Author Topic: Heath Ledger - News Accounts  (Read 1142320 times)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #660 on: February 15, 2008, 02:21:38 pm »
Williams ignites otherwise sluggish ''Incendiary''



"Incendiary" star Michelle Williams arrives at Film Independent's Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California February 24, 2007. An anti-terrorism tale from the perspective of a young British mother, "Incendiary" taps the bewilderment and anger of our age.

REUTERS/Fred Prouser

http://www.reuters.com/article/reviewsNews/idUSN2842338520080128
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #661 on: February 15, 2008, 03:23:55 pm »
I was reading the Feb 18 2008 issue of People magazine while I was getting my hair cut (Britney Spears is on the cover). There was a two page article about Heath and the events that had occurred up to that point (prior to the funeral in Australia). It mentioned the memorial service held in Los Angeles on February 2nd and said that Jake attended that event. All the guests were given individual chess pieces in memory of Heath.

L
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Offline belbbmfan

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #662 on: February 15, 2008, 03:33:03 pm »
I was reading the Feb 18 2008 issue of People magazine while I was getting my hair cut (Britney Spears is on the cover). There was a two page article about Heath and the events that had occurred up to that point (prior to the funeral in Australia). It mentioned the memorial service held in Los Angeles on February 2nd and said that Jake attended that event. All the guests were given individual chess pieces in memory of Heath.

L

That's a very nice touch. It seems that his family put a lot of time and effort in all the memorial services that were held. It must have been incredibly difficult for them to do. I admire them for it.

And good to read that Jake was there too and somehow managed to stay under the 'press radar'.
'We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em'

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #663 on: February 15, 2008, 03:38:52 pm »
That's a very nice touch. It seems that his family put a lot of time and effort in all the memorial services that were held. It must have been incredibly difficult for them to do. I admire them for it.

And good to read that Jake was there too and somehow managed to stay under the 'press radar'.

Granted, no one has seen any pictures of Jake, but there seem to be very few pictures from this event, period.

And I think of the gossip-y mags, people does try to get its facts straight, so I am inclined to believe Jake was there.

L
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Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #664 on: February 15, 2008, 05:04:19 pm »
Granted, no one has seen any pictures of Jake, but there seem to be very few pictures from this event, period.

And I think of the gossip-y mags, people does try to get its facts straight, so I am inclined to believe Jake was there.

L

Jake was spotted the very next day in LA with Reese and her children. So yes, I think he was at the memorial held in LA, maybe even at both of them.

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #665 on: February 15, 2008, 05:26:05 pm »
I was reading the Feb 18 2008 issue of People magazine while I was getting my hair cut (Britney Spears is on the cover). There was a two page article about Heath and the events that had occurred up to that point (prior to the funeral in Australia). It mentioned the memorial service held in Los Angeles on February 2nd and said that Jake attended that event. All the guests were given individual chess pieces in memory of Heath.

L


Good to know Friend.  Yes, I also tend to trust People *slightly* more than some of the other celebrity magazines.


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Offline Kerry

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #666 on: February 15, 2008, 06:38:14 pm »




Mia Farrow has a certain young Mia Farrow look, with that short haircut. Nice. It suits her.  :)
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #667 on: February 17, 2008, 10:25:59 am »
From the New York Times:

February 17, 2008

Boys Will Be Boys, Girls Will Be Hounded by the Media


By ALEX WILLIAMS

A VIDEO of Heath Ledger hanging out at a drug-fueled party two years before his death would seem to constitute must-see material for a tabloid entertainment show.

But when such a video ended up in the hands of the producers of “Entertainment Tonight,” the program declined to broadcast it, a spokeswoman said, “out of respect for Heath Ledger’s family.” The 28-year-old actor died on Jan. 22 from what the medical examiner called an accidental overdose of prescription medications.

Amy Winehouse did not merit the same discretion. Images from a video that showed her smoking what a British tabloid, The Sun, said was a pipe of crack cocaine, as well as admitting to having taken “about six” Valium, were widely disseminated in the news media around the same time.

When Owen Wilson was hospitalized in August after an apparent suicide attempt, his plight was the subject of a single US Weekly cover story. Not so Britney Spears, recently confined in a psychiatric ward, who has inspired six cover stories for the magazine during the same time span.

When Kiefer Sutherland was released from the jail in Glendale, Calif., after serving a 48-day sentence for a drunken driving conviction, the event merited little more than buried blurbs.

Contrast this to Paris Hilton’s return to jail last year after a brief release to serve the rest of a 45-day sentence for a probation violation involving alcohol-related reckless driving. The event invited a level of attention that evoked the O. J. Simpson trial. Hordes of cameras enveloped the limousine that ferried the tear-streaked heiress to jail.

Yes, women are hardly the only targets of harsh news media scrutiny — just ask Mel Gibson. But months of parallel incidents like these seem to demonstrate disparate standards of coverage. Men who fall from grace are treated with gravity and distance, while women in similar circumstances are objects of derision, titillation and black comedy.

Some celebrities and their handlers are now saying straight out that the news media have a double standard.

“Without a doubt, women get rougher treatment, less sensitive treatment, more outrageous treatment,” said Ken Sunshine, a publicist whose clients include Ben Affleck and Barbra Streisand. “I represent some pretty good-looking guys, and I complain constantly about the way they’re treated and covered. But it’s absolutely harder for the women I represent.”

Liz Rosenberg, a publicist at Warner Bros./Reprise Records who represents Madonna, among others, also thinks sexism is at work. “Do you see them following Owen Wilson morning, noon and night?” she asked.

Some editors confirm that they handle female celebrities differently. But the reason, they say, is rooted not in sexism, but in the demographics of their audience.

The readership of US Weekly, for example, is 70 percent female; for People, it’s more than 90 percent, according to the editors of these magazines.

“Almost no female magazines will put a solo male on the cover,” said Janice Min, the editor in chief of US Weekly. “You just don’t. It’s cover death. Women don’t want to read about men unless it’s through another woman: a marriage, a baby, a breakup.”

Thus, magazine coverage of Mr. Ledger’s death gave way to stories about Michelle Williams, Mr. Ledger’s former girlfriend and the mother of his daughter; US Weekly, for instance, put the headlines “A Mother’s Pain” and “My Heart is Broken” atop a four-page spread. Mary-Kate Olsen, telephoned several times by the discoverer of Mr. Ledger’s body, came in for it, too: “What Mary-Kate Knows” trumpeted In Touch Weekly.

Indeed, while one of People’s best-selling issues of the last year was its cover story on Mr. Wilson’s suicide attempt, a follow-up cover on his recovery was one of the worst sellers, said Larry Hackett, the managing editor.

Conversely, he said, the Britney Spears story continues to flourish precisely because women are fascinated by the challenges facing a young mother.

“If Britney weren’t a mother, this story wouldn’t be getting a fraction of attention it’s getting,” Mr. Hackett said. “The fact that the custody of her children is at stake is the fuel of this narrative. If she were a single woman, bombing around in her car with paparazzi following, it wouldn’t be the same.”

Others, like Roger Friedman, an entertainment reporter for FoxNews.com, said that female stars tend to make more-compelling stories because “they are more emotional and open” about their problems. Male stars, he said, tend to be “circumspect.”

Rebecca Roy, a psychotherapist in Beverly Hills, Calif., who has several clients in the entertainment industry, said that male celebrities can often wriggle out of trouble with a rakish bad-boy shrug. But, she said, the double standard can reinforce the destructive behavior of female stars, pushing them to further depths of substance abuse and erratic behavior.

Ms. Roy said that troubled male stars like Robert Downey Jr. are encouraged to move past problems to a second act in their careers, while the personal battles of women like Lindsay Lohan or the late Anna Nicole Smith are often played for maximum entertainment value.

“With men, there’s an emphasis on, ‘he had this issue, but he’s getting over it,’ ” Ms. Roy said. “But with women, it’s like they keep at it, keep at it. It’s almost like taking the wings off of a fly.”

Ms. Min acknowledged that her magazine played down its coverage of Owen Wilson and Heath Ledger. Part of the reason, she said, was that female readers tend to be sympathetic toward young men in crisis.

“With Heath Ledger, people walked on eggshells trying to strike the right tone,” Ms. Min said, adding that “public sentiment for Heath Ledger factored into our coverage.”

Edna Herrmann, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, said that while schadenfreude is part of the enjoyment of star travails, women especially respond to female celebrities with commonplace demons. “Misery likes company,” Dr. Herrmann said.

But some believe the power of a celebrity’s publicist has more bearing on coverage than gender. “Entertainment Tonight” reversed its plans to show the video of Mr. Ledger following protests from stars like Natalie Portman and Josh Brolin organized by ID, which represented Mr. Ledger and still represents Ms. Williams.

In some cases, celebrities may be victims of their own appetites for media attention.

“It would seem to me that no one who demanded, who expected privacy, at the get-go was denied that privacy,” said Stan Rosenfield, a publicist who represents George Clooney.

And Harvey Levin, the managing editor of the gossip Web site TMZ.com, said that female stars are afforded every opportunity to move past their sins, as long as they clean up their behavior.

“Nicole Richie, who took a beating generally for being a screw-up, has turned it around, and everyone’s cheering for her now,” Mr. Levin said of the former Paris Hilton sidekick and tabloid staple, now the mother of a month-old daughter.

Even if news media coverage is weighted in their favor, male celebrities aren’t exactly feeling immune from harsh scrutiny.

“There is certainly an argument for it being incredibly sexist, the attention that’s given to women and the hounding of them,” the actor Colin Farrell said at a recent party for his new film, “In Bruges.”

Mr. Farrell, who has attracted his share of attention, said such potential bias did not make him any less of a news media target. “If they catch me out and about,” he said, “they’ll go for it.”

As Mr. Farrell spoke in a room filled with journalists and photographers, he was not even sipping a beer.

Additional reporting by Paula Schwartz.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/fashion/17celeb.html?em&ex=1203310800&en=22c77015a60b928c&ei=5087%0A
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #668 on: February 17, 2008, 10:51:22 am »
From Perth Now:

Gemma Ward shuns limelight after Heath Ledger's death

PERTH'S own globe-trotting supermodel Gemma Ward was scheduled for press interviews when the news broke that Heath Ledger had died.
Ward was romantically linked to Ledger over Christmas, when the two were spotted together around town.

The svelte young blonde immediately withdrew from the interviews "until further notice". She's now unlikely to talk for fear of being asked about her relationship to the late star, whose funeral she attended last weekend.

But you can see Ward in action - bikini and all - in the trailer below for her first film, The Black Balloon, which hits cinemas on March 6.

Ward plays a hottie who befriends a young man with an autistic brother. His mother is played by Toni Collette.

Ward's debutant performance has caught Hollywood eye. She's already finished the horror movie The Stranger with Liv Tyler, and is currently fielding offers to star in some big budget movies.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23206793-5014974,00.html?from=mostpop

Heres a link to the trailer:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WxKE-tB1ya8
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #669 on: February 17, 2008, 10:56:06 am »
From the New York Post:

 CRUEL JOKER


By JULIA DAHL

February 16, 2008 -- Heath Ledger lives on - as an evil 6-inch figurine.

The Post got a sneak peek at the action figures for this summer's upcoming Batman flick "The Dark Knight," in which Ledger stars as the psychotic villain The Joker .

Although the doll is being unveiled less than a week after Ledger's funeral, his family stands behind the company's decision to go ahead with marketing the collectible.

"Heath was very proud of his work in the film, and his family is aware and supportive of Warner Bros. and its partner's plans for the movie," said a family spokesperson.

Mattel will be selling two versions of the Joker doll, both of which hit store shelves in May.

The first retails for $7.99 and features a rocket launcher that can be placed in the Joker's hand.

The second (pictured), a slightly larger, more detailed version created by famed action-figure designers the Four Horsemen, sells for $10.99 and comes with a toy knife.

"It's not exactly a marketing point," said Mattel's P.J. Lewis of Ledger's death. "But kids are going to buy the toy if they like the movie."

Cliff Annicelli, editor of Playthings magazine, said he believes Ledger's death will definitely increase sales of the Joker figure, especially among adults.

"I would expect it will be a hotter collectible than it would have been before his death," said Annicelli.

Mattel will probably rely on comic book stores, instead of toy stores, to sell most of the figurines, he added.

"That's been the marketing plan all along, because the movie is dark and not particularly kid-appropriate," Annicelli said.

Adrienne Citrin, of the Toy Industry Association, played down extra sales associated with Ledger's death.

"Batman is an iconic figure," she said. "There's a lot of excitement surrounding the movie, and that correlates with sales. It's going to be a popular action figure regardless of his unfortunate death."

The Joker and other "Dark Knight" figurines will be on display at the American International Toy Fair this weekend at the Javits Center.



http://www.nypost.com/seven/02162008/news/nationalnews/cruel_joker_97872.htm
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