Footage of a video from two years ago showing Heath Ledger talking
about his marijuana addiction have emerged on TV.
The entire video shoot was scheduled to air tonight, but due
to industry pressure Entertainment Tonight and The Insider announced today that
they won’t be showing it anymore.
Entertainment Tonight issued a statement saying: "Out
of respect for Heath Ledger's family, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider
have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video which has been circulating in
the world media,'' brisbanetimes.com reports.
A clip was promoted by The Insider showing Heath Ledger at a
party on January 26, 2006 in a hotel room filled with drugs.
The tape was shot at Hollywood's
Chateau Marmont after the Screen Actors Guild awards where Ledger received two
nominations for his role as a cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain.”
He appeared at the ceremony that night with his
then-girlfriend and mother of his child, Michelle Williams. Williams is not
seen in the footage from the hotel room. Apparently she was sleeping upstairs with
Matilda Rose, couple’s daughter.
The footage shows Ledger filmed through a window talking
with his host and also shows another guest taking a sniff of what it appeared to be cocaine from a
table filled with drugs.
Ledger is heard saying: “I’m gonna get so much sh*t from my
girlfriend," Ledger said.
”We have a baby three months ago - Matilda, Matilda Rose.”
"I shouldn't be here at all."
Also you can hear him confessing about having a marijuana habit.
He says: "I used to smoke five joints a day for 20
years."
ET said that the tape came from Australia's
Nine Network which is about to show it in Australia. Nine denied any such
thing saying that the network doesn’t have the tape.
Nine spokeswoman Alex Phillips said: "We are not
showing the video because we don't have the tape,” the Daily Telegraph reports.
After Ledger’s death on January 22, 2008 many stories have
been emerging about him taking drugs. Some bottles of prescription drugs were
found in his apartment but so far police couldn’t say the exact cause of his
death.
In the video Ledger is not shown taking drugs.
On Wednesday Celebrity PR firm ID Public Relations released
a statement in which the Paramount-produced TV shows are blamed for trying to
air the tape.
ID partner Mara Buxbaum explained in an email before ET made
its announcement that it would not air the tape, that “those who knew Heath
know he was a kind-hearted, immensely talented artist, and a devoted father. He
tried to live his life quietly and with humility. Certain media outlets'
attempts to exploit and profit from his death is shameful and in the poorest of
taste. We implore the media and the public to let this grieving family bury
their son in private and with dignity."