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Looking Back at Heath Ledger's Legacy on the 17th Anniversary of His Death
It has been 17 years since Heath Ledger‘s sudden death and his legacy is still being remembered.
The Australian-born actor died at age 28 on January 22, 2008, following an accidental drug overdose. The toxicology report released following his sudden passing revealed that Ledger died from “acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.”
Ledger was found dead after his housekeeper and massage therapist entered his New York City apartment in the late afternoon. Years later, director Stephen Gaghan revealed that he planned to turn Malcolm Gladwell book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking into a movie. But after Ledger (who was attached to the project) died, the film never came to fruition.
Gaghan got a call from Ledger’s father, Kim Ledger, on the day of the actor’s death. (Ledger’s friend was also on the call.)
Heath Ledger Through the Years: His Biggest Roles and Personal Moments
“They were there with the body and our script was in bed with him, and your book was on the bedside table,” Gaghan recalled while talking to Gladwell during a February 2024 episode of the “Developmental Hell” podcast. “I think my number was on the script, like, written. These guys, as you can imagine, they are in shock, and they dialed that number, and I don’t know why.”
Gaghan said he was in an airport with his wife, Minnie Mortimer, when he got the call about Ledger.
“The emotion, what they were going through, I should not have been a party to in any way really, and yet as a human or as somebody who just cares, I just was there and I was listening and my wife was looking at me,” the director continued. “I remember her face and I was just like, I was speechless. I just listened and listened and listened. It was just really, really sad. And it’s still sad.”
Ledger rose to fame in the late 1990s after starring as Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You. He went on to appear in The Patriot, Monster’s Ball, A Knight’s Tale and The Brothers Grimm before playing Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, a role which nabbed him a 2006 Academy Award nomination in the Best Actor category.
Ledger also famously played the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, which was released in July 2008 — months after Ledger’s death. The actor was posthumously awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in February 2009, exactly 13 months after his passing.
Over the years, Ledger has been remembered positively by fellow Hollywood stars. His longtime girlfriend Michelle Williams has spoken at length about his death. (Ledger and Williams dated from 2005 to 2007, after meeting on the Brokeback Mountain set. They share a daughter, Matilda, who was born in October 2005.)
Michelle Williams’ Most Bittersweet Quotes About Heath, Daughter Matilda
“Every time I really miss him and wonder where he’s gone, I just look at her,” Williams told Vogue in September 2009, referring to their daughter. “I can talk about grief, because that’s mine, about single parenting, about trying to balance work and kids. But what I don’t have to talk about is what happened between Heath and me in our relationship. Brokeback Mountain was an unrepeatable moment in time, a very charmed time in my life. I was in love. I was in a movie I was proud to be a part of and with a beautiful, brand new baby. Everything was good in that moment.”
10 Things I Hate About You costar Julia Stiles even remembered his “magnetic presence” in a past interview.
“He had a zest for life and just was like always, he was never checked out,” the actress recalled. “He was always totally engaged with everybody. Really interesting, remarkable person and actor.”
It was obvious that Ledger’s impact is still major in Hollywood when director Nolan accepted the Best Director Golden Globe for Oppenheimer in 2024.
“The only time I’ve ever been on this stage before was accepting one of these on behalf of our dear friend Heath Ledger, and that was complicated and challenging for me,” Nolan said, in part, during his speech. “And in the middle of speaking, I glanced up and Robert Downey Jr. caught my eye and gave me a look of love and support — the same look he’s giving me now, the same love and support he’s shown so many people in our community over so many years.”
Chris Brown Sues Warner Bros. for $500 Million Over Sexual Assault Claims
Chris Brown has filed a $500 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery, accusing the company of defamation in a recent docuseries.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, January 21, in Los Angeles Superior Court, Brown, 35, claimed that WBD and production company Ample Entertainment knowingly included false allegations of sexual assault against him in Investigation Discovery’s Chris Brown A History of Violence, per multiple outlets including Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, which obtained the docs.
Brown’s attorneys said that a woman who accused him of a 2020 rape, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the program, had previously been “discredited” and was “a perpetrator of intimate partner violence and aggressor herself.” (Doe’s 2022 lawsuit accusing Brown of sexual assault and battery on a yacht owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs was dismissed, the filing said.)
The “Forever” singer’s lawyers argued, “To put it simply, this case is about the media putting their own profits over the truth,” per docs obtained by Variety. “Since the beginning of October of 2024, Ample LLC and Warner Brothers were put on notice that they were promoting and publishing false information in their pursuit of likes, clicks, downloads and dollars and to the detriment of Chris Brown. Ultimately, on October 27, 2024, they aired ‘Chris Brown: A History of Violence’ (the ‘Documentary’), knowing that it was full of lies and deception and violating basic journalist principles.”
Timeline of Chris Brown's Legal Woes and Accusations: Rihanna Abuse, More
Brown is accusing WBD and codefendant Ample of libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Us Weekly has reached out to WBD and Ample for comment.
“This case is about protecting the truth,” Brown’s attorney, Levi McCathern, said in a statement to People and Deadline. “Despite being provided with evidence disproving their claims, the producers of this documentary intentionally promoted false and defamatory information, knowingly disregarding their ethical obligations as journalists. Their actions undermine not only Mr. Brown’s decade-long efforts to rebuild his life but also the credibility of true survivors of violence.”
Why Diddy Is Involved in Chris Brown Doc About Abuse Claims: Revelations
In the suit, Brown’s attorneys noted his past legal troubles, including a 2009 assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna, but said the singer “publicly acknowledged and addressed” his mistakes in a 2017 documentary and has since “grown from those experiences, and his evolution speaks for itself.”
Rebel Wilson Reveals Wife Ramona Agruma Was Asked to Join 'RHOBH'
Could Rebel Wilson’s wife join The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?
The Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect star revealed Tuesday, January 21, that her wife, fashion designer Ramona Agruma, has been approached to join the show.
“Here’s some hot gossip. Ramona just got asked to be a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills,” Wilson shared on Tuesday’s episode of Australian radio show, The Kyle & Jackie O Show.
As host Kyle Sandilands shared his enthusiasm for Agruma to hold a diamond, Wilson agreed, “That’s what I said. I love that show.”
Christina Applegate Turned Down ‘RHOBH’ Offer
However, according to Wilson, 44, Agruma isn’t so sure about joining the hit Bravo reality show.
“She’s not wanting to do it. I was like, ‘But babe, it could be fun.’ I love the show. I love reality [television],” Wilson said, revealing that Kyle Richards is her favorite Housewife.
For her part, the Australian actress thinks her wife would make a great addition to the cast. “Ramona would be great because she really tells it how it is. She doesn’t give a crap about whatever anybody says to her,” Wilson praised Agruma.
Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma's Relationship Timeline
As for how Agruma got on the show’s producers’ radar, Wilson revealed she has a connection with Richards’ sister, Kathy Hilton, who is a “friend” of the cast.
“We’re loose friends with Kathy Hilton because we’re friends with Paris,” she said of her friendship with Paris Hilton. “Kathy recommended her.”
The RHOBH season 14 cast comprises Richards, Garcelle Beauvais, Sutton Stracke, Dorit Kemsley, Erika Jayne and newcomer Bozoma Saint John. Kathy Hilton and Jennifer Tilly appear as “friends.”
Also on Tuesday, Housewives producer Andy Cohen reacted to rumors that OG Housewife Lisa Vanderpump may be returning to the show. (Vanderpump appeared as a main cast member from seasons 1 through 9.)
“It was repeated all over the place that I’m trying to get Lisa Vanderpump back on The [Real] Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Cohen, 56, said on his SiriusXM radio show Andy Cohen Live.
Former ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Stars: Where Are They Now?
Cohen denied he started the rumors and insisted that Vanderpump, 64, has better things to do than pick up her diamond again.
“Let me restate my abject love for Lisa Vanderpump, but I don’t know where the rumor came from,” he told listeners. “I don’t see her coming back to that show.”