Heath Ledger Slams West Virginia

Real nice, considering West Virginia was just in the news for a terrible mining disaster. Of course, that doesn't mean anything to Hollywood's new rhoid range rider - Heath Ledger. Speaking off the cuff in Australia, Ledger proved himself to be just another artsy moron out of touch with middle America.

"I heard a while ago that West Virginia was going to ban it. But that's a state that was lynching people only 25 years ago, so that's to be expected," Ledger said.

"Personally, I don't think the movie is (controversial) but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society.

story here

Comments

[Margi]

Mornin' Dan!

Oh, to be so sheltered by your piles of money and sycophants!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I will never understand why people idolize actors. They get paid to pretend. They're given the words to emote and told how to do it. The most important prerequisite to be an actor? A huge, monstrous ego. That's it.

Bleh.

[southern girl]

Last time I saw Australia in the news was regarding white/black racist riots. And that was recently, not 25 years ago......what a dip shit

[Phoenix]

"If two people are loving . . . I think we should be more concerned if two people express anger in love, than love." Ooookay....

Bad enough he said what you have above. This, from the article, just proves he's a moron. Yeah... nice ego. Here's the title to his sequel:

"Heath does Heath on the Heath"

[splashtc]

gay sheepherders- who are they kidding-throw in a laughtrack maybe I'll watch it. Do enjoy will and grace though.

[medicinegirl]

My son has an Abercrombe and Fitch T-shirt that says "West Virginia - where the gene pool is very shallow!" WV is such an easy target.

[Sgt. York]

I believe he has his facts wrong. Best as I can tell, the last lynching in West Virginia occured 74-years ago.

1931. On December 10, two African Americans accused of killing two white constables were forcibly removed from the Greenbrier County jail and lynched by a mob of white men. Following several convictions for the lynching, the West Virginia Supreme Court upheld a 1921 anti-lynching law drafted by Harry J. Capehart and T. G. Nutter. Source: Posey, The Negro Citizen of West Virginia, p.78-80.

---------------------
"As actors it's our responsibility to read the newspapers and then say what we read on television like it's our own opinion." -Jeananne Garafolo, Film Actors Guild.
---------------------

[AuntB]

My son has an Abercrombe and Fitch T-shirt that says "West Virginia - where the gene pool is very shallow!" WV is such an easy target.
Posted by: medicinegirl | Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at 01:51 PM

... LOL!I have never seen a more frightening group of people in my life as
that crowd who gathered for those miners. A tragedy... yes. But... man o' man..
what a crowd..

[SusanG]

AuntB,
Your comment about the miners' family/friends in WV has got to be one of the most ignorant things I've read on this site. What's wrong with you? Be a human being for God's sake.

[Phoenix]

Aunt B.

Yeah. HA HA HA.

What is more 'frightening' is people like you who actually walk around on this planet.

How repulsive you are.

[lwm]

I would expect that he's out of touch with Middle America, considering he's not American. . . .I'm going to go out on a limb and say that was hyperbole, but even if it's not, why in world was this posted?

I just want to know where Sgt. York got that quote from, because it's brilliant if it's real. Made the post worthy for me, if nothing else did.

[Jason]

I am from WV and I love when people try to make fun of my state and they come out looking like a moron. We don't have to say a word and just let them shoot themselves in the foot. I will never buy a ticket or movie that man is ever in because of the lack of respect. It is amazing that some people in this country are so blindly stupid that they say things like this and a person as famous as heath ledger should know that it will get out. Not a bright guy to say the least

[lwm]

Heath Ledger = Australian

The interview was conducted in Australia, where he lives.

Not that you should say something rude about a country you haven't spent much time in. Just FYI, so, um, nobody shoots themselves in the foot ;)

[lwm]

Sorry, not "rude" but "incorrect"

[lwm]

Er, not "rude" but "incorrect"

[christine]

First off, Heath Ledger obviously knows nothing about WV. I was actually looking forward to seeing this movie, but I may have changed my mind. Secondly, about the comment about the miners families, how do you think you would look if you had just gone through the tragedy these families had gone through? I cannot believe someone would even think about making a comment like that. I live about 20 minutes from where the accident occured and it has been a very difficult time for the families and the surrounding communities. The people of West Virginia are probably the nicest people you can find in America. Hopefully, the people who have negative comments about this wonderful state will have the chance to visit one day. I am sure their views would change. We may not live the lifesyles of the rich and famous, but we have close knit communities and can leave our doors unlocked if we so choose. So if you think you are better than us, that is fine. But I bet most people in this country do not even know who their neighbors are or feel safe enough to leave their houses unlocked. I personally would rather live in West Virginia than any other state. Being a wife of a retired soldier, I have lived in plenty of other states and none could ever be more like home than WV! Oh, and by the way, there are plenty of VERY attractive people who live in WV, believe it or not.

[bjpcjp]

Amen to Christine. I grew up in WV, most of my family still lives there. You can't find more welcoming people ANYWHERE else in the US.

Watching those miner's relatives bury their sons & husbands was heartbreaking. Aunt B, you my dear can go bugger yourself.

[Kathy]

I am from West Va and I am very sorry that Mr. Ledger and some of you have the mistaken idea that all of us here are illiterate, racist, gaybashers and blah blah blah.

I used to be a fan of Heath's but no longer since he feels the need to speak out about things that are certainly not true AND having never been here in our state I'm sure

I've seen plenty of moronic idiots from every other states so yeah, there ARE some of those here in WV too BUT the majority of us are able to put a sentence together and our family trees even branch, imagine that all of you WV bashers!

We haven't lynched anyone during my lifetime here and I'm almost 50 so I think Mr. hot-shot actor who doesn't even hail from the U.S. owes our beautiful state an apology

I have always liked his work, however, I will NEVER go see another movie of his since he feels this way about us

HIS ignorance is showing, while trying to take cheap shots and trying to point us out as being ignorant

I'm against any type of bigotry and cruelty period...and I respect everyone regardless of their race, religious/political/social beliefs, and sexual orientation. Most folks in WV feel the same and gee, most of us even wear shoes and have indoor plumbing Heath!

As for the comment here about the folks who gathered for the miners who died? You are ignorant as well my friend. Those are good hard working people who had just suffered a tremendous loss.

I happen to live in one of our urban areas (YES people, we DO have those here in WV) and have no connections with miners but I have the deepest respect for those brave men that go down into those things and for their families so your comments are mean spirited, narrow minded and hurtful to all of us here

Have you even been here to see our beautiful state in the Spring, Summer and Fall? If not, you have truly missed why it's called "Almost Heaven" because it's beautiful and the people here are the warmest, kindest and most welcoming you'll ever meet

We happen to have produced some pretty fine folks too such as Chuck Yeager;Mary Lou Retton; Jerry West; Sam Snead; Kathy Mattea; CNN reporters Joe Johns and Sean Calebs; NFL stars Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich and yes, even Randy Moss; actors Chris Sarandon, David Selby, John Corbett, Don Knotts, and Jennifer Garner as well as many others....ALL of which can act circles around Mr. Heath Ledger AND they all have class, integrity and none of them go around bashing other states and their citizens...Mr. Ledger could certainly learn a lot from these fine folks including how to act and also how to be a good person

I wasn't born in W.V. but I've lived here over half my life now and I have come to love this beautiful state and her beautiful people...people of all socio and economic status; people of different races, religious beliefs and yes, gay and lesbians.

There are ignorant people here just like there are EVERYWHERE in the U.S. and even Australia and the rest of the world. They are NOT the majority however and comments like this are hurtful to those of us who live here and know the truth...we welcome everyone to our beautiful state...even Mr. Ledger would be made to feel at home and welcomed despite his ignorant remarks.

I'm just sick and tired of all the WV bashing. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

And for the person here who made the comments about the folks around the miners' families? I'm sorry you feel the need to bash those poor people when they were in such pain. I feel sorry for you that you have no empathy, compassion or class enough to not make fun of anyone especially those in such pain

Those are all good people and they don't deserve your judgement about how they looked at the time

Would you crawl down inside those mines and risk your life every time you leave the house? I doubt it so don't judge those folks

There's a lot of us here who don't mine...WV's not just about coal mines...but we respect those that have always mined the coal and continue to do so and we respect their faith and their close connection to each other

I certainly don't respect Mr. Heath Ledger anymore however but he should come here and see for himself that he's wrong. He'd still be welcomed here because that's how folks in WV are...they trust, they love and they forgive and make welcome everyone...even those that say hurtful things that aren't true

And as for Sen Byrd? Another cheap shot. He came from an old culture which was wrong and he has admitted he was wrong and that he's sorry and knowing him as I do, I believe him so knock off the snide remarks about him as well

Our state was good enough for Jay Rockefeller to come here so many years ago and become our Governor (one of the best we've ever had) and he's been our great Senator for decades too. He certainly has more money and status than Mr. Ledger and you WV bashers I'm sure yet he chose to come here, live here, raise his children here and he's still proud to serve us so that should say it all

To all of you here who have written nice things about us, THANK YOU so much for your kindness

By the way, WVU's got some pretty awesome football and basketball teams and Marshall University has certainly made a name for itself on the national scene AND I can't begin to tell you how many folks who have come here from other states to watch both teams have written back to say how kind people here are and how they were treated so well by everyone here

Marshall lost it's ENTIRE football team, coaches and many supporters back in 1970 when their plane crashed upon approach to our airport here in Huntington where I live. At the time, that was the worst sports tragedy that had occured and it still haunts the school and our community so West Virginia has endured many many community tragedies over the years and Gov Manchin is so right....we are strong people and good people and we stick together and pull through with class, dignity and Mountaineer pride

I only wish Mr. Ledger and those of you who think we're not as good as the rest of the country would come here and see how nice, kind and friendly the people are before they bash us based upon their perception of us

Thanks for letting me share my love of WV and her people...people of all colors, faith, socio-economic, sexual orientation etc.

[Kelsey]

Actually there was a lynching in West Virginia in August of 2000 of a black male, Arthur Warren. Heath isn't too far off the mark....

[gracegirl377]

The act you are stating was a murder, not a lynching. Not every murder is a lynching. Look up the definition. If you go by your interpretation, then black people are lynched everyday in every part of the US.

Heath Ledger is a clearly a jerk who opened his mouth when he was ignorant of the things that he was speaking of. First, his movie was never banned in WV. It did take longer to trickle down to WV theaters, but that is only because it started in big cities first. It is playing in WV right now. (first count of ignorance)

Second, he's just dead wrong about the lynchings. What he said was insane and I just don't know what he was thinking there. It makes me think, who has he been talking to, and why does he believe them? I realize that he is not from our country and does not know as much about our country and states. But if anything that is even more of a reason to keep your mouth shut and not pass judgement on an entire state of people that you clearly know nothing about.
(second count of ignorance)

[Unimpressed.]

The ironic thing is, I liked the short story. But after hearing Heath's remarks, I would not pick this movie up with tongs.

Grace is correct. Heath is wrong on both counts; the lynching allegation, AND the supposed banning of the movie in WV. (In January I called several theaters, just to make sure.)

If you want to slam states for murderous bigotry, try starting with say, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Research the statistics on their racial hate-crimes; they DWARF WV's.

That is one stereotype we have simply not earned. Period.

Heath doesn't know his #$%! from a hole in the ground. That statement was ignorant and irresponsible, and frankly, it was every bit as much bigoted as the people he was smugly decrying without (I'll bet) ever setting foot in the state or meeting a single native.

"WV is such an easy target."

So are you, you quacking waste of flesh. People like you greedily snapped up Heath's misinformation so you could quickly feel self-righteous on a subject about which you don't have a scrap of firsthand knowledge. If you ever blundered across the state's border, it would fully serve you right if the peace-loving natives decided to use you for target practice.

Instead they'd probably shake your hand and offer you dinner. Because that's the kind of people live there.