Lawsuit accuses paparazzi of luring Ledger to drugs party
A new lawsuit claims Heath Ledger was set up by two photographers who secretly filmed the late actor taking cocaine in a Los Angeles hotel room.
In legal documents filed by an unnamed woman in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, two Splash News paparazzi stand accused of luring Ledger to her room at the Chateau Marmont hotel in January 2006.
Eric Munn and Darren Banks allegedly then gave cocaine to the actor while secretly videotaping him. Ledger, who had no idea they were photographers, also had some cocaine of his own, according to the lawsuit.
Ledger eventually spotted he was being filmed and allegedly became angry, at which point he was promised the tape would be destroyed. It wasn't, and a segment of it was screened on TV show Entertainment Tonight shortly after his death from an accidental prescription drugs overdose in January.
The full tape was never aired after numerous celebrities pressured producers to drop it.
The woman, listed as Jane Doe, refuses to reveal her identity for 'fear of consequences and repercussions'. The legal papers do, however, state she was working as a freelance reporter for People magazine and that she was 'occasionally dating' Munn at the time. The woman, who People state has not worked for the magazine since last year, claims the videotape makes it appear as if she was taking cocaine.
Munn, Banks and Splash News managing partner Gary Morgan are being sued for fraud, negligence, trespassing and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
