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After all the speculation and rumours about Heath Ledger’s life and death,  weeks after later the New York Medical Examiner’s office has released the following statement, “Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine,” the office said in a statement.

“We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications.”

Heath Ledger, 28, renowned for his role as a gay cowboy in the 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain, was found dead in bed at his Manhattan apartment on January 22^nd 2008 after his housekeeper was unable to wake him for an appointment he had with his masseure.

Heath had achieved much during his 28 years, a rising star in Hollywood, a father to a 2 year old Matilda, a partner to Michelle Williams and man respected and adored by other actors and fans alike.

Heath received an Oscar nomination for his role in the movie Brokeback Mountain and had completed filming his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight, a Batman film due out this year which saw Heath taking the role from Jack Nicholson and starring alongside Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal, the sister of his co star in Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Other film credits included The Patriot in 2000 in which he starred as Mel Gibson’s son Monster’s Ball in 2001 and I’m Not There in 2007.

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The tape that surfaced of Heath Ledger at a Hollywood party surrounded by drugs has  been pulled from Entertainment Tonight (ET) out of respect for his grieving family.

Fortunately the entertainment news network came to it’s collective senses and pulled the segment but did leave behind a one minute preview that has been spreading through blogosphere like wildfire.

Gracing the covers of US Weekly and other rag-mags are photos of Heath and girlfriend Michelle Williams accompanying headlines about secret drug use and hidden trips to rehab. Michelle’s publicist has immediately shut down the accusations calling them completely untrue among many other rumors that have been circulating about the two.

Sadly it seems that the media has been using Heath’s death as a means to sell magazines and gain viewership instead of something to grieve. Hollywood preys on misfortune as we could see in the exploitation of Anna Nicole Smith but the question is when does it end?

When do they, if ever, stop selling you out. Whoever shot the footage from that party clearly was paid a sufficient amount. New footage of Heath is sure to surface in the coming months but what does it really prove? The fact that he has been around drugs is sort of an obvious. His death hasn’t even been ruled an overdose.

Sadly we may never have a direct answer, we may never be able to rationalize what ended the young actors life. But the one thing we can do is stop turning his death into a circus. Stop speculating, stop selling and stop the pointless rumors that hold little to no weight in reality.

The flashing lights and paparazzi brigades can’t be an easy thing to wake up to when you have lost one of the great loves of your life, the father of your child or your son for that matter. The media has in general overstepped it’s bounds in recent years but it seems to be heading in an even worse direction. The one minute preview of Heath at a Hollywood party is available online, in the full clip he can be heard saying the words “My girlfriend is going to kill me.”

Heather Ledger, the man who recently put his role as The Joker in “The Dark Knight,” a sequel to 2005’s “Batman Begins” in the can, was found dead at his loft apartment in SoHo, the West Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

 At 3.30 pm today, an appointment Heath had with a massage therapist, was not honoured when Heath didn’t answer the door. The housekeeper opened the apartment door to find Heath dead on his bed with pills beside his bed.

Heath recently broke up with his girlfriend, Michelle Williams with whom he had a two year old daughter and the break up hit him hard.

Details are still unfolding and an autopsy will take place on Wednesday but at the moment it is thought to be an accidental overdose that took the young stars life.

His acting career began at 16 years of age. His films included playing the son of Mel Gibson in The Patriot, he starred in Brokeback Mountain with Jake Gyllenhaal and in the historical and humorous movie, Casanova.

He was Oscar nominated for Brokeback Mountain.

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