01x03 - Heath Ledger

[bunniefuu]

- How you doing, Heath?
- Heath!

Wave at us! Wave at us!

Serious directors were
quite convinced

he would be the actor
of his generation.

This guy is unbelievably
talented

and just threw himself
into exactly the right roles.

I know the public still has
questions that are unanswered.

He told MTV, "I could die now
and be okay."

Heath immersed himself
so much into this role,

he descended into,
like, madness.

This drug-addicted,
self-involved monster.

Heath Ledger was a victim

of an organized cabal
of celebrity K*llers.

He was m*rder*d.

911 emergency.

The official narrative
doesn't tell the whole story.

But you really have to look
at everything.

You still have to go down
that rabbit hole.

You still have to go down
that path.

When a celebrity dies,

the search for answers
moves online,

and the truth
may be one click away.

January 22, 2008.

Shock.

Grief.

It's mayhem outside of
Heath Ledger's apartment

when his lifeless body
is wheeled outside.

Just moments earlier, the news
of the 28-year-old actor's death

creates a cloud of sadness.

It quickly ends up being chaos

outside of his apartment
in SoHo.

There's paramedics,
there's paparazzi.

No one has any real answers
in real time.

For me, it was a shock.

- Excuse me, get back.
- Behind the barricade, please.

It was really difficult
to believe.

He was at the top of his game.
He was young.

So I think it came as a real
shock to a lot of people.

I think one of
the first questions

that came to mind
is what happened?

The next day, Ledger's autopsy
report is released.

It is inconclusive,
pending toxicology results.

I'm Sara Hammel, and I was
a reporter for People magazine

when Heath Ledger died.

When a celebrity dies,
we don't know what caused it,

so we're going to have to battle
rumor after rumor, conjecture.

In the frenzy that follows
Ledger's death,

the media
and online investigators

struggle to get
the story straight.

Was it suicide?

An overdose?

Or something more nefarious?

Fans find that his death
just doesn't make sense.

Ledger was at the top
of his game.

Heath Ledger was
a serious talent.

Chris Norris is a journalist
who has covered

Heath Ledger extensively.

He was an extraordinary actor
who probably had he lived

would have been one of the
better ones in this generation.

He just seemed to put
everything out there,

have it all available to you,
unguarded, undefended,

and I think that is captivating
and magnetic to people,

especially when they're trying
to create something.

To have somebody so present,

so emotionally available
to them.

Ledger's career starts
in the early '90s

when he becomes
a heartthrob in Australia

after appearing
in various teen dramas.

But he wanted more.

At 18, he moved to Hollywood,

and in 1999, at 19,
he got his big break.

A starring role in teen rom-com
"Ten Things I Hate About You."

That was his breakout role.

He really just charmed people

and he charmed the industry
and charmed the world.

In the 2000s,

Ledger proves that he's more
than just a pretty face.

He picks more complex
characters to play,

like Ennis Del Mar
in "Brokeback Mountain."

"Brokeback Mountain" was
important for Heath Ledger,

you know, in more ways than one.

Besides being a really important
and well-regarded movie,

he also met Michelle Williams
on that film.

- Heath, right here.
- Heath. Heath. Heath.

She starred in it as well,
and they fell in love

and eventually they had
a little baby girl together.

The greatest gift, I think,
was finding each other.

And now we have a family
and a beautiful life.

After the critical and personal
success of "Brokeback Mountain,"

Ledger lands the role
of a lifetime,

playing the Joker
in "The Dark Knight."

Going from "Brokeback Mountain"
to the Joker,

he had really chameleonic...
Able to transform himself,

to almost to be unrecognizable,

but in a way that there was
a real character

there in the roles
that he was playing.

It wasn't all just a stunt.

But his most important role
is being a dad.

Ledger and his young daughter,
Matilda,

are often spotted all over
their Brooklyn neighborhood.

And he would be seen
going out shopping,

going to Gourmet Garage and
getting his family some food.

Walking back, kind of looking
sort of a boho chic

or kind of grungy.

Pushing a stroller,
just being a dad.

But near the end of 2007,

Ledger's personal life
begins to fall apart.

My name's Jake Brennan,

I'm the host and creator
of the podcast

"Disgrace Land,"
and also the podcast "Badlands,"

where we covered
Heath Ledger back in 2021.

Coming out of 2007
for Heath Ledger, I mean,

he goes from this
sort of idyllic celebrity life

with Michelle Williams
and their new baby, Matilda,

to splitting up.

Two days before his death,
Ledger arrives back in Manhattan

as a newly single man on a break
from sh**ting his latest film,

"The Imaginarium
of Doctor Parnassus."

This is the last known photo
of the Aussie actor on set

before returning home
to New York,

where he would die
shortly after.

He's living on his own at this
point in New York as a bachelor.

That might sound, you know,

like it's a lot of fun
for a young guy,

but for him,
it was particularly depressing.

And he's got a lot
of other issues.

He's got anxiety, he's got
back pain, he's got insomnia.

He's dealing with all of this,

and there's really
this dark reality

that settles in around him.

Fans and online investigators
alike begin to wonder

if Ledger's very public split
may have led to his downfall.

While online investigators
wait for the toxicology report

and the official cause of death,

they begin to piece together
the last days of Ledger's life,

looking for factors that could
have contributed to his death.

My name is Deanna Thompson.

I spend my time looking
on the Internet

at crimes that have happened
and turning over evidence

to the authorities
to get justice for victims.

And she's doing just that.

Thanks to her online sleuthing,

she helped track down notorious
k*ller Luka Magnotta in 2012,

and her work is featured
in the documentary

"Don't F with Cats."

I wanted to learn more about

where he was at the time
he passed away,

and I wanted to know more
about that time in his life.

By all accounts,
he's in a dark place.

Ledger and his live-in partner,
Michelle Williams,

call it quits
in October of 2007.

Three months before his death.

My name is Justin Ling.

I am a freelance
investigative journalist.

Ledger and Williams did have,
clearly, relationship troubles

about a year after the birth
of their daughter.

She kicked him out
of their Brooklyn home.

The official reason given is

because of
scheduling differences.

But Reddit users begin to wonder
if Ledger's fast lifestyle

is the real explanation
for the split.

More publications online
talk about the partying

and the drug use
as a reason for the breakup

than people talk about it
being a scheduling issue.

If you want a source for that,
it's every online article.

If you just do a quick search,

it's gonna be the first thing
that comes up

is that they broke up
because of his drug use.

Michelle Williams
still adored Heath.

He was the father of her child,
but she also had a role

of being the protector
of their child together.

And it was important to her
to keep that child safe

in a way, from what reports say

was increasing drug use
by Heath Ledger.

At the time of his death,
Ledger's dealing with a lot.

Heartbreak, a grueling schedule,
physical and emotional pain,

all while being watched
under a microscope.

As he became a superstar,
naturally,

the tabloids
became obsessed with Ledger.

This was particularly at a time

when the tabloids
were running amuck,

and they really honed in
on his hard-partying,

drug-use lifestyle.

While theories swirl online
about his cause of death,

cyber sleuths hone in
on a piece of evidence recovered

from Ledger's apartment on
the day his body is discovered.

A rolled-up bill.

TMZ reported that they
verified with police sources

that the police found,
like, a $20 bill

that was, like, rolled up
in a suspicious way.

Heath spent the latter
part of 2006 and '07

partying with people
in New York City.

Was he this drug-addicted,

drug-abusing,
self-involved monster?

January 22, 2008.

The world is stunned when one
of Hollywood's brightest stars

suddenly passes away.

Heath Ledger's life is cut short

just as his career
is skyrocketing.

- How you doing, Heath?
- Wave at us! Wave at us!

Immediately after
Ledger's death,

online investigators mobilize

looking for answers.

Jennifer Bucholtz is
an experienced detective

and has investigated
dozens of crime scenes.

I do think it's important
to still examine

some of the details
surrounding his death

to ensure that it was
properly investigated

and that we know the truth,

and that if there's more
to be uncovered,

we're doing right by the victim,
in this case, Heath.

As part of their sleuthing,
they uncover evidence

of Ledger's
hard-partying lifestyle.

In October 2007, after his
split from Michelle Williams,

Ledger is now on his own
and rents an apartment

in the SoHo neighborhood
of New York City.

When he moved out
from his home in Brooklyn,

he was probably
a little adrift socially

and wanted to clear
some space in his life

and maybe find some way
to enjoy himself

as a semi-single man
who still had responsibilities

to his daughter.

And went out,
he would go out at night.

Heath spent the latter
part of 2006 and '07

partying with people
in New York City.

Rumors of excessive partying
follow Ledger around

during his last
few months of 2007.

According to a source
in a People magazine article,

two nights before he died,

the actor is spotted
at the Beatrice Inn

wearing a ski mask.

There's all these rumors
that he's living

this wild bachelor lifestyle.

There's even this rumor
that he's out at a nightclub,

hanging out, wearing a ski mask,

which is kind of crazy
to think about.

While there is no photo proof
of the ski mask incident,

police find evidence
in Ledger's apartment

after his death
that has the online community

pointing to the theory he died
of an ill*gal drug overdose.

Police find this rolled-up bill
on the site after he dies.

And it really kicks
up speculation

that he was perhaps
abusing drugs.

If one thinks of
a rolled-up bill,

they're thinking of coke, right?

That piece of evidence
stokes the theory

that Ledger died
of an overdose of street drugs.

After Heath Ledger dies,
there's this questioning,

you know, how into drugs was he?

Was he this major celebrity
drug addict?

He wasn't seen as one,

but then these rumors
of this video of him

doing cocaine at this party
in Hollywood start to bubble up.

And this video, actually, of him
at the Chateau Marmont

ends up hitting the Internet.

In the video,
Heath is talking about

how he just had
a baby two months ago.

Her name is Matilda and
it's such an old-school theme.

And then he goes on to say,

"Yeah, I definitely
shouldn't be here right now."

But what it did do
was provide some insight

into, like, his state of mind
at that time.

You know,
you watch this footage,

and it's, you know,
it's sensational

and it's celebrity
and it's behaving badly,

but it's also at the heart
of it, it's really sad.

And you see a guy who knows
he's in a place

where he's not supposed to be.

He knows things are going in
a direction

that they're not supposed to go.

The footage is as juicy
as it gets

when it comes to leaked
celebrity misbehavior,

and it quickly changes
the narrative around

Heath Ledger's death.

There were two stories
that seemed to be developing

at the same time.

Was he this saintly,
humble father of a young girl

who was dedicated to his work?

Or was he this drug-addicted,

drug-abusing,
self-involved monster

who kind of brought this
on himself

through negligence
and extreme behavior?

There is no evidence
to back up this theory.

Yet it still lives
and thrives online.

The competing narratives
were allowed to sort of duel

in public, online, on TV,

and in the press for the period
of time between his death

and when the toxicology
reports came back.

Then on February 6th, just two
weeks after Ledger's death,

the New York medical examiner
releases the toxicology report.

The cause of death
is acute intoxication

by the combined effects
of six different medications.

Sleeping pills, painkillers,
and anti-anxiety medication.

In other words,

Ledger dies of an overdose
of prescription drugs.

No street drugs are found
in his system,

and the rolled-up bill
comes back clean.

Dr. Praveen Kambam,

who specializes in addiction
medicine, breaks down the meds.

In Heath Ledger's case,

he had a combination
of opiate medications,

which are pain medications,
benzodiazepine medications,

which are sedative
hypnotic medications,

and other sedative medications

like antihistamines
in his system.

In general, this type of
combination of medications

is extremely dangerous,

particularly the combination
of opiates,

the pain medicines,
and the benzodiazepines,

which are sedatives.

All but two were found to be
prescribed from his doctors,

with the exception
of OxyContin and hydrocodone.

Those two drugs
were never accounted for.

No one knows how he got them.

Online investigators
shift their attention

to questions surrounding
the prescription drugs

in Ledger's system
and where he got them.

So as I was researching
that aspect online,

I came across chat rooms
like on Reddit,

where some of his fans
were speculating

that he may have
illegally obtained those drugs.

When the masseuse finds
Heath Ledger unresponsive,

things get a little strange.

There was discussion going on
during that time

of needing to remove
possibly incriminating evidence.

In January 2008,
news of Heath Ledger's death

sends shock waves
around the world.

Two weeks after Ledger
is found dead,

the New York
medical examiner confirms

Ledger died from
a prescription drug overdose.

Online detectives start
from the beginning.

They look at the timeline
before and after Ledger's death.

It's always important to
collect as much information

as you can on the hours
before someone's death,

because those may hold
the critical clues to the case,

to the investigation.

Sydney Morning Herald reported
on the police timeline

that was released on the final
moments of Heath's life.

The events leading up to
Ledger's lifeless body

being discovered
have message boards

lighting up with fans
and sleuths alike,

wondering if Ledger
could have been saved.

On the day of Heath's death,

his housekeeper reportedly
showed up to his residence

to do her weekly cleaning.

So she's cleaning the house,
and at 12:30 p.m.,

she goes into Heath's room
and sees him sleeping,

and he's face down
and she hears him snoring.

Reddit users point
to this moment at 12:30

in the afternoon as proof
Ledger was still alive.

Around 2:45 that afternoon,

Diana Wolozin, the masseuse

that Heath had scheduled
for a 3:00 p.m. appointment,

showed up to the residence.

So she knocks on the door,
and Heath is not answering.

So she opens the door
and goes in and she sees

Heath laying in bed, he's naked,
and she's like, "Okay."

So she starts trying
to wake him up

and she touches him
to kind of wiggle him awake.

When the masseuse finds
Heath Ledger unresponsive

in his bed,
things get a little strange.

Ledger is discovered
unconscious at 3:11 local time,

but according to
the police timeline,

Wolozin and doesn't call 911
until 3:37 p.m.,

26 minutes later.

Upon finding Ledger's body,

the massage therapist
picked up the phone

and called, of all people,
Mary-Kate Olsen.

The name Mary-Kate Olsen
came out of the blue.

That was completely unexpected
by anybody.

No one has ever linked them
in any way.

It really put speculation
into overdrive.

This is the first time
Ledger and Olsen's name

have been uttered
in the same sentence.

Heath Ledger died, and all
these rumors are going around

that he died
in Mary-Kate's apartment.

Him and Mary-Kate had been
hooking up for

I think like three months.

And this bit of information
has Internet sleuths

poring through message boards
for clues.

Why would she call Mary-Kate,
and not 911?

Remember, Ledger was breathing
at 12:30 p.m.,

and according to the Emergency
Medical Service Dispatch report,

while his hands are cool,

his torso is still warm
when paramedics finally arrive.

Which could mean
Ledger wasn't dead for long.

I'm Dr. Daria Long.

I'm a board-certified
emergency medicine physician.

If somebody had called
911 immediately,

EMS would probably likely
have immediately given him

Naloxone or Narcan to try
to reverse any opioid effect.

Would it have been too late
is something for speculation.

We'll never know.

Instead of paramedics,
Mary-Kate Olsen sends her team

over to investigate
Ledger's situation.

When she learned that
he was unconscious,

she sent over a private
security guard to his apartment.

The theory online in chat boards

is that Mary-Kate
sent her bodyguards over

to get the pill bottles.

Did the bodyguards go
and get the pill bottles?

There's no evidence
to support this theory,

but on message boards,
users run with it.

Yet the circumstances
around Olsen's involvement

that day in SoHo
remain a mystery.

So here we are 14 years later,

still with some of
those same questions

that have never been answered.

Regardless of how Ledger
gets the painkillers,

he combines them with several
other prescription drugs

that ultimately lead
to his death.

Having this combination
of medications

can be particularly dangerous

because it is not only
combining classes

or families of medications that
may have overlapping effects,

but even within the same
family of medications,

there's multiple medications
being prescribed,

and those also have
similar effects.

So you've got two different
things going on here.

Why opioids are so dangerous,

why they lead to death
in many cases

is because they cause
this sedative effect,

and it slows
our respiratory system

so people literally
stop breathing.

Once sleuths discover

the amount of drugs
in Ledger's system,

another theory begins
to germinate on the Web.

The idea that Ledger
took his own life.

The narrative that came out
of the autopsy

was that Heath Ledger
had mixed all of these drugs

without knowing the danger
of putting them all together.

But nevertheless, a ton of
his fans refused to accept

that this was
an accidental overdose.

There's speculation
that Heath committed suicide,

like he took a lethal
combination of medication

on purpose.

To kind of just be like,
you know, "I'm done with this."

The suicidal Heath Ledger
theory,

he was so bereft
and grief stricken

about not being able to see
his daughter, Matilda,

that it crushed him so deeply
that he was so alone

and overworked
that he simply couldn't take it

and made a decision
to end his life.

He really loved Michelle.

He was devastated at the loss
of this relationship.

And I think even more so,

the loss of the closeness
he had with his daughter.

That interview he did with MTV
really stands out to me

where he says that, you know,
if he died, he'd be okay

because he knows he's going
to live on through his daughter.

Some fans online
point out the fact

that Ledger's breakup
with Williams in 2007

happens during a particularly
painful time of year,

just before the holidays.

New York around the holidays

is a beautiful place
around Christmas time.

And I can tell you myself,
being a father,

I can't imagine anything
more lonely than being alone

without your children,
without your wife,

especially your kids
around Christmas.

So while his acting career
was flourishing,

his personal life
wasn't going so well.

There's a string of
troubled relationships.

He reportedly had insomnia,
anxiety,

and a whole bunch
of related health problems.

And he speaks freely
about his chronic insomnia.

Heath Ledger is on record
even telling The New York Times

that he couldn't sleep more
than two hours per night.

He could not calm his mind
and get a good night's rest.

I found an article
from People magazine

where friend
and sometimes housemate

Gerry Grennell mentioned that

Heath would often pace
the floors at night.

And Gerry would say, "Man,
you've got to work tomorrow.

You've got to get some sleep."

And Heath would be like, "I
know, I just... I can't sleep."

It is well-documented
in the scientific literature

that insomnia is a risk factor
for suicide.

Sleep is a critical function

not only for
your general health,

but specifically
for your mental health.

When people are not sleeping,

this can cause all kinds of
adverse impacts on their body.

It can shorten their life span.
It can affect their heart.

It can affect clearing toxic
metabolites out of your brain.

It can put you at risk
for suicide,

mental health disorders,
et cetera, you name it.

Working on little to no sleep,

Ledger still forged ahead,

working long hours
and booking role after role.

A lot of people think, you know,

being an actor is you show up,
you walk in,

they set up a camera,

and you start talking
and everything's great.

But behind the scenes,
it's a grueling schedule.

Being an A-list actor
who has to deliver

is actually,
at the end of the day,

responsible for this film
selling tickets.

It's a lot, and I think
the pressure for civilians

like us is unimaginable.

The theory is that Heath
immersed himself

so much into this role

that it altered
his mental health

and that he descended
into, like, madness.

Got into his soul and just
drove him to an early death.

On February 8, 2008,
the New York Coroner's Office

rules Heath Ledger's death

an accidental overdose
of prescription drugs.

But as the Internet tries
to understand why that happened,

one very popular theory

pins the movie star's death
on his acting style.

Method acting.

In method acting,

a performer essentially
transforms themself

physically and emotionally
into their character

for long periods of time
during filming.

Method acting is about
really rooting the character

in the text itself,
in the story,

and doing tons of research,

staying in the character
when you're on set or around,

in the wardrobe,
and really immersing yourself

in the specifics
of this fictional character.

Heath Ledger would
really research a character.

Go deeply into it,
read tons about it,

act as that character,
not as himself.

Everybody thinks of him as the
Joker from "The Dark Knight,"

which is one of
the best portrayals

you can point to
in modern cinema.

And Ledger's work ethic

is unmatched
in his preparation for the role.

The theory is that
Heath immersed himself

so much into this role that
it altered his mental health

and that he descended
into, like, madness.

People said, "Oh, yeah,
he became the Joker

and he k*lled himself."

Ledger's vision for
the Crown Prince of Crime

is based on the original
comic book rendition

of a frayed sociopath

hell-bent on destruction
for destruction's sake.

Heath wanted to make
this Joker his own,

and he wanted to really
stand out

as a different kind of Joker.

He didn't want to,
like, be Jack Nicholson.

He wanted to be
Heath Ledger, the Joker.

So he really put himself
into a position

where he could become maniacal
and, like, dangerous and scary.

To do this, Ledger reportedly
locks himself in a hotel room

for a full month
before the movie starts filming.

The metamorphosis
into the Joker begins.

So he started isolating himself

and kind of, like, intentionally
driving himself mad.

And while he was doing this
isolation and sleep deprivation,

he created a journal
to document this process.

I found excerpts of
Heath's Joker journal online.

This diary kind of cataloged
Heath's descent into madness.

And in going through the diary,
you know,

there's players cards that are,
like, cut up kind of weird

and old "Batman" comics
with the Joker.

What happened
in the Joker's life

to get to
where he's at now, right?

Every detail is given
thoughtful attention

as Ledger dives deeper
into the villain's persona.

Now, he wanted his laugh
to be unique,

animalistic and maniacal.

And hyenas were his inspiration
for this laugh.

And so he had a page, like,

with just all these hyenas
kind of cut out.

Like, on the last page he wrote,
"Bye-bye."

Like, very, like, maniacal.

Some fans online believe

Ledger's journal
shows a man slowly going insane.

There's a segment of people
that think

that he may have really taken
on that role to a new level

and found himself
in a really dark space.

"Batman's" one of these
franchises that breeds

these very hardcore fans

that would actually believe
that that would be possible,

that someone could immerse
themselves in this character

so fully that they can take
on their characteristics

and have it end in something
as dark and real as suicide.

Then, during filming, the
Joker's twisted psyche festers

in Ledger's mind
for "The Dark Knight's"

127-day sh**ting schedule.

The results on screen
are legendary.

Heath would improvise things.

At one point, he had some kind
of prosthetic on his tongue

that was coming loose,

and that's where that kind of
snake-like licking of the lips

kind of came in,
and he used that.

He ended up taking that in

and making that
part of the performance.

Christopher Nolan thought

"Heath Ledger knows this role
more than I do

because he's immersed himself

so much into this character."

Ledger's portrayal of the Joker
is so convincing

that it earns him a posthumous
Academy Award in February 2009.

Fans continue to wonder
if Batman's nemesis

could have played a role
in the actor's death.

Performing this black, evil,

and impenetrably horrible
character

in film got into his soul
and drove him to an early death

by the sheer toxicity of
this horrifying character

that he played
so convincingly onscreen.

Heath Ledger, Chris Penn,

Natasha Richardson,
David Carradine.

They were all m*rder*d.

By a secret, shadowy cabal.

When Heath Ledger dies
on January 22, 2008,

legions of his fans
mourn his death online.

The official cause of Ledger's
death is an accidental overdose.

But some factions
on the Internet

look for other reasons.

Some are pretty far out.

Like this theory pushed
by Hollywood stars themselves.

In order to dig into this
Hollywood star whacker theory,

I want to go back in time a bit
to really understand

the origins of this thing.

My name is Becky Altringer,
and I'm a private investigator.

I've been a private investigator
for 25 years.

I did a lot of domestic cases,
m*rder,

and then a lot of work
in the entertainment industry.

17 months after Ledger's death,
Altringer's phone rings.

Evi Quaid called me and she was
so hysterical on the phone,

I couldn't understand,

you know, half of what
she was talking about.

So I tried to get her
to be calm,

and she said that I needed to go
to Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills

right away.

And when I get there,
I ask for Janet Cross.

I jumped in the car,

me and my partner Cheryl,
and we went to the Avalon

and I asked for Janet Cross,
and here walks this woman.

So she took us to the room.

It turns out Janet Cross
is not her real name.

Her real name is Evi Quaid,

and she makes
a shocking allegation.

Heath Ledger, Chris Penn,

Natasha Richardson,
David Carradine.

They were all m*rder*d.

She believed that the insurance
companies for the celebrities

and the mob were
k*lling them off

so that they could get
their insurance money.

And Evi is married
to a celebrity, Randy Quaid.

And she was terrified
that they were going to do

a m*rder-suicide
with her and Randy.

That's what it was all about.

Randy Quaid has been a fixture
in Hollywood for years,

starring in a number
of big-budget films

from "Independence Day"

to the "National Lampoon
Vacation" movies.

So you probably recognize
Randy Quaid.

For a time,
he was a pretty big deal,

increasingly one of the most
famous celebrities in Hollywood.

And the reason he and his wife
know about this plot

is because of his connection

to the recently deceased
Heath Ledger,

with whom he acted

in Ledger's breakout hit
"Brokeback Mountain."

Evi and Randy Quaid
were married,

and they were somewhat
of a Hollywood power couple,

that is until not long after
Heath Ledger's death,

where things kind of
went sideways.

Evi tells Altringer
that she and Randy

don't feel safe at the hotel
and need somewhere else to stay.

She goes, "I want to go
to your house."

They come to my house.

Randy was a very nice man,
and we talked a lot.

Randy Quaid really liked Heath.

He was a good man.

He said he was actually
a great actor.

Evi asked me to do backgrounds

on a lot of different people
who work in the industry.

They were producers, directors.

Over the next few days,

Altringer looks
into Evi's claims.

But then Evi changes her story

on who's really out
to get the couple.

All of a sudden, she says,
"These are star whackers.

That's what they are."

And I said,
"What is star whackers?"

And she said, "It's those people
who are out there

trying to m*rder us.

Someone else is going to die,
Becky, you watch."

And they have a theory
about how Heath Ledger died.

Heath Ledger was a victim

of an organized cabal
of celebrity K*llers

called
the Hollywood Star Whackers.

While the Quaids are spreading
the word about star whackers,

they have their own
legal problems.

So Randy Quaid and his wife
are seeking asylum in Canada

because they're being brought up

on felony charges
of trespassing.

Star whackers is because

Hollywood is murdering
its movie stars for ad sales.

Quaid is adamant his star
whacker theory is the truth.

We believe there are to be

a malignant tumor of
star whackers in Hollywood.

The Quaids are denied asylum
in Canada

and in 2015 returned to the U.S.

But they continue to push
their theory

about the Hollywood
star whackers in various forms.

Managed to find a copy
of "Star Whackers,"

the movie that Randy Quaid
produced and starred in,

directed by his wife.

It's pretty weird.

- ...and chirping pies.
- And he did... Oh, God damn it.

I just watched the trailer
for the film "Star Whackers."

And it's very artsy.

It's very... It feels like it
has a very artistic feel to it.

It feels very interpretive,
I guess.

I have no idea what
"Star Whackers" is about.

Along with the Quaids, there's
a social media influencer

who seems to back
the star whackers theory.

I have no problem believing
the idea of what Randy Quaid

and his wife are alleging
is actually 100% true.

This is going on.

People are being m*rder*d.

But beyond Internet chatter,
no proof online or elsewhere

seems to exist
that suggests that

Heath Ledger was m*rder*d
by such a cabal.

For those who have met
the Quaids,

the real motivation
behind the theory

and using Heath Ledger's name
remains unclear.

So let's be real. The Hollywood
star whackers theory

comes from the mind
of two people,

Randy Quaid and Evi Quaid.

But there's just zero proof
of the idea

that any of the people
they claim were taken out

by the star whackers
were actually even m*rder*d,

let alone by a secret,
shadowy cabal

supposedly collecting
insurance money

on some blanket umbrella policy

that no one
can actually produce.

It's so outrageous that I just
don't want to give it my time.

Like, it's absurd.

I think it's just a way to be a
little bit more self-important.

When he was at my house,
I went outside and I said,

"Heath Ledger was not k*lled
by the star whackers."

And he said, "I know."

"Randy, there are
no star whackers."

"I know, but what can I do?"

That's what he said.

When Heath Ledger's body
is discovered

in his New York City apartment
and the cause of death

is ruled an accidental overdose,
fans fire up their devices

and start weeding through
speculation

and theories online.

Rumors are gonna say
the worst about them.

So without ignoring evidence
to the contrary,

it's really important
to set the record straight

because he has
a young daughter, right?

Like, she's going to grow up
with all this stuff

on the Internet
about her father.

And when it comes to Ledger,
they change by the minute.

Was it ill*gal street drugs?
Suicide?

Did the Joker make him do it?

Or was it the star whackers?

There were definitely aspects

of this Hollywood star whacker
thing

that go straight
into outer space.

But lots of what Quaid says
is frankly true.

There is a Hollywood star system

whereby media executives
and the tabloids and managers

and a lot of people
in the industry chew up

and spit out young talent.

Heath Ledger lost any semblance
of a private life,

and many of the celebrities

who've been targeted
by this star system

have ultimately died
in very tragic circumstances.

And Ledger was exactly that,

a target for some members
of the press.

Remember the juicy coke video
from the Chateau Marmont?

It turns out it's not
what it seemed.

These members of the paparazzi
set him up.

They basically entrap him
to come up to their hotel room

with him.

And they end up, one guy ends up

surreptitiously going out
onto the balcony

and filming
from the outside window

Heath at this coke party.

But Ledger didn't die
from street drugs.

It's a deadly mix
of prescription meds

that ended up taking his life.

And Ledger's family is working
to protect his legacy

and educate the public about
the dangers of mixing pills.

The thing about
Heath Ledger's death

is that there was
a conspiracy at play.

Unfortunately, it was
a conspiracy to get

Americans hooked
on highly addictive

and incredibly
dangerous opioids.

Heath Ledger is one of thousands
of people across North America

who have lost their lives
in the midst

of an epidemic of overdoses
and drug poisonings.

You can be in a situation
where you're hurting physically,

you're hurting emotionally,
mentally, you're confused

because you haven't slept
for real in a really long time.

And you introduce drugs
into that,

and the results
can be disastrous.

And I don't know that it was
any one thing,

but I do think
it's highly likely

that it was a combination
of all of those elements.

It's a tragic ending for someone

who had a lot to live for.

I found nothing online
from friends or family

or people close to him that
speculated on whether or not

Heath was suicidal.

His sister mentioned that she
spoke with him the night before

and he was in good spirits,
although he wasn't feeling well

and she told him,
"Be careful with those drugs."

And he was like, "Oh,
everything's fine," you know?

There was no indication

that Heath was suicidal
in any fashion.

According to police, Ledger is
the victim of a tragic accident

in the form of
a prescription drug overdose.

But in reading the EMS report,

users on Reddit still
have questions as to why

Ledger's massage therapist,

Diana Wolozin,
didn't call 911 sooner.

It is not fair for us to judge
her actions

in the aftermath
of experiencing that event.

His masseuse, Diana Wolozin,
came upon his body

completely unexpectedly
and probably panicked.

Most people would.

It's so shocking to begin with
to come across your friend

or client who is at a minimum
not responding,

but probably is showing signs
that he's no longer alive.

It's like, "What do you do?"

And Ledger's star was rising.

He had just wrapped the biggest
role of his career,

playing the Joker
in "The Dark Knight."

He went all in, immersed
himself in the violence,

the psychotic characteristics

that someone like
the Joker would have.

And there were these rumors
that sprung up after his death

that perhaps all of
that research

and that mind melding
actually led to

Heath Ledger taking his life.

People that worked with him
and his family members,

Christian Bale himself
refuted that

really angrily, in some cases.

He was having a wonderful time
making this movie.

I say he couldn't
have been happier.

And even Ledger himself
describes the Joker

as the best role he's ever had.

How about a magic trick?

It was the most fun I've had
with a character, hands down.

Just this character
was too good to turn down.

I just want to enjoy myself.

That's just fun.

That's someone who is really
getting thrilled

with the process
of creating something

and you can let parts
of your life slide during it,

but it's not miserable.

Heath mentions that the Joker,
this role,

was the most fun he's ever had.

I mean, if the production
only had a $100,000 budget,

he would have done it for free

because he really just got
to kind of open up.

He truly got into
this character,

and you can see how much fun
he is actually having.

The thing that surprised me
the most, I think,

was how well-liked he was
by his colleagues,

by his fellow actors,
by his friends.

How he looked out for his peers,

how he took them along
for the ride.

He wasn't a diva leading man,
Hollywood celebrity type.

He was more just
one of the guys,

at least that was the impression
that I walked away with.

We might never know what really
happened to Heath Ledger,

but one thing is for sure,
he was a bright young actor

with so much promise.

The fact that we feel
so deprived,

it seems so unfair that he died.

We liked him so much.

It makes the search
for an explanation

all the more intense.

He was a heavyweight, and that's
the legacy left behind.