breaking news
We Appreciate A Rhyming Headline As Much As The Next Person, But Surely The Age Could Have Come Up With A Slightly More Sensitive Headline?
2:39PM Jess McGuire | Reader Nerida pointed out to us that The Age’s online edition’s recent headline regarding Heath Ledger – “DEAD IN BED” – is perhaps lacking in sensitivity, all things considered.
We suspect the Dr Seuss approach may not have been the wisest choice. More » 
Police Sources Confirm Heath Ledger’s Death Was ‘Accidental’
1:40PM Jess McGuire | TMZ are now reporting that the police have quietly confirmed the Ledger family’s belief that Heath’s death was ‘accidental’.
As we await further updates from New York, you may like to read UnderGroundOnline’s article “Ten Things I Loved About Heath Ledger.
10. His teen heartthrob role was in an actually good movie: Like any respectable non-Australian moviegoer, I first met Heath Ledger as the object of Julia Stiles’ affection in 10 Things I Hate About You. A teeny-bopper adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, the movie was smarter than the average bear and featured a young Heath at his brooding best.
9. His awesome Australian accent: Is it mere coincidence that some of the biggest stars of our time – Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Yahoo Serious – have come from a land down under? Perhaps, but we wouldn’t put money on it. Heath Ledger’s Aussie twang was a auditory badge of honor that branded him as part of an exclusive club…and made him sound cool, to boot.
8. “Hottest hot ever”: Let’s face it, you don’t get to be a hot Hollywood commodity without a certain…let’s call it “the look.” And Heath, according to an informal UGO poll that includes myself and TV Editor Brooke Tarnoff, had “the look.” He was a handsome devil, indeed, that Heath Ledger, landing in People’s Most Beautiful People List and on the walls of countless girls just crossing the threshold into womanhood.
7. He didn’t trade on his looks: Despite the above, you didn’t see Heath Ledger exploiting his good looks. After 10 Things, he could have become the next piece of hunky eye candy to be paraded through a series of romantic comedies. Instead, he made an effort to take challenging and interesting roles, including one (Ned Kelly) in which he had to wear a bucket on his head most of the time. You have to salute a guy who shuns the easy paycheck in favor of artistic credibility.
The rest is available here. More »
Heath Ledger ‘[Felt] Good About Dying Now’
1:36PM Clem Bastow | While the media whips itself into a frenzy trying to deny Heath Ledger’s family’s assertion that his death was accidental, they have uncovered a recent radio interview in which the actor discussed his feelings about dying with respect to his now being a father to Matilda, two:
“I guess you’re forced into kind of respecting yourself more, you learn more about yourself through your child, I guess,” he told WJW FOX in Cleveland, Ohio.
“You also look at death differently.
“It’s like a catch 22. I feel good about dying now because I feel like I’m alive in her.
“But at the same time, you don’t want to die because you want to be around for the rest of her life.”
We are very much inclined to think that, while Ledger was often reported as “troubled” or dark, this interview is nothing more than a man talking about how parenthood has changed him.
Hopefully this won’t be the beginning of a comprehensive raking over of everything he ever said about dying, drugs or depression for some “evidence” that his death was a suicide, in some sort of rabid media version of the search for ‘the golden ticket’. More » 
On The Scene Of The Heath Ledger Overdose
9:35AM Defamer Hollywood | At ten minutes to 5pm in New York, only a few news crews had reached the scene of Mary Kate Olsen’s the loft building at 421 Broome Street, where Heath Ledger was just found dead. Just a handful of passersby were gawking at the small police presence guarding his door. But by 5, a pack of 15 paparazzi had arrived, acting far calmer than the usual frenzied pap scene, respectfully obeying the NYPD’s orders to stay back. Almost everyone there, reporters both on-air and from various print outlets, collectively believed that the actor committed suicide using sleeping pills; a bottle of prescribed sedatives were allegedly found next to his bed. More »Heath Ledger Dead: Pills Found Near Body
9:33AM Clem Bastow | The updates on the cause of Heath Ledger’s death are starting to roll in, and it looks like a drug overdose (though naturally there is no idea as to whether or not it was intentional or accidental).
From wires via News.com.au:
Ledger, an Academy Award nominee, was found naked and unconscious in bed at the apartment in the trendy Manhattan area of SoHo by a housekeeper at 3.35pm (7.35am AEDT).
Law enforcement sources told celebrity website TMZ.com they did not believe it was a crime, saying prescription pills were found strewn near his body.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said: “We are investigating the possibility of an overdose.”
“There were pills within the vicinity of the bed,” Mr Browne said.
There is no word yet as to whether the pills were prescription or ‘recreational’.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Ledger was staying in an apartment owned by Mary Kate Olsen at the time of his death.
Police officials have said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen.
Officials said they believed Ms. Olsen, 21, was in California and that Mr. Ledger had been living in her apartment. Ms. Olsen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Wackness,” a film in which she stars with the actor Ben Kingsley. It was not clear where she went after the film screening.
Defamer Australia will continue to bring you updates throughout the day.
Update: NYPD has confirmed that the apartment is not owned by Mary Kate Olsen. More »
Breaking: Heath Ledger Found Dead
8:57AM Clem Bastow | We’re just as shocked as you are likely to be by this news, which is beginning to filter through Agencies.
Some reports have it as a drug overdose, but there is no official word yet.
Australian actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence, a New York Police Department spokesman says.
The celebrity website TMZ said Ledger, 28, was found dead in his bed in one of his residences in Soho by his housekeeper at 3.35pm New York time (0735 AEDT) today.
Law enforcement sources said they believe it was not a crime, TMZ said.
Defamer Australia’s thoughts are with his family and friends and we hope someone is looking after little Matilda if this is all true.
More » 
Secret Tom Cruise Scientology Indoctrination Video Finally Hits Web; Proves He Is Even Crazier Than We Ever Imagined
9:57AM Defamer Hollywood | In lieu of Golden Globes awards speeches, our East Coasted sibling site posted a memorable video package, via Hollywood Interrupted, fêting messianic Scientology mouthpiece Tom Cruise as he accepted their 2005 Freedom Medal of Valor. Like most of Scientology’s sacred babblings, the text was never meant to reach outside eyes; the video quickly disappeared from YouTube, soon to shake off from the temporary effects of the tranquilizing serum plunged into its neck and find itself buried alive beneath a patch of carefully attended petunias on the grounds of Gilman Hot Springs HQ. Alas, there are never quite enough idling white vans to stop the rapid proliferation of mouth-foaming, glassy-eyed, Scientological diatribes on the internets, and so Radar Online has reposted the footage. Don’t let the Mission Impossible-theme loop or the shutter-effect edits throw you: The United Artists co-figurehead has never sounded more focused or enlightened about his true mission–ridding the world of spectatorism, by never hesitating to put his ethics into someone else. Enjoy. “We are the way to happiness” [Gawker] Cruise Pulls You A Little Closer to Xenu [Radar] More »
Vin Diesel’s Tour Of RSL Duty: The Plot Thickens!
2:51PM Clem Bastow | We told you yesterday (inbetween shuddering guffaws) that Vin Diesel’s management were launching legal talks with an Australian promoter who claimed the action star was to appear at the Rooty Hill RSL.
Well, if the fine people who take the time to comment on Defamer Australia are to be believed, it seems the Returned Soldiers of New South Wales weren’t the only peeps rooting (eh, eh!) for Diesel. So sayeth reader “Dwaine”:
I am ther manager of a Western Australian Night Club and would like to ad that wee have booked a Vin Diesel appearance also and were expecting the star to be in Western Australia this month also. Still waiting on confirmation of a new date.
Are you in the same boat as Dwaine, and the good people of Rooty Hill? Is Vin Diesel booked to appear at your venue, school fete, or cousin’s bat mitzvah?
Get in touch! More » 