Heath Ledger, 28, found dead in New York apartment...

[Invader3K]

The whole vibe I've gotten from this is that it could very well have been an accidentall overdose.

[brewcrewreview]

Barbs,

Sorry, but you aren't making any sense. It is documented that many of Chris Benoit's drugs were prescribed by his doctor as well, just like Ledger, so there is no difference there. They are the same because both abused their prescription medications. Benoit's steriods weren't illegal because he had a doctor prescribe them for him. You are wrong on your assumption there that Chris Benoit was taking drugs illegally.

Hollywood knows that they have a drug problem as well , just as Vince McMahon knew his wrestlers were on steriods, just as Bud Selig and baseball owners, GM's, managers (Phil Garner), and trainers, knew their players were on steriods. So why aren't Hollywood studios doing anything to get their talents off of drugs as well? Why are there no consequences and condemnations for Hollywood studios and even record labels for that matter? Why blame Vince McMahon but not Hollywood studios, record labels, or baseball?

[Team Canada]

Please try to keep this on topic, and avoid any pronouncements about what happened when not all the facts are known yet.

[jason21nl]

Hollywood knows that they have a drug problem as well

what drug problem in Hollywood?

 

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j290/jason21nl/0724071lohan1.jpg

 

 

I do agree that Hollywood is at fault for a lot of deaths and there should be something done to stop it. I don't know how many times Lindsay can be caught doing drugs and still be cast in movie. But they are in it to make money, and Lindsay makes them a lot of money. Just like Vince.

[brewcrewreview]

Thank you Jason. Good to see finally someone gets my point.

[TooLiveBrew]

Benoit's steriods weren't illegal because he had a doctor prescribe them for him. You are wrong on your assumption there that Chris Benoit was taking drugs illegally.

 

Ask Paul Byrd how his prescription is holding up. A prescription doesn't mean automatically that a drug is legal. If Ledger died via sleeping pills, that's a different situation from anabolic steroids imo.

[DuWayne Steurer]

how can you BLAME Hollywood? These are grown adults, free to make choices, right or wrong. Movie producers don't care what these people do on their free time, and if they start trying to cast with only clean, non-drinking, non-cheating, morally pure people, they're going to find their casting lists pretty damn short.

 

And every time someone famous dies, there's always a post "it's no more tragic than when Joe Average dies".

 

No, I don't think anyone is saying that it is. But it still sucks for that person's family and friends, and the truth of the matter is when we lose a Heath Ledger, Shawn Taylor, heck, even a Bobby Fischer, anyone that entertains us, the world is just a tiny little bit less interesting for not having them in it any longer.

 

The disrespect for the dead galls me sometimes. Until someone knows what it's like to feel so depressed that you're standing on the brink, don't be so quick to judge.

[homer]

For the record, I feel bad about these guys too:

 

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=710500

[heresrobin]

Brewcrew,

 

I still don't understand why you feel sorry for Benoit's family and friends, but with Ledger's situation you say:

 

Why should I feel bad for his ex-wife, kid, and other family and friends of his when he obviously didn't care that much about them?

Sort of boggling my mind. Care to expand on that?

[DuWayne Steurer]

Thank you Jason. Good to see finally someone gets my point.

 

I'm certain everyone "got the point", they were just disagreeing with it.

 

[Barbs4339]

Also, there are thousands and thousands of actors in this country. Kind of tough to drug test all of them to make sure they are clean. Comparing steroids to painkillers, sleeping pills, or anti-depressants is also way off base. Steroids are being taken illegally to gain an upper hand in an individuals profession. Yet there is someone that is revering Chris Benoit but feels nothing for Heath Ledger and his now fatherless child. I too am trying to understand that.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yet there is someone that is revering Chris Benoit but feels nothing for Heath Ledger and his now fatherless child.

 

That's not what he said at all.

 

I don't feel anything at all for Chris Benoit except anger. What he did was unforgiveable to say the very least.

That's BCR, from post #45.

[brewcrewreview]

Thanks TooLive,

You responded on that before I could. Barb has had a combination of being uninformed about Chris Benoit's "illegal" drug use, which it wasn't because he had prescriptions for his drugs and misquoting me.

To answer someone else's question, I feel for Nancy and Daniel Benoit's family and friends because they did not make the choice to abuse and overdose on drugs, like Chris Benoit and Heath Ledger did. They were the innocent victims of Chris Benoit's irrational choices.

As far as the person who asked how can we test in Hollywood when there are thousands of actors, well there are thousands of combined major and minor league athletes in various sports like football, baseball, and basketball to name a few, and they are tested. Hollywood definitely has the dough and resources to test if they chose to.

[TooLiveBrew]

Barb has had a combination of being uninformed about Chris Benoit's "illegal" drug use, which it wasn't because he had prescriptions for his drugs and misquoting me.

Except that having a prescription doesn't necessarily mean it's not illegal.

[Barbs4339]

If I misquoted you, I apologize. Just so I am clear, you can only be a victim if your dead? So a victim of rape is not really a victim? So Heath's family, friends, and 2 year old daughter are not innocent victims? As a child, I would be devasted to have lost a parent, especially that early on. As a parent, I could not imagine losing either of my children that young. It would be devasting and I honestly do not know how I would cope with that. And just so I'm clear on this, depression and sleeping disorders are diseases. If he was taking pills, at least he was trying to overcome those problems. And all signs are still pointing to accidental. So again, I do not understand how you cannot feel any compassion for those in his life that he left behind.

 

And why are we just limiting drug testing to those in Hollywood? Doesn't every employer has a resposibility to keep their employees safe? Should we all be tested on a monthly basis? And just what exactly do you plan on testing for? You cannot predict some will OD on painkiller or anti-depressants. Are people in Hollywood the only ones that are depressed and committ suicide or are those just the ones we here about. For every Heath Ledger, there are thousands of others that this happens to, but are not in the public eye.

[Point Beer Is Best]

I simply cannot believe the harsh judgment that is being passed on Ledger before we even know all the facts. The "suicide" theory is losing ground. From this link:

 

Prescription sleeping pills and anti-anxiety pills were found in bottles in Ledger's bedroom and bathroom. Police said the death was caused by a possible drug overdose and appeared to be accidental.

The autopsy results were inconclusive, so all we'll get is speculation. I'm not going to get into how wrong comparing Benoit to Ledger is, it's pointless.

[Katuluu]

A prescription does not make it legal. Most athletes and Hollywood "stars" have prescriptions for the drugs they are using, take Rush Limbaugh for example. Heath Ledger even had prescriptions for the drugs found in his room.

 

That being said, Ledger did have a heroin addiction, and went in for treatment for it shortly after he and his wife separated last September. But the treatment was only for a few days, so the likely hood it did much good is pretty low. He also reportedly had a tryst with Lindsey Lohan a month ago, which is probably not the best company for a depressed drug addict to be keeping.

 

As for the drugs he was prescribed so far what has been confirmed is Ambien (sleeping pills), generic Xanax (anxiety disorders or depression), and generic Valium (sedative and muscle relaxant).

 

As for suicide being selfish, I highly recommend people watch the film The Bridge and reserve any judgements or opinions until afterwards.

[jason21nl]

He also reportedly had a tryst with Lindsey Lohan a month ago, which is probably not the best company for a depressed drug addict to be keeping.

I swear I didn't know that when I posted the picture of her.

[PlayerHader]

I read that he has been clean of drug use for nearly a year now.

 

Might never know for sure, but it seems pretty evident that Ledger was a good person, a talented actor, and a loving father. How anyone isn't saddened by this to some degree is not understandable to me.

[jordanmuehl]

The autopsy was inconclusive, so now they'll have to wait about 10 days to get more information about the toxicology results.

[pitchleague]

I wonder if this will be an episode of CSI:NY next season.

 

Speaking of which, if toxicology reports in the real world take 7-10 days, how come those shows can get them in a matter of hours? Yeah, yeah, I know. It's TV.

[brewers19]

Probably the same reason that they can do DNA tests in 30 minutes and somehow magically increase the resolution of digital photos enough for a gas station security camera to read someone's name tag from across the street.

[sgtcluels]

But it's on TV B19, it has to be true.

 

Those "Let me enhance the video" from grainy to clear just bugs the crap out of me. And for christ sake, put on a freaking bio suit so you stop contaminating the crime scene!

[Paul77]

Just thought I'd follow up with the latest. No illegal drugs were found in his apartment. All the pills found were in prescription bottles - not strewn about. The rolled up $20 bill had no drug residue on it. It seems like this is shaping up to be an accidental overdose of some kind as opposed to a suicide.

 

On another note, his next character was to be the Joker in the new Batman film. This Joker is supposed to be dark, evil even and just blow people away (and from what I've seen so far, it looked fantastic). WB has had a massive, ongoing viral marketing campaign for months now focusing exclusively on the Joker and death and what a sick twisted person he is. I wonder how well WB is going to reposition their marketing of "The Dark Knight".

[jason21nl]

just saw on CNN that it was ruled an accidental overdose.

 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/06/heath.ledger/index.html

 

 

we all probably should reserve judgment in the future before we know all the facts.