Celebrity scoop

Heath Ledger Framed by Paparazzi over "Drug Tape"

In a surprise lawsuit, a freelance reporter claims her ex paparazzi boyfriend framed Ledger so that he could get him on tape doing drugs

By Monica Gaza, Entertainment News Editor

14th of April 2008, 09:45 GMT

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Heath Ledger is said to have been framed by a paparazzi and then shot on tape allegedly doing drugs

As if Heath Ledger's untimely death at the beginning of the year was not enough of a tragedy, the actor's memory was soon to be tarnished by a series if accusations and sensationalist reports, culminating with the infamous broadcast of a tape showing the young artist snorting cocaine during a party at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles two years prior to his death. The tape was briefly aired by Entertainment Tonight barely a week after Ledger's death from a prescription drug overdose, however it caused such a strong public outcry that it was immediately pulled off the air. New details are now emerging about the circumstances in which the tape in question was shot, and according to legal papers recently filed in Los Angeles, it would appear that the young actor was set up by paparazzi, intentionally plied with "the stuff" so that his drug use could then be "exposed".

The tape in question was aired soon after Ledger's death, when a final conclusion as to his cause of death was yet to be reached. At a time when the world was still in shock after his untimely passing, Heath was deemed everything from a drug addict to a hopelessly depressed, pill-popping drunk. Apparently, despite the fact that the tape is real, Ledger cannot be seen actually doing drugs, although he can be seen rolling a cigarette paper and saying, "I used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years". The story, however, is much more complicated. A former girlfriend of one of the paparazzi who shot the tape is now suing for damages, claiming that it was filmed in her hotel room and that she appeared in the footage without her permission. She also claims her former boyfriend gave Ledger some cocaine, then snook out of the room and onto the balcony in order to get everyone in the room (included Ledger) on tape.

The video in question was pulled from airing on TV, but has become a morbid Internet hit. The video was filmed in a room at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles as Heath Ledger was celebrating winning a Screen Actors Guild award for "Brokeback Mountain". The woman (who filed the claim anonymously) was a freelance reporter with People magazine at the time. According to British newspaper The Telegraph, she "is claiming damages for fraud, negligence, trespassing, and intentional infliction of emotional distress". "This is bad stuff. You don't give drug addicts drugs so you can then tape them.
She doesn't intend with this lawsuit to seek publicity. If anything, she's seeking damages for the invasion of her privacy. She was deceived and doesn't feel too good about it. She tried to physically throw them out of the room," the woman's lawyer revealed in a statement.

TAGS:

Heath Ledger | drug tape | lawsuit | framed | paparazzi

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