There’s no peace for the dead celebrity. Cold, but true, and terribly sad in the case of Heath Ledger, star of “Brokeback Mountain,” the upcoming Batman film and now the bad soap opera that is entertainment reporting.
What must we know about his death, and how fast? The voracious appetite of the public for this kind of TMZ slop never ceases to amaze. The apparent result of this sickening hunger is that it forces the hand of formerly reputable journalists into prodding through the gutter, pushing police to release information they should just keep to themselves.
Didn’t law enforcement like the NYPD once pride themselves in keeping a tight lid on the details of a case?
The importance of that secrecy is doubly important in a case like Ledger’s. Releasing salacious details to the public add nothing to the police investigation. They only ramp up the urgency of infotainment slug media to speculate on something they know nothing about.
First report: Heath Ledger found dead inside NYC apartment building. Follow-up: Heath Ledger found dead, naked, waiting on a masseuse to arrive at his apartment. Follow-up: Heath Ledger found with prescription drugs near his bed.
Then came a report that a preliminary autopsy had been inconclusive, meaning a pathologist could not with certainty determine either the cause of death or the manner, as in natural, homicide or suicide.
That’s plenty to speculate on for 10 days, a point at which police said a more definitive answer would surface from a full autopsy, including drug analysis. But no, hang on Access Hollywood, the police have returned to the podium.
A rolled-up $20 bill was found near Heath Ledger’s corpse. No drug residue was discovered on the bill, authorities said, but there’s only one natural speculation at such news: A rolled-up bill is the tool of the drug-user.
Heath Ledger must have been snorting illegal substances, we’re left to assume for perhaps 10 more days, because he had a rolled-up bill near his 28-year-old dead body.
Can we not just mourn the passing of this young man? Can we not just let the process take its course without this thirst for the kind of garbage that I’m ashamed the AP fills the news with on a daily basis, via their constant priority updates on the Britney Lindsay Paris & Amy circus?
Rest in peace, Heath Ledger.
