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Rediff.com  » Movies » Heath Ledger 'refused help for heroin abuse'

Heath Ledger 'refused help for heroin abuse'

By Rediff Entertainment Bureau
January 31, 2008 15:21 IST
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Had Heath Ledger not refused help for his drug addiction, he would still be alive today.

The Telegraph, citing the US Weekly magazine said Ledger's ex-girlfriend, Michelle Williams, drove him to a drug rehabilitation center in Malibu, California last year to get treatment for abuse of heroin, cocaine and 'a variety of pills'.

Ledger, 28, who was found dead in his New York apartment on January 22, however, refused to go in and promised to clean up on his own, the magazine said.

Also read: Heath Ledger: A Killing Joke

The couple met on the sets of Brokeback Mountain and were almost engaged at one point. After their daughter, Matilda was born, the couple spent months fighting over Ledger's drug problem.

They broke up in September last year after realising 'they were in way over their heads', the US Weekly added.

It was also alleged that Williams demanded that Ledger be drug-tested whenever he was going to be alone with their young daughter. A claim, which seems to have gained credence after a grainy video shot in January 2006, showed the actor at a party, surrounded by people snorting, what appears to be, cocaine off a coffee table.

Also read: Heath Ledger: 1979-2008

ABC News reported that though the video obtained by Australia's Channel Nine did not show the actor actually using drugs, it had incriminating evidence of him using them at one point.

'I'm going to get serious s--- from my girlfriend, we had a baby three months ago,' Ledger was heard saying in the video. 'I shouldn't be here at all,' he says adding, 'I used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years.'

Meanwhile, Us Weekly has cited two possible reasons for Ledger's drug problems. While one source chalked it up to depression, another said: 'He drank a lot -- drank to get drunk. It didn't make him angry. Just somber.'

Though no illegal drugs were discovered in Ledger's apartment, police, however found six types of prescription pills for anxiety and sleeping problems.

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Rediff Entertainment Bureau