John Gibson uses radio show to mock Heath Ledger's passing

Drugs not proven

According to a newscast I heard this evening, the rolled up $20 bill found near Heath, which lead to initial speculation that it was an overdose, has tested negative for drug traces. Also, no drugs were found in the room.

We'll have to wait for the autopsy results to know anything more.

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by: Stephanie @ Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 22:33:08 PM CST

who is this jackass?

what a fuckhead.

http://EQFL.org

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by: banshiii @ Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 22:51:26 PM CST

The technical name for his species is

porcinus bigotus. It includes such notables as Ratzi Der Pope, Archbishop Peter Akinola Phelps, Rupert Murdoch, Pat Robertson and other opponents of full GLBT equality.  

The looter rich much prefer working with Democrats like Obama and the Clintons - they're greedier, they fool more people and they're able to get away with a lot more than Republicans.  

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by: donal1944 @ Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 23:22:12 PM CST

[ Parent ]

He's a prime-time host of a show on Fox News

... Among other things

<3 Sam

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by: Samie D @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 02:59:33 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Attacks on Heath,

  Just more proof the right can not control themselves.  A 28 year old man that was one wonderful actor.  Yeah my kids loved his Movies, 10 things I hate about you, (I loved that movie too), The Patriot, very good movie, lots of emotion for me.  And all the rest including Brokeback Mountain.

 Faux News doesn't understand that we watch them as well. Faux News feels like they are the TV of Limbuagh, playing to the quire to make money.  

 It is great that I don't have to to a damn thing but have that channel on and my 12 and 16 year old daughters can see the sickness of that channel.

 They are not convincing anyone when THEY attack an actor this way.  

 Keep up the Sickness John, Rev up the hatred Hannity, Bill O, you are doing a great JOB!!!!

 Common sense rules when our kids can think on their own,and I don't have to explain it.  Keep up the great work you are doing FOX NEWS!

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

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by: HappyCat @ Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 22:52:24 PM CST

Way, way, WAY over the line

How is this different from Fred Phelps?

Extraordinarily disgusting.

Are there advertisers here that can be boycotted?

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by: KC @ Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 23:29:41 PM CST

Worth a try

you can also file a complaint with the FCC, for what it is worth.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complai...

We all know that the FCC is a piece of shit, but if enough complaints are filed they have to do something.  And if enough people complain about this crap on FAUX, they might actually start to do something.

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by: bkmn @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 02:35:28 AM CST

The thing that fascinates me...

is that, he could easily have said nothing. He could have simply not mentioned Ledger's death. The fact that he chose to use it in this mocking hateful way is indeed revolting. But what scares me is, he must know that he has an audience out there that will be laughing and nodding their heads in agreement. He's in business, and he's doing what makes money.

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by: CathyG @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 05:53:12 AM CST

Such a very little man

He must be tormented by his own perceived inadequacies to be making such cowardly jokes.

Hate stops a beating heart.

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by: KarenS @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 08:47:17 AM CST

Fair and balanced my ass.

There is no proof that Mr. Ledger was 'drug-crazed'--if Gibson had bothered to check what facts had already been released by the time he made his revolting comments he would have known that the initial autopsy was inconclusive and that Mr. Ledger was sick, enduring a bout of double pneumonia and was suffering from sleeplessness. The facts as they are now point toward accidental overdose. Why are these people never fucking held accountable for their lies and their innuendos?

Gibson's playing the line from 'Brokeback MOuntain' and his sunbsequent mockery of it shows what he really had a problem with---the fact that Heath Ledger had the temerity to portray a gay man in a film. When I read the transcript of what Gibson had said and done it made me feel sick to my stomach.

John Gibson is a disgusting sack of shit.  

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."

Douglas Adams - 'The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy'  

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by: Val @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 08:56:55 AM CST

His mouth makes homophobic comments . . .

 . . . while his hair channels Liberace.

John Gibson is a man of many mysteries.  ;)

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by: JoshWatermanMN @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 09:40:03 AM CST

What would John Gibson know about "most people" anyway?

He's a member of the aging, hetero-sexually-obsessed white male minority who continue to be over-represented on the airwaves, in the government, and heading up corporations. So when Gibson says "most people," he actually means the "people who COUNT". . .meaning people like him.

One of the most interesting ways his group of tyrants maintains power is by claiming to be "most people," even though we see plenty of evidence that their point of view doesn't represent anything near "most people."

Or perhaps the issue with Gibson is the rather sad acknowledgement that most people would most certainly not want to see two con-servative on-air blowhards having sex. . .whether with each other, with women, or by themselves. Now that is an image which would readily turn "most people's" stomachs.

Not that the concept has ever bothered these unattractive, cowardly, out-of-shape white men whose testosterone comes completely from moving their lips and their own sexually-frustrated fantasies. And this is the point which con-artist con-servatives can't quite get:  perhaps "most people" are self-aware enough and perceptive enough to realize that on-air "personalities" who have to engage on constantly blathering on about the imagined sexual behaviors of others are suffering from deprivation in their own lives.
From the obsession about gays from people like Ann Coulter, whose apparent middle-age spinster life doesn't seem to include any commitment to self-morality, to the voyeuristic "investigations" of Peter LaBarbera, to the toe-tappin' fantasies of Senator Craig and the phonesex antics of Bill O'Reilly, is there really any con-servative who can say "morality" with a "straight" face?

It would be a nice idea if, each time one of these clowns utters an outrageous phrase, a list of advertisers is circulated so that we can ask these companies what their own commitment is to such insulting behavior - I sure as hell don't want to buy something from a company in which the employees are apparently encouraged to spend their working hours obsessing about the imagined intimate lives (and deaths) of others.  

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by: kevinbgoode @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 10:07:34 AM CST

No manners..

Also, it's pretty obvious that Gibson is ragging on Ledger because he played a gay guy in one movie. (Hint: that's what actors do - pretend to be other people) It hardly ranks as news if some Hollywood or music celebrity does drugs.  

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by: NancyP @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 10:19:31 AM CST

Tasteless Radio Humor

Yesterday I was listening to a rock station here in Austin on my way back into town.  I was probably overdosing on radio after being on the road for 9 hours.  The DJ brought up Heath Ledger's death and then played some "humorous" trailer for Brokeback Mountain which was called "Brokebutt Mountain" and I had to change to another station.  It was probably created back when the movie was released and such jokes were all the rage, but it wasn't funny then, and it certainly isn't funny now.

I will never understand the craving for attention by on-air personalities who seem to think it's appropriate to make a joke out of someone who has just died.  If that's the state of our "entertainment industry" then I'd prefer to abstain from it.

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by: konagod @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 11:46:46 AM CST

mocking a tragedy...?!

  Heath Ledger was a REAL talent. This is a horrendous tragedy that shouldn't be mocked by ANYONE!!
Even if he wanted to talk about the problems young performers have with drugs, he should have had the sensitivity to understand that ALL kinds of young people who aren't rich and famous have underlying issues that make them turn to drugs.

 However, what happened to Ledger seems similar to something that happened to a friend of my husband's and me.
Our friend Brad, a talented guitarist who had a big grin JUST like Matt Damon's, died in his sleep from an interaction of his asthma medication and a tranquilizer. Brad was 26.
And I grieved terribly for a young, decent and taleted life lost.

 Mr. Ledger left behind a precious little daughter. He probably did lose track of his meds and suffered heart failure because of it.
 About seven years ago, I was standing in line at a coffee house in Silverlake called The Coffee Table. And Heath Ledger was behind me in line.
I can testify that he was gorgeous, trim and smiled shyly at me.

 I am sick and sad that yet another young talent is lost. That's all.
And John Gibson is a real piece of shit for making fun of it. And if he's mocking Ledger's death because of his role in Brokeback Mountain, that just shows that Ledger did a brave thing. Lots of straight actors WON'T do roles like that precisely because of the kind of fallout that Gibson represents. And gay actors have a harder time of it even getting roles protraying gay men to open movies at the box office.

   When those who consider themselves morally imbued to talk and instruct on the issues of the day CAN mock a tragic death, then you know they are EXACTLY the opposite of a stand up, morally ethical person.
Imagine Ledger's little girl or ex girlfriend hearing such a thing.
 Gibson deserves taking down more than a few pegs, the ugly, dough faced son of a bitch!

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by: Regan DuCasse @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 11:57:04 AM CST

horrendous tragedy that shouldn't be mocked by ANYONE!!

   That's the way cowards and people with no character behave. There once was a day when there was such a thing called reverence, and even the stiffist of opponents relented to respect in such instances, showing respect for all humanity, putting the past behind them, and sending their condolences, showing how respectful they were themselves, being able to do so and letting the "fight" go. That was being a "real" man. But the way of a "real" man and a gentleman are long gone it seems.

I'd rather be a lion for one day, than a sheep for my entire life.

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by: PhyllisMs @ Fri Jan 25, 2008 at 04:11:52 AM CST

[ Parent ]

GLAAD's call to action

http://www.glaad.org/action/ca...

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by: KC @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 13:05:18 PM CST

just heard

 Just heard another talk radio guy at KABC complaining that GLAAD is doing something about addressing John Gibson. Saying 'don't they have anything better to do?'

 That is a question that should be asked of JOHN GIBSON, not GLAAD.
First of all, as I said, it's heartless and mean to mock Heath Ledger's death for any reason.

 But we all know Gibson specifically did so and used iconic quotes from Brokeback Mountain to illustrate his disdain for gay people or even actors playing gay people.

 Don't straight talk show hosts have anything better to do than bash gay people? Or mock a young man's passing for his most standout portrayal in the movies?

   It's GLAAD's job to monitor the content of media. Who died and gave John Gibson, or any other asshole with a mike, the job of speaking of gays as if they are unfit to walk the earth?

   I am a proud member of GLAAD and this is my fourth year representing as a juror for the theater arm of that organization.
So far, I have been the only straight person on the theater jury, but I was nominated in and I feel a great deal of respect for the job and why I'm there.
Stay tuned to see how soon it will be that Gibson will try and backpedal his way out of this one.

   He thought it was oh so funny at the time, but I hope Ledger's family demands his head. It's easy to mock gay people, but it's also easy to see what cowards the bashers really are.
Note that few (if any) of them ever do it at great risk or sacrifice to themselves.
   

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by: Regan DuCasse @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 15:31:10 PM CST

Ledger's family

will, after a period of grieving, probably want to have some words with Mr. Gibson, and those who enable him.  This may include Matilda Ledger in a few years.

It would be fitting, in my opinion, for Mr. Gibson to be fired over this "bit."

The funeral music alone....I mean, he showed astounding contempt for someone he probably knows very little about.

Given his track record (he said watching two men kiss would be like watching someone get his fingernails pulled out), I suspect homophobia was the central engine behind his comments, an emotional engine that pushed him out of the realm of basic manners and decency.  His comments were indeed deeply offensive for multiple reasons.

I don't know what Mr. Gibson's religious or spiritual beliefs may be, but I wonder if he cares about his soul.  In any case, I wonder:  Does he care at least about his legacy, and about how he will be viewed in the future?

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by: KC @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 17:51:48 PM CST

[ Parent ]

do the right-wing pundits have anything better to do?

the answer is always no.  remember, this is the same class of people who mocked someone with MS, proclaimed that the 9-11 widows enjoyed their husbands' deaths, singled out a woman whose son was killed in iraq to belittle her and mock her protests of the war, help round up the sheeple to turn a brain-dead woman's final months into a 3-ring circus and turned her husband into a wanted man, refer to "nappy-headed hos" and "fags" and "magic negroes", they hate rosie, they hate michael moore, and the list goes on, and on, and on.  they have nothing valuable to contribute to a discussion--all they are capable of is attacking and getting their rabid listeners something new and fun to hate.

oh, and they generally try to make the lives of GLBT people as hellish as possible, and apparently even those who would dare to portray them as human beings in a movie aren't to be spared, even in death.  

The gays stole my lunch money

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by: matt in mpls @ Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 18:26:16 PM CST

[ Parent ]