Heath Ledger’s publicist Mara Buxbaum, along with Ina Treciokas, runs the New York office of public relations firm I/D PR. (On the West Coast, power publicist Kelly Bush leads the charges.) It’s Buxbaum who sent out an email to other Hollywood rep firms, including PMK-HBH, 42 West, and BWR, calling on them to protest Entertainment Tonight and The Insider’s decision to run video of Ledger at a 2006 SAG Awards party, which they paid $200k for, that showed another man snorting “something” off a table and Heath discussing his drug use.
To ET executive producer Linda Bell Blue and Paramount exec Brad Bessey, this email, which included both of their email addresses and a call to speak out, meant something else entirely: If they moved ahead with airing the video, they would effectively lose access to all of I/D PR’s clients, as well as those of allied powerhouse agencies. Not that Buxbaum would go on record saying so.
So exactly who would the CBS-Paramount tabloid shows wave goodbye to? Here’s a short list: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ellen Page, Mira Sorvino, James Marsden, Kevin Kline, Ethan Hawke (who Buxbaum just confirmed is about to be a daddy), Sarah Jessica Parker, Winona Ryder, Sean Penn, Diane Lane, America Ferrera, and Elijah Wood. Dozens – and dozens – more follow.
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