Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead

[Sunnygirl]

^so were they gay lovers or not? you only said that it doesn't make sense that he would sell a story right after finding PSH's body.

I don't know and it's none of my business. Just from what I have read DBK would have no reason to sell such a story to slimy tabloid. He was a dear friend and I don't think he would sell out his friend like that even if they were more than friends.

[Paige12]

So so so so... R.I.P

[Trixie]

more of the great Scotty J.

[levitt]

Mark Wahlberg looks like the Bieb there. But with manners. I love that film, and I'm really going to miss seeing PSH in new films. One of my favourites.

[Sasha]

Something stinks in this story. The Daily Fail is the sort of publication that would report this crap without checking any sources. David's wife Julie would have been a good source.

It has nothing to do with this story but Harry Katz, David's father, discovered a woman dead in his apartment about 20 years ago and it was a big story here in Philly.

Sorry if someone has already posted this but isn't it a bit weird that the bad heroin originated out of Philly?

[sluce]

Not at all. The heroin trade between NY and Philly is well known and run by the Pagan Motorcycle club for the organized crime families.

[mjw]

Obituary


Aaron Sorkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Saved 10 Lives

The creator of 'The West Wing' and the renowned actor shared a struggle with drug addiction. Sorkin remembers a performer who dominated the real estate upon which his characters walked
By Aaron Sorkin


Phil Hoffman and I had two things in common. We were both fathers of young children, and we were both recovering drug addicts. Of course I’d known Phil’s work for a long time—since his remarkably perfect film debut as a privileged, cowardly prep-school kid in Scent of a Woman—but I’d never met him until the first table read for Charlie Wilson’s War,in which he’d been cast as Gust Avrakotos, a working-class CIA agent who’d fallen out of favor with his Ivy League colleagues. A 180-degree turn.


On breaks during rehearsals, we would sometimes slip outside our soundstage on the Paramount lot and get to swapping stories. It’s not unusual to have these mini-AA meetings—people like us are the only ones to whom tales of insanity don’t sound insane. “Yeah, I used to do that.” I told him I felt lucky because I’m squeamish and can’t handle needles. He told me to stay squeamish. And he said this: “If one of us dies of an overdose, probably 10 people who were about to won’t.” He meant that our deaths would make news and maybe scare someone clean.


So it’s in that spirit that I’d like to say this: Phil Hoffman, this kind, decent, magnificent, thunderous actor, who was never outwardly “right” for any role but who completely dominated the real estate upon which every one of his characters walked, did not die from an overdose of heroin—he died from heroin. We should stop implying that if he’d just taken the proper amount then everything would have been fine.


He didn’t die because he was partying too hard or because he was depressed—he died because he was an addict on a day of the week with a y in it. He’ll have his well-earned legacy—-his Willy Loman that belongs on the same shelf with Lee J. Cobb’s and Dustin Hoffman’s, his Jamie Tyrone, his Truman Capote and his Academy Award. Let’s add to that 10 people who were about to die who won’t now.


Sorkin is an Academy Award–winning writer who wrote the screenplays for two of Hoffman’s films: Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) and Moneyball (2011)


Read more: Aaron Sorkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Drug Addiction | TIME.com Aaron Sorkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Drug Addiction | TIME.com

[sluce]

David Bar Katz National Enquirer Lawsuit Over Philip Seymour Hoffman | News | Philadelphia Magazine


David Bar Katz Sues National Enquirer for $50 Million Over Hoffman Story

In ALL CAPS, no less.

By Victor Fiorillo | February 5, 2014 at 6:41 pm

On Wednesday morning, we told you about the National Enquirer cover story that claims that New York playwright David Bar Katz was Philip Seymour Hoffman’s “gay lover.” And on Wednesday afternoon, Katz’s attorney filed a civil suit against the National Enquirer seeking a judgment of $50 million. That’s right: $50 million.

The suit calls the Enquirer article “one of the most reprehensible examples of yellow journalism” ever. It reads, in part:

…the Enquirer published a story that falsely claimed that Bar Katz had given an exclusive interview to the Enquirer in which he stated that he and Hoffman were gay lovers, that he had seen Hoffman freebase cocaine the night before Hoffman’s death, and that he had seen him use heroin on a number of occassions.

THE STORY IS A COMPLETE FABRICATION: THERE WAS NO INTERVIEW. BAR KATZ HAS NEVER SPOKEN TO ANYONE AT THE ENQUIRER ABOUT HOFFMAN. BAR KATZ AND HOFFMAN WERE NEVER LOVERS. BAR KATZ DID NOT SEE HOFFMAN FREEBASING COCAINE THE NIGHT BEFORE HE DIED, OR AT ANY OTHER TIME. BAR KATZ NEVER SAW HOFFMAN USE HEROIN OR COCAINE.

(Emphasis as written in the suit.)

Katz, seen in the above photo with Hoffman, found the actor dead on Sunday morning. The suit asks for at least $5 million in damages to Katz and another $45 million in punitive damages. Katz is the son of Harry Jay Katz, the Philadelphia man who found a woman dead in his hot tub in 1995.

Enquirer editor Tony Frost has not responded to a request for comment.

[Sasha]

Not at all. The heroin trade between NY and Philly is well known and run by the Pagan Motorcycle club for the organized crime families.

No, I mean that Katz is from Philly...and found the body..claiming a gay love affair or maybe not..weirdness with him. I was just checking to see if I could find out if he's a CO$bot but so far I can't find anything.

[sluce]

I know that Katz is from Philly but that doesn't mean anything about the heroin. While his father may be a loser, David Bar Katz is well respected. NY and Philly are just 2 hours apart. The Pagans are based here and run most of the heroin up and down the east coast. This bad batch is killing people from Baltimore to NY and much is coming out of Philly. We have had 3 dozen deaths in the last month and it is spreading out to Pittsburgh too.

ETA- from what I've heard the heroin causing trouble out of Philly is laced with Fentanyl. The autopsy shows that is NOT what Hoffman had taken so there may be no Philly connection to the drugs.

[mjw]

[McJag]

I hope he wins that lawsuit and gets awarded more.

[Bombshell]

Obituary


Aaron Sorkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Saved 10 Lives

The creator of 'The West Wing' and the renowned actor shared a struggle with drug addiction. Sorkin remembers a performer who dominated the real estate upon which his characters walked
By Aaron Sorkin


Phil Hoffman and I had two things in common. We were both fathers of young children, and we were both recovering drug addicts. Of course I’d known Phil’s work for a long time—since his remarkably perfect film debut as a privileged, cowardly prep-school kid in Scent of a Woman—but I’d never met him until the first table read for Charlie Wilson’s War,in which he’d been cast as Gust Avrakotos, a working-class CIA agent who’d fallen out of favor with his Ivy League colleagues. A 180-degree turn.


On breaks during rehearsals, we would sometimes slip outside our soundstage on the Paramount lot and get to swapping stories. It’s not unusual to have these mini-AA meetings—people like us are the only ones to whom tales of insanity don’t sound insane. “Yeah, I used to do that.” I told him I felt lucky because I’m squeamish and can’t handle needles. He told me to stay squeamish. And he said this: “If one of us dies of an overdose, probably 10 people who were about to won’t.” He meant that our deaths would make news and maybe scare someone clean.


So it’s in that spirit that I’d like to say this: Phil Hoffman, this kind, decent, magnificent, thunderous actor, who was never outwardly “right” for any role but who completely dominated the real estate upon which every one of his characters walked, did not die from an overdose of heroin—he died from heroin. We should stop implying that if he’d just taken the proper amount then everything would have been fine.


He didn’t die because he was partying too hard or because he was depressed—he died because he was an addict on a day of the week with a y in it. He’ll have his well-earned legacy—-his Willy Loman that belongs on the same shelf with Lee J. Cobb’s and Dustin Hoffman’s, his Jamie Tyrone, his Truman Capote and his Academy Award. Let’s add to that 10 people who were about to die who won’t now.


Sorkin is an Academy Award–winning writer who wrote the screenplays for two of Hoffman’s films: Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) and Moneyball (2011)


Read more: Aaron Sorkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Drug Addiction | TIME.com Aaron Sorkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Drug Addiction | TIME.com

It's possible I just love Arron Sorkin. Because I do. But this is one of the many reasons why.

To me, this cuts to the crux of the matter. I didn't know Phillip. I didn't even know his driver or a friend of his best friend, as some of you did. But to me, THIS lets me know what sort of person he was. Black and white. That he was human. And a human with frailties, as we all have. His took a different turn than most of us. But it's described so eloquently, that if this doesn't resonate somewhere inside of you...that this could be YOU...that his weaknesses that led to his downfall is only a hop, skip and jump from where YOU are...then you aren't being honest with yourself.

Sure there are people who will never touch a drug or a mind altering substance, but those frailties remain. We all have them. He went a different route, and it killed him. And I bet if you asked him if he could turn right instead of left, 24 years ago, he'd say yes. YES. I'm an atheist, but friends, "There but for the grace of God go I". And you too.

You too.

[JadeStar70]

Do you think the cops would have even investigated the bad heroin if just a regular Joe had OD'd? It seems like they take it more seriously when it affects a famous person instead of your normal drug user/addict.


It really surprises me that the NE would write this story when they never did interview the guy. Who wants to be sued over the story when they know they out and out lied??? That is a big money loss to them, and I wouldn't think any amount of magazines they would sell with the story will even touch what they will lose.

[Beantownfan]

I'm glad they busted those four people involved with dealing the heroin. If Hoffman being famous helped that I'm okay with it. That's four less out there.