Mourning in Brooklyn

46. I am normally a fan of TMZ, but this is COMPLETELY DISRESPECTFUL to the family. I can't believe you were live at the funeral home today! You all need to leave the families alone. The public and media do not have a right to distress these people anymore then they already are. TMZ, shame on you!

Posted at 2:55PM on Jan 24th 2008 by jenny

47. I thnk that what you people did was horrible and in great distaste. You have to leave the alone like the lady said. Have a heart

Posted at 2:59PM on Jan 24th 2008 by ali

48. i think any one who is critising tmz here is a bit of a hypoctrite.. afterall , why are we using these services if we are not voyers in some form or another..what killed princess diana./ is it not the thirst for information about her private life and her recklessness in caring about her own safety?.please, if we are going to start castifating the likes of tmz then we have to look into ourselves as we are all partakers of the meal they serve to us..without an audience , there is no show..its that simple..The day after diana died i went up to kensington palace and managed to buy the last set of white roses at marks and spences on the high street. the demand for flowers was unprecedented, the smell on entering kensington gardens made me think i was in paradise.. that is the impact that lady had on the lives of others.she didnt live long, but she lived long enough to make a difference ... i know that health ledger made a difference in his own way to. not the same impact, but nevertheless he touched people's hearts..thats all you can ask for in this brief life that we live on this earth... his passing reminds us to take advantage of every day in every way that we can ...who knows when god will call us..?. god's time is the best. not every one believes in him but he is the one we must come to in the end one way or another.

Posted at 3:01PM on Jan 24th 2008 by noyankhere

49. I am disgusted with this site. I am no longer going to read it.
For you to post these videos of people in mourning is crossing the line.
Let them grieve in peace.
I have never seen anything so disrespectful.
If you ever lost anyone close to you, you will take these videos down.

Posted at 3:29PM on Jan 24th 2008 by Julie in Canada

50. Why didnt Keri Russell stop in? It´s strange she just passed by.
She and Heath Ledger appeared together in "ROAR" for the Fox Network in 1997,
That was Heath Ledger first acting role in the US.
Heath was only 18 at the time and Keri 20.
Keri appeared in ROAR just the first episodes and then her character got killed.
Maybe they had something going on for a while.
Heath liked his "girls a little bit older" (check out "The Outfield" reference")
and Keri lost her virginity in a closet at age 15 at a party with the mickey mouse club.

Posted at 9:01PM on Jan 25th 2008 by Rick

51. Looks like everyone even remotely connected with Ledger is trying to get a little publicity. Ooohhh, look at me, I'm grieving!

Posted at 3:36PM on Jan 24th 2008 by LaReina

52. please leave these people alone and let them mourn.

Posted at 5:52PM on Jan 24th 2008 by rip

53. Harvey Levin, I hope that when the day comes you lose a family member, or your lover, you are followed, relentlessly, and taunted by strangers, "Harvey, how are you doing?" -- I hope that your mother, or his mother, is assaulted on the street, in much the same way as Mrs. Williams, who I noticed seemed to be verging on tears if not already crying... I can't believe the lack of sensibility and tact in celebrity journalism, all in the name of sensational news coverage. I hope that for every impression your advertisers receive today and in the next couple of days, they and you and anyone involved in this type of coverage fall closer and closer to your own version of hell, whatever you believe.

Time Warner-AOL, you soulless sons of bitches. You have the power to request privacy, not just at this time and for these people, but on the whole. When this type of coverage reaches this sort of level, when it impacts people in such negative ways, it is sickening. As people, as individuals, public figures or not (and last I looked Mrs. Williams never chose public life), we should have the undeniable and inalienable right to mourn a loved one's passing in private. Our grief should never be put on display for the public to gawk at. As the corporate parent company for tmz.com, you hold the turnkey for change in your hands. It is not infringement on our 2nd amendment rights to set in place guidelines that return to a more respectful way of operation. It does not lessen whatever journalistic integrity is left over at the bottom feeding website to set some moral or ethical boundary which suggests you and the rats at tmz.com allow a time for grievance, this is becoming concerning, this is incredibly destructive. I hope that one day, the same viewers that have made this business profitable for you turn their backs on you, and I hope you are left with egg on your faces for participating in such despicable journalistic practices.

Shame on you Harvey Levin, Shame on you TMZ reporters, shame on you Time Warner-AOL... You all have the power to give these people the space they deserve. I challenge each and everyone of you to think to yourself, "How would it affect me?" -- REGARDLESS of them having chosen a public life, they deserve to have the ability to mourn in private.

Seven days ago, Michelle Williams and her daughter, and Heath Ledger for that matter were not in coverage every day, they were not out promoting themselves, they were living their live sand practicing their art. We should appreciate their art, focus on them when they are promoting something, but not when their private and personal families lives have come crashing down around them. It is wrong wrong wrong.

And anyone reading this, you have the choice to not participate as well, think how it would affect you if you had just lost someone dear.

Posted at 3:56PM on Jan 24th 2008 by Everyone has the power to stop this...

54. It is dispicable the way John Gibson spoke of Heath Ledger and the Gay community. Please write to the following people and get these biggots off the air.
mitch.davis@foxnews.com, mitch.davis@foxnews.com, robert.finnerty@foxnews.com, robert.finnerty@foxnews.com, irena.briganti@foxnews.com, irena.briganti@foxnews.com, suzanne.scott@foxnews.com, suzanne.scott@foxnews.com, john.gibson@foxnews.com
Let's make for a better America people, I'm all for Freedom of the press, but when you offend the way these people do it's inexcusable. One thing is to write on a blog, but when you buy products that pay for these programs to air, then we do have a right to voice our opinions. I hope Mr. Gibson doesn't have any gay's in his family closet! What an idiot!

Posted at 4:19PM on Jan 24th 2008 by BOYCOTT FOX NEWS

55. Wow. All this mourning family has asked for is some privacy. This is hard enough for them right now without cameras being shoved in their faces. Have a heart and back off.
How would you guys feel if they were doing this to someone you loved after you died? Would you want them to suffer anymore than they have to? I think not.

Posted at 4:36PM on Jan 24th 2008 by Heathforever

56. This is sick. It is disturbing to me that tmz - and the paparazzi in general - is exploiting this tragedy to make a few bucks. Michelle and Heaths family are going through what is probably the most difficult time in their lives, and these people dont have the decency to give them some space. I like tmz, but it is one thing to follow celebrities while they are out shopping or going to a club. This is something completely different, and it is sickening. They deserve some time to mourn without people getting in their faces with cameras, asking if they have anything to say.

Posted at 4:26PM on Jan 24th 2008 by m

57. It's hard to go through something like this, and even harder with cameras and insensative photogs following you around and asking stupid questions!! Can't you guys give them all the space they need? While I appriciate having the news, and having it fast, I don't need to see Heaths body being taken away, I don't need to see Michelle Williams and her daughter being beleaugered by paparazzi when she JUST ARRIVED HOME, and even if I think she's stupid, I don't need to see Lindsey Lohan crying hysterically in a car. Its just disgusting. Leave them some time to mourn in PRIVATE.

Posted at 4:29PM on Jan 24th 2008 by Verodemort

58. I get what people are saying about "Leave the family alone...Let them grieve" but come on people the actual reality of that is far to none. Paparazzi has been doing this kind of thing for years. Since Movie Stars were invented (way back when) that's the thing when you get into this business (celebrities) those are the rights you give up. If you don't want paparrazzi then go work on Broadway or be a dancer or something to that effect. Even if TMZ wasn't there to cover the story there are still 50 to 100 other photographers and reporters that would cover it. There is no such thing as "leave them alone" this is all still a business and people need to get paid and put food on the table for themselves and their families and keep a roof over their heads and mortgages to pay. It's VERY exspensive to live in southern California (I live here trust me I know) so you'll do whatever it takes to get a dollar. Telling them (TMZ ) to STOP IT and cussing them out is NOT going to make it happen! Sorry people. It would be like someone telling you to stop going to work from now on...You'd be like "Yeah right I need to make money for my kids, bills, house, etc etc.etc. See...I rest my case.....

Posted at 4:43PM on Jan 24th 2008 by T.S.

59. This is so disgusting, this is how you make money tourmenting people that just lost a loved one. Go get a real job and leave these people alone.

Posted at 4:48PM on Jan 24th 2008 by M

60. I agree. I live across the street and those photographers have been camped out since 5pm on Wednesday. They're still there. We could tell every time someone was entering or leaving the house because we'd hear a siren whooping. If we looked out the window, we might catch a tiny glimpse of blonde hair before the cameras converged like ants swarming on sugar. This was particularly distressing, knowing that the grieving adults must be trying hard to keep themselves in check, in order not to freak out a 2 year old who isn't yet old enough to grasp the permanence of the blow she was just dealt.

I'm tempted to throw water balloons out my children's bedroom window, but as another neighbor pointed out, the place is crawling with police as well.

I'm tempted to ask the photographers to pose with the "Flat Stanley" a 2nd grade friend sent from Phoenix. We've been ordered to photograph him in interesting places around NYC, to give the kids in Phoenix a bit of our local flavor. Dear Jackson, We took Stanley to the MEDIA CIRCUS! He didn't have much fun, but if I'd taped him to the childcrossing sign next to my stoop, he would've been in the TMZ video of Michelle comign home. Sorry. I should've been thinking ahead.

I confess, I do enjoy photos of partying celebrities with their heines falling out of their evening gowns, or with their fingers jammed up their noses, but moments like these require the strength of character commonly referred to as the honor system. Just because we have the technology to muscle up as close as we can, barging in on others' most terrible hours, and beaming what little slivers we've managed to snatch into every media outlet that'll have our grainy crap images, doesn't mean we should.

This morning I went online to see the fruits of last night's labors. From my 3rd floor ringside seat, I'd counted at least 50 or so camera wielding hunters. I was interested to see what sort of prey they'd managed to bag. Seems like the money shot was a blur of michelle trying to make it through the gate with a sweetly smiling matilda in her arms.Wow. That's photo journalism. Someone give our lucky winner a Pullitzer! Surely this is an accommplishment deserving of the professions top honors.

My last thought has to do with Heath and Michelle's presence in the neighborhood. As noted, they did frequent local cafes and shops. He hung out on the stoop with another young dad. They hosted a fundraising event for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn in their home, at which Dan Zanes played for a crowd of pre-schoolers, the children of ticket holders, not personal friends of theirs. I took the A train with them once, and the beautiful thing was that the two young Brooklyn women seated next to them had no idea who they were. That was one moment that must have felt like Mission Accomplished, as far as Heath and Michelle were concerned. To a degree, they were able to participate in our neighborhood life. Now, the neighbors, particularly the older neighbors who've lived here a very long time, who have the good manners to do traditional things like send notes of condolence and stop by with food and offers to play with the child, are thwarted. The most neighborly thing we can do right now is to walk by out of respect for Matilda, her mother, her grandmother, and the family's close friends. I was in the school yard next door and one fellow parent was knocking the floral tributes and teddy bears and such that have been left on the doorstep. I've knocked the "it's my tragedy too" syndrome in the past, but I know that a couple of those bouquets were dropped off by the old timers, who would've paid their respects more personally if there hadn't been herds of photographers trying to steal some far-from-red-carpet images every time the garage door goes up.

Actually, I guess even without the cops, the solemnity of the occasion argues against water balloons, but I have to say, I am welcoming the freezing temperatures with uncharacteristic zeal.

Posted at 4:53PM on Jan 24th 2008 by Ayun