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Lawsuit: Ledger used cocaine at party
2008-04-11
A lawsuit against the photo agency and two paparazzi who allegedly filmed Heath Ledger in a hotel room where drugs were being taken claims that the late actor was also using cocaine that night. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court by a woman who was not named, alleges that two Splash News paparazzi lured Ledger up to her room at the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Jan. 29, 2006. It says they gave him cocaine and secretly filmed the actor, who also had some of his own cocaine. The woman is listed as "Jane Doe" in the court documents for "fear of consequences and repercussions," but identifies her as a People magazine freelance reporter covering a Screen Actors Guild Awards afterparty at the West Hollywood hotel. The lawsuit names Splash News, managing partner Gary Morgan, and paparazzo Eric Munn and Darren Banks, whom the lawsuit says the woman was "occasionally dating." Her claims against them include fraud, negligence, trespassing, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among others. A People magazine representative confirmed the woman was freelancing for the magazine at that time and they were aware of the alleged encounter with Ledger, but there were too many questions surrounding the circumstances for People to write about it. The representative said the woman is no longer associated with the magazine and has not been since last year. Ledger's representative had no comment about the lawsuit. Phone calls to Splash News and the woman's lawyer were not immediately returned Friday. The lawsuit says Ledger found out he was being taped and was very upset about it throughout the evening, but that the paparazzi calmed him down several times, supplied him with more cocaine and insisted the tape would be destroyed. A cocaine dealer arrived in the hotel room later in the evening, the lawsuit adds. The woman, who the lawsuit says appears in the video with her face blurred, claims she forgot about the tape until "Entertainment Tonight" began advertising footage. After airing a preview of the video in January, "ET" and sister show "The Insider" decided against broadcasting the footage. At that time, they said the video did not show Ledger using drugs. The video later surfaced internationally and online at the News of the World Online. In the video, Ledger said that he was "going to get serious (word bleeped) from my girlfriend" for being in the hotel room. The video also showed Ledger rolling cigarette paper and saying "I used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years." The 28-year-old actor died Jan. 22 in his Manhattan apartment from taking six types of painkillers and sedatives.
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