In a rare display of unity, Hollywood rallied to the side of Heath Ledger to protest the airing of a two-year-old tape showing the deceased actor at a drug-fueled hotel party that was yanked off U.S. airwaves.
Hollywood news shows Entertainment Tonight and The Insider had both planned to air the alleged Heath Ledger drug tape on Thursday.
After they had aired portions of the controversial video on the East Coast, the two celebrity news shows said Wednesday evening that they decided against playing the video “out of respect for Heath Ledger and his family.”
The decision followed a PR campaign by Ledger’s publicity firm, L.A.-based ID-PR, to rally Hollywood celebrities against the shows.
ID-PR sent an e-mail to PR companies, talent agencies, management firms and studio execs, questioning the “common decency” of the programs.
It seems to have worked, although celebrity gossip sites have speculated on and even shown portions of the alleged Heath Ledger drug tape in recent days.
The grainy video does not show Heath Ledger actually using drugs, but he admits to smoking marijuana in the past. The video was said to be taken in January 2006 at the Chateau Marmont hotel on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip.
In the last two weeks, several magazines and celebrity gossip sites have claimed that Ledger, who was found dead January 22, went on drinking binges and used cocaine and other drugs. The cause of his death is still uncertain.
Two days ago, Us Weekly reported that Michelle Williams, Heath’s ex-fiancee, left the actor partly to shield their baby daughter from his partying lifestyle.