Conservative radio and tv host mocks Ledger?s death repeatedly on air

Think Progress has an excerpt from Fox News host John Gibson's radio show in which he called Heath Ledger a "weirdo" with a drug problem, and repeatedly played a clip from Brokeback Mountain in which Ledger says "We're Dead." He openly mocked the guy and suggested it was suicide or an overdose.

One of our writers Helen wrote an article about those Westboro Baptist crazies planning to picket Ledger's funeral and I decided not to publish it because why should we even acknowledge them? When a prominent newscaster so openly mocks a tragic death like this, they need to be called on it.

Throughout the course of the show, Gibson continued to bring up Ledger’s death, 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.

[Transcript of Gibson's radio show found at ThinkProgress.org]

At the beginning of the show they play funeral music followed by a montage of sound bytes from the critically acclaimed film Brokeback Mountain. It's as if this guy was gloating that Ledger has died. Think Progress notes that Gibson called Brokeback a "gay agenda movie" when it was released. I wonder if he'll be forced to issue an apology or if he'll get suspended or canned. What a jerk. How do people like this get jobs working in the media? Do they look for the most abrasive assholes they can find?