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Working Families Vote 2008

Fox News Host Gibson Cracks a Series of Tasteless Jokes About Heath Ledger's Death

Posted by Matt Corley, Think Progress at 4:04 PM on January 23, 2008.


In 2006, when "Brokeback Mountain" was released, Gibson repeatedly made fun of the film, calling it "a gay agenda movie."
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Opening his radio show with funeral music yesterday, Fox News host John Gibson callously mocked the death of actor Heath Ledger, calling him a "weirdo" with a "serious drug problem."

Playing an audio clip of the iconic quote, "I wish I knew how to quit you" from Ledger's gay romance movie Brokeback Mountain, Gibson disdainfully quipped, "Well, he found out how to quit you." Laughing, Gibson then played another clip from Brokeback Mountain in which Ledger said, "We're dead," followed by his own, mocking "We're dead" before playing the clip again.

Throughout the course of the show, Gibson continued to bring up Ledger's death while discussing current events, jokingly claiming that current events may have caused him to commit suicide.

On yesterday's drop in the stock market:

GIBSON: Maybe he had a serious position in the market.

TOM SULLIVAN: And possibly today, he looked at the window and said...

GIBSON: "Oh my God."

SULLIVAN: His name's not Keith Bledger, right?

GIBSON: He was depressed about yesterday's downturn in the world stock markets.

On the Democratic debate in South Carolina:

GIBSON: Apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant.

In reality, New York City Police spokesman Paul J. Browne told the New York Times that there was "no obvious indication of suicide."

You stay classy, John Gibson.

UPDATE: In 2006, when Brokeback Mountain was released, Gibson repeatedly made fun of the film, calling it "a gay agenda movie."

UPDATE II: Gibson is making light of the outrage caused by his remarks. Read about it here.

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Tagged as: gibson, fox news, homophobia, ledger, brokeback mountain

Matt Corley is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.


Return to PEEK  » Post Tools: email EMAIL print PRINT 23 COMMENTS PERMALINK
Also in PEEK
Bipartisan Concern About the Dangers of McPalin’s Hate-Mongering
"I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate ..."
Post by Emptywheel. October 10, 2008.		 Stock Market Drops 107 Points During Bush's Speech on the Economy
That's the kind of confidence Bush inspires these days.
Post by Amanda Terkel. October 10, 2008.		 McCain-Palin Rally Attendees Say Incredible, Ridiculous Things
File this one under the "give 'em enough rope" column.
Post by Seth Colter Walls. October 10, 2008.

Comments Turn comments off sitewide Give us feedback »
Comments closed.
The comments for this story have been closed. Thank you to everyone who participated. 		View:
yeah
[Report this comment]
Posted by: JoshuaLudd on Jan 23, 2008 4:09 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Absolutely disgusting.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

A New Low
[Report this comment]
Posted by: dayenta on Jan 23, 2008 4:33 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Further proof that there is no low to which a right wingnut will not sink.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Santorum
[Report this comment]
Posted by: MobileSucks on Jan 23, 2008 5:33 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Gibson reminds me of this.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Well, it's blatantly obvious...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Suz on Jan 23, 2008 8:13 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...Gibson is gay and was sexually attracted to Heath Ledger.

He's just trying to cope.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

FOX
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Turiye on Jan 23, 2008 10:06 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Is it required by Fox for job suitability in hiring that you ;
a)be a pathological liar
b)a Misogynist,the females as well
c)fundamentalist, any -ist
d)ingrained hatred for anything or anyone that
disagrees with the host
e)murder many small, defenseless animals on
off hours
I lied about e. but I find those persons of less than natural desires that work there to be quite capable of anything. Quite typical at FOX, if not far right psychopath with every intention to distort everything you are fair game, hmmm, if it were their son, brother or father, nah....

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Its possible....
[Report this comment]
Posted by: coñoloco on Jan 23, 2008 10:46 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A professional hit ?
Many,many were very unhappy with this boy.
perhaps those that killed the owner of that
contact lensses factory,cause he was according
to some helping deceit whites.Meaning non
whites wearing blue,green ones.
they were the same that killed a journalist
strangling,then dangling him from highrise
I guest in Chicago.for reporting on white
militias.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» WTF?!?!?!? Posted by: fluffmuffinmom
» RE: Its possible.... Posted by: aerdrie
It's Fauxx
[Report this comment]
Posted by: audiodef on Jan 24, 2008 5:55 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is what they do. I'd just pay these jokers no nevermind. If they were physically their mental age of 11, and a retarded 11 at that, maybe there's some hope that scolding them will work. But now that they've all grow'd up, they're lost.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: It's Fauxx Posted by: peacefullaim
I thought these were jokes
[Report this comment]
Posted by: sliver on Jan 24, 2008 6:59 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The headline said Gibson made jokes about Ledger's death. Those comments weren't jokes, they were pure insults.

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Bob Chase
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Bob Chase on Jan 24, 2008 7:18 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Does anyone know the most important email/snail mail address at Fox to get this slug who makes Mr. Burns looks good off the air for good? He'sobviously waaaay past deranged!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Moron, Racist, Sick And Twisted Mother-F
[Report this comment]
Posted by: QQOblivion on Jan 24, 2008 7:31 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Alternet just had an article about John Gibson's love of the idea of racially-based eugenics. What a f*cking moron, racist, sick and twisted mother-F.
Hey, when Gibson dies, can we all have a good time laughing about his death too!? I know many will.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

About Ledger, it's a shame, really...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Gungneir on Jan 24, 2008 8:24 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Heath Ledger was four years younger than me and he winds up dead from an OD...that's a hard fact to look in the eye. By statistical rights, I ought to be ahead of him in the one-foot-in-the-grave line. When a guy, famous or otherwise, offs himself, accidentally or otherwise, it's no joke, not for the people they leave behind (Ledger's got a kid, let's not forget).

What Gibson, this would-be joker, has done is the equivalent of pissing on the corpse. In spite of that, I hope his ignorance as to the pain suicide causes remains intact. For those left behind, that kind of pain is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Cherry Tiger
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ms_happy on Jan 24, 2008 9:44 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Gibson IS a tasteless joke.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Cherry Tiger Posted by: mandy
More devastating
[Report this comment]
Posted by: 2dogarage on Jan 24, 2008 10:41 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...than the fact that people like Gibson are delusional ass-wipes who spew this kind of mean-spirited invective is the fact that they wouldn't be allowed to if they were booed off the stage. Like all television they respond to ratings and the people have decided that this is what they want to see.

Which makes all Fox Propaganda watchers complicit in this type of ignorance-and-hate-based rhetoric. What really kills me is that the vast majority of Fox watchers consider themselves Christians. Talk about moral dyslexia!

R.I.P. dearest Heath, we barely knew you but many of us loved you. Your death has saddened millions of people all over the world.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: More devastating Posted by: peacefullaim
What do you expect from Fox Noise?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: leland61 on Jan 24, 2008 12:48 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It is a bunch of pigs oinking around their news trough and occasionally squealing out gibberish.

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Gibson's tasteless comments about Ledger
[Report this comment]
Posted by: btoven on Jan 24, 2008 8:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The more these right wingnuts keeping opening there mouths and spewing moronic comments, the more America becomes increasingly disgusted by them. Speaks volumes of their lack of intelligence and shallow character.

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Gibson's tasteless comments about Heath Ledger's death
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Thebigkate on Jan 24, 2008 9:01 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A narcissistic psychopath is a narcissistic psychopath is a narcissistic psychopath, etc. As Ledger said before his death of his latest character, the Joker: he completely lacks empathy! The shoe fits, Mr. Gibson, and you are wearing it!

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