Let’s exploit all things Heath Ledger

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Once again, the ever increasing appetite for celebrity worship and gossip has caused horrible table manners. EW.com reports that both ‘Entertainment Tonight’ and ‘The Insider’ have finally decided not to run obtained footage of Heath Ledger allegedly snorting cocaine at the Chateau Marmont. (A commenter notes that Ledger is not shown using drugs at all.)

It’s not as if the ‘news’ outlets bowed out for moral reasons -- they even teased the segment on the show. Apparently, Ledger’s publicist and others pressured ET to ‘let this grieving family bury their son in private and with dignity.’ I suspect that a few A-list Aussie stars -- Nicole, Naomi, to name a few -- threatened to boycott the shows if they ran the tasteless footage.

It was ten years ago -- on January 2nd -- that Chris Farley died of a drug overdose and the media frenzy wasn’t nearly as rabid. Of course, Farley wasn’t an Oscar-nominated movie star, but he had his following. Our society’s obsession with famous people is growing faster than the national debt. Civilization could crash, alongside the economy.

I pity whomever sold the videotape to ET for huge bags of cash. Most likely, this person is one of those sycophantic Hollywood hangers-on who attaches himself to a rich celebrity. No doubt, the tape went for six figures. What do you do with blood money like that? Go to Maui for a week? Buy a Bentley?

Photos: Getty Images; ET.com