustration in its offices over Olsen's demands for immunity. Especially because the feds really did have a subpoena. Reports the News: More »

Deepening Mary-Kate Olsen Immunity Mystery

The Associated Press now has its own law-enforcement source stating that Mary-Kate Olsen is demanding immunity before she will talk with federal agents investigating the January death of actor Heath Ledger, as the Post reported this morning. The immunity request is now all but confirmed. Olsen's attorney didn't bother to deny it in a statement addressing a number of other questions raised by the Post story, such as whether Olsen helped Ledger procure OxyContin: More »

The Curse of The Dark Knight

Remember Poltergeist, that 1982 horror film that was rumored to be plagued by a curse? What with the untimely deaths of two of its young stars, and reports of various odd occurrences on set. Can a movie be cursed? The Exorcist saw its fair share of mishaps, including injuries and the deaths of several crew members, as did Peter Berg's recent flop The Kingdom. And then there's Valkyrie. Well, it looks as though The Dark Knight, that Batman blockbuster mega-machine that's roiling in movie theatres currently, may be joining those ranks. Death and violence has surrounded three of its stars since the movie wrapped, Morgan Freeman's car accident last night being the most recent. More »

Dodgy Olsen Demands Immunity In Ledger Doping

In the heated days of confusion and mourning immediately following the January death of Heath Ledger, many of the actor's admirers loudly proclaimed it absurd to raise questions about the role played by the actor's friend Mary-Kate Olsen in his death and aftermath. New York police concluded their investigation into Ledger's death without even interviewing the elfish young actress, even though, as the Post repeatedly pointed out, she was told of Ledger's death before emergency responders and even though her bodyguards may have arrived at his apartment just before paramedics, who Olsen did not bother to call. Having stayed on the story, the Post today reports that federal drug agents are pressing Olsen hard to cooperate in their investigation into how Ledger obtained the powerful painkiller OxyContin without a prescription — and into what happened to the bottle: More »

The Scale of Celebrity Death

Tim Russert died. I'm not sure if you've heard. But, yes, the Meet the Press moderator and dedicated D.C. journalist passed away, at a too-young 58, last week and the media has been in a frenzy since. Jack Shafer at Slate (among many others, I'm sure) feels that the coverage is a bit overdone. Yes Russert was by all accounts a good guy and a good worker and just one of those decent people that feel in short supply, especially in Washington, especially in the media. But isn't it still a bit much? All the tributes and montages and teary testimonials. I mean, nearly every life deserves parades and fireworks and tears and montages when it ends. But, because this is on TV and people are being paid, somewhere, doesn't this seem all a bit circusy? Maybe that's cynical, but television has, to some extent, earned our cynicism. If this is indeed a "circus," then where does it rank among other notable, much-covered celebrity deaths? A writer for Psychology Today says it's the biggest death since John Lennon. We disagree. We'll put this all in some context after the jump. More »

The Drugs That Killed Heath Ledger

Hey, everyone remember how Heath Ledger did all that cocaine and heroin at Hollywood "Drug Parties"? And how it killed him? Turns out, he was killed by legal drugs—perhaps ones given to him by doctors! The establishment killed him! Not, shockingly, all that deadly Mary Jane. No, the pills that did Ledger in are a bit more respectable, and all quite familiar to your standard self-diagnosing doctor-shopping members of the creative under- and over-classes. More »

Heath Ledger Died of an Accidental Overdose

The New York medical examiner's office declared today that actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of anti-anxiety drugs and sleep aids. Autopsy and toxicology results find that Ledger wasn't under the influence of illegal substances at the time of his death at his SoHo apartment on January 22nd. "The medical examiner released results of the toxicology report Wednesday, saying Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine." [WNBC]

Shock Video Of Dead Star Doing Drugs At Party

So quite how shocking is tape of dead actor, Heath Ledger, taking drugs at a party at Chateau Marmont? From the promo clips broadcast last night on The Insider and shown here, not that much. The revelation would be a party at the eternally fashionable Hollywood hotel at which celebrities weren't on something. The tape isn't worth $200,000, even if The Insider were to go ahead with the full broadcast. The closest thing to a money shot is someone (the actor?) leaning down to snort cocaine from a table. But most of the video consists of images of John Belushi, to underline the point that celebrity and drugs can be a fatal combination, talking heads to ensure the viewer is as shocked as she should be, and Ledger wandering the room in dreamy slow-motion. My unthinking reaction: even in blurry amateur video, the Australian actor looked good. But that's the amoral coastal cosmopolitan talking.

The Missing Three Minutes

The New York Post claimed yesterday that police were looking to interview Mary-Kate Olsen about the death of her friend, Australian actor Heath Ledger. Police spokespeople and the tabloid's competitors, including Gawker, may have been too quick to rubbish the line of inquiry. Today, The Post ups the pressure with a set of questions unanswered the hard-partying actress: "Why did she send her bodyguards to the scene? Why didn't she tell the masseuse who found Ledger's body to call 911? Why did she think her security guards could help in a medical emergency?" But there's more: an eyewitness account to be published in tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph, in Australia, claims Mary-Kate Olsen's bodyguards entered Heath Ledger's building three minutes before the arrival of paramedics at 3.33pm, not simultaneously, as previously reported. Which begs another question. The police discovered a wide array of prescription drugs in the Brokeback star's apartment, but no illegal substances. Would Olsen's bodyguards have had time, or instructions, to remove any embarrassing evidence? (TMZ.com sources still maintain police were present at all times one of Olsen's bodyguards was present. Hunh?)

How Not To Die Like Heath Ledger

Thanks, health and public policy journalist Maia Szalavitz, for finally writing some Heath Ledger News We Can Use. Her service-y piece for HuffPo is called "What We Can Learn from Heath Ledger's Death: Don't Mix Downs!!!" In a perfect world, it would run in the crappy health section of every major Sunday paper, instead of "TEARFUL CHILD THANKS DEAD ORGAN DONOR" or whatever. Here's how to avoid dying like Heath Ledger: More »

John Gibson Sews Up Heath Ledger Memorial Bad Taste Award

You know what really cracks up Fox News host John Gibson? The untimely death of Heath Ledger! The one thing John Gibson knows about Heath Ledger is that Heath Ledger kissed a boy in a gay movie for gay gays, and therefore, he was probably a total gay himself, in real life. Therefore, his death is hilarious! On his radio program the other day, the hero journalist mocked Ledger's death something like half a dozen times, opening his show with a hilarious quip about Ledger quitting us and wondering if perhaps the actor killed himself after witnessing the poor performace of John Edwards in the last presidential debate. It's funny 'cause the authorities no longer suspect suicide! Even the guests joined in, with funnyman Tom Sullivan calling him "Keith Bledger" and the lady cohost whose name we didn't catch wondering, mockingly, if Keith was perhaps a "deep thinker." Can you believe that wacky morning zoo crew went there? They're saying what we're not really thinking, because what the fuck? Listen and sputter! [Think Progress, MSNBC, Previously]

Ledger's Sleeping Hits

Maybe that despised manager at Best Buy, who rushed to display of DVDs starring Heath Ledger, understood us better than we did ourselves. Amazon.com's chart of the most popular DVDs for sale, usually dominated by those recently released, contains three new arrivals: 10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale and Brokeback Mountain — in 6th, 11th and 13th place respectively. All three movies on the online retailer's top 25 list star the Australian actor who died, of an apparent overdose, on Tuesday. (Of course more want to remember Ledger as high-school hero, or lusty knight, than as sad gay cowboy, the 28-year-old star's most critically acclaimed role.) After the jump, the chart. More »

Bad Taste Roundup

Above, a makeshift tribute to both the late Heath Ledger and the almighty dollar, found at a Best Buy in San Diego. It's the tip of the bad taste iceberg. Join us on a trip through the void where we once pretended to store the concept of our shared humanity, won't you? More »

Heath Ledger's Geographic Appeal

Part of Heath Ledger's appeal, to a certain breed of cultural snob, was geographic. The Australian actor, who had come to Hollywood at the age of 19, received less attention from the paparazzi and the entertainment media complex when he crossed to New York. But, in exchange, he gained some cultural cachet. More »

A Look Back At Heath Ledger Coverage 2008-

Everyone is pretty aghast at the untimely death of the handsome and talented 28-year-old Australian actor Heath Ledger. He was found dead in an apartment at 421 Broome Street at 3:26PM by his masseuse and pronounced dead at 3:45PM. Moments later reports of his death, each telling augmented with bits of speculation, started to circulate. As we noted, the New York Times' Sewell Chan was strangely all over the story though Radar seemed to the first to post the news at 4:36pm. Soon Maggie posted an item on Gawker, TMZ and PageSix.com both reported, erroneously "world exclusives" and the race was on. A scrum of cameras gathered outside 421 Broome St. Yes, one was ours. More »

Time To Go Home

Past a crowd of hundreds of cameramen and onlookers, Heath Ledger's body is removed from 421 Broome Street, the building in Manhattan's Soho where he was found earlier this afternoon.

Heath Ledger, Actor: 1979-2008

Australian-American screen actor Heath Ledger is dead. Ledger was an Oscar-nominated leading man with an admirable career both artistically and at the box office—he may currently be seen in 2007's art-house sleeper I'm Not There and he'll soon be opening across the nation as the iconic Joker, the lead villain in next chapter in the Batman film franchise. He died in Manhattan. He was 28. More »

Actor Heath Ledger Found Dead In New York

"A New York Police Department spokesman says the actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence," according to the AP. The Times says a masseuse and a housekeeper found his body at 421 Broome Street.

Farewell, Heathchelle