Hot Trailer: ‘Anchorman 2′ 
2ND UPDATE: Charlie Sheen Fired Selma Blair From … 
Time Warner Cable Sued For Passing Lakers-Dodgers Costs On … 
Jonah Hill Signs For Management With LBI 
TOLDJA! ‘Dumb And Dumber To’ Proves No-Brainer … 
Salma Hayek’s Animated Passion Project ‘The … 
Relativity Moves Scott Cooper’s ‘Out Of The … 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Lego Movie’ 
Russell Crowe Sets ‘The Water Diviner’ For … 
Comedy ‘I Didn’t Do It’ Gets Series Order … 
CNN’s ‘New Day’ Debut Up In Demo But … 
Liv Tyler To Co-Star In Damon Lindelof’s HBO Pilot … 
DreamWorks Animation Launches Effort To Re-Position Itself … 
‘Pacific Rim’ Sequel In Planning Stages, … 
Legendary “Down To Handful” Of Studio Suitors: … 
UPDATE: Dan Harmon Apologizes For Comments Slamming … 
Paramount- Montecito Set Black List Scribes Eyal Podell … 
‘Bioshock’ Creator Ken Levine Takes On … 
Deadline Expands: Hires Washington Post Journalist Lisa De … 
Ratings Rat Race: ‘The Voice’ Rises, … 
Angelina Jolie Stunt Double Files First U.S. Phone-Hacking … 
BREAKING… EXCLUSIVE… UPDATED: Tony Scott’s widow Donna has told police that the famed filmmaker/TV producer did 
not have brain cancer, informed insiders tell Deadline. That makes erroneous this morning’s Good Morning America report that he “had inoperable brain cancer” and quoting “a source close to him”. The ABC claim was widely picked up by media outlets globally and all the Hollywood press (but not Deadline) as the reason why Scott committed suicide Sunday by jumping off a Los Angeles County bridge at 12:35 PM. Within half an hour ABC was backing off its story (see below). This is the third time in a month that ABC News has erroneously reported on a sensitive news story. During the Aurora movie theater shooting tragedy, ABC News first claimed the gunman was a Tea Party member which was not true. And then the shooter’s mother accused ABC News of mischaracterizing a quote from her. The issues all seem the same: ABC News is not properly vetting its reporting.
Around 6:30 PM, a half-hour after Deadline corrected the ABC morning report, ABC News put out this new headline, “Tony Scott Brain Cancer Report Appears in Doubt” and this new text backing off its story:
“The family of director Tony Scott, who died Sunday after jumping off a Los Angeles bridge, was not aware Scott had cancer, Los Angeles County Coroner Ed Winter told ABC News station KABC in Los Angeles. ABC News was unable to reach Scott’s family to confirm the coroner’s statement. ABC News had reported the director of films such as Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and Crimson Tide had inoperable brain cancer, citing a source close to Scott.”
On the Aurora shooter’s identity, ABC ran this correction: An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect. ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted.
Also during the Aurora tragedy, ABC News rushed out with a story quoting the shooter’s mother Arlene Holmes as saying: “You have the right person.” The media outlet said she was referring to her son. But Holmes through her attorney said later: ”I was awakened by a call from a reporter by ABC on July 20 about 5:45 in the morning. I did not know anything about a shooting in Aurora at that time. He asked if I was Arlene Holmes and if my son was James Holmes who lives in Aurora, Colorado. I answered, ‘Yes, you have the right person.’ I was referring to myself.”
Meanwhile, Lt Fred Corral with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office tells Deadline that an autopsy was completed today on the 68-year-old Scott, but the cause of death was deferred pending toxicological and other tests. The results will take 4 to 8 weeks. The Coroner’s Office Craig Harvey also tells Deadline that his office is in possession of “part of a suicide note” found in Scott’s black Prius car found at the scene of the suicide. Harvey says “multiple” notes were found.The contents have not been made public. Harvey also said the Coroner’s Office will not be releasing any of that information at this time.
Related: Tony Scott Jumped To Death From Bridge In Suicide
Denzel Washington Among Film Community Mourning Tony Scott
Tom Cruise Among Film Community Mourning Tony Scott
Julianna Margulies, David Krumholtz, CBS Pay Tribute To Tony Scott
Pete Hammond On Tony Scott: An Appreciation
Tony Scott Left Behind Some Fine Projects
Loading ...
I have never understood personal health issues being fodder for the media. This is tragic, so is Jesse Jackson Jr. Leave these people alone and whore the product elsewhere.
My condolences to the family, of whom I have no clue of what was going on, it is none of my business.
Signed by a Ronald Reagan Conservative
Jackson is a member of Congress. His mental health issues are a matter of public concern. But I’d agree that Scott’s issues are none of our business. But that’s the price you pay for being in the public eye.
Personally, I don’t care why he killed himself. I didn’t know the man. I’m more interested in why news outlets like ABC can’t be bothered to check facts.
When someone (particularly someone famous) jumps off a bridge in full view of the public, he is making a choice that his death will be very public. While I aboslutely understand the pain the family is going through, I also understand the public’s concern.
Yes, the man left behind some great projects. More importantly, and tragically, he left behind a wife and children. A husband and father have been lost. Rest in peace, sir.
I haven’t watched network news for years because the web is more reliable in giving data direction for my own decision. A man passes in a very sad moment, and then, for no reason, with no consideration for the man’s family, the decadent news frenzy begins. Decadence often wears a suit and tie, expensive rouge and liner for the eye, and basks in flattering light, while beneath roils the appetite – of a monster. RIP to a great artist, prayers for the mourning family.
I shall forever be grateful for the cinematic treasure he left behind.
RIP Mr. Scott
Used to be a job for people who believed that ‘truth will out’. Now a sad profession of truth sold out. I’m so sorry for the tragedy that has happened to the Scott family… but unfortunately I feel greater sorrow for our future as a nation when the fourth estate acts like a fifth column.
The ABC embarrassments are an example of what happens when you fire all the good fact checking journalists and replace them with interns and cheap help in an effort to cut costs and blast the Internet/social media “first.”
The irony in all this is that the average viewer cares much more about who gets it right vs. who gets it first. The only people that care about exclusives are the other news agencies, for about five minutes. In the name of “downsizing”, ABC has gutted both their network and local stations to the point where the key people on and off the air are so ridiculously underqualified, compared to ten years ago, that this will keep happening, again and again. So, the Disney Clowncar gets bigger by the day, packed with 28 year olds who work cheap but look good…and their loser exectives sit and wonder why people’s trust in their news is at an all-time low. Journalism 101 demands that suicides be handled with kid gloves, fools. Good for you, Nikki for being the journaist ABC is not.
Anytime I read or listen to a news story I tell myself…this is only half of the story – and half of that is lies. What a rotting profession they’ve all become.
95% of all mass media is fake news chock full of cliches and propaganda. It is people who are to blame though. This nonsense has been going on for years and most demand nothing more than to be spoon fed drivel,lies and idiotic irrelevancies.
People make a big deal out of this reporting error but what about Judith Miller claiming with certainty that there were WMDs in Iraq? Poster girl for the NYTimes. All of it lies,distortions,innuendo and propaganda.
The media is so irresponsible
you know its a false flag when the media jumps at the chances to misdirect the public.
“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.” – William Casey, CIA Director 1981
Used to be that only the National Enquirer relied on unnamed sources, and we knew enough to doubt the veracity and accuracy of their “news” stories. Now unnamed sources and rumor reporting are de rigeur in so-called journalistic reporting, so we have to constantly remind ourselves not to believe everything we hear in the “news.”
But I have to admit, this time I wanted this unnamed source’s information to be true. It helped make this senseless tragedy just a little easier to accept.
Condolences to the Scott Family. He will be missed.
RIP Brian Ross and ABC News. You are done in my book…
Almost trust TMZ and ET as much as ABC,sad
ABC has come to stand for the drunken slur of a producer who says, “Ahhl Bet-Cha…” and then makes up a story about what he imagines to have happened. He can then cite himself as the classic “unnamed source,” and there we go, it is off to the races. Ladies and gents, I submit that as long as he is in a building, he can even be “an unnamed inside source.”
The real problem is that these guys are apparently taking the word of their so-called sources. Hearsay is OK, with ABC. There was a time when evidence was necessary, when belief based on personal charisma was not enough; get this: MULTIPLE sources were required to confirm something, independently, or the item was not reported! The integrity of the news organization was at stake, back then.
These current journalists passed their college journalism/women’s studies/touchy feely classes with flying colors. Now, the real-life problem has reared its very ugly head: diversity and political correctness do not vouch for the veracity of cold, hard facts. Words have consequences.
Even what seems like a politically correct motivation for the carelessness of these wet-behind-the-ears ABC reporters can have unforeseen consequences (they may not be kids, they may be old, but I guarantee they are wet behind the ears… I cannot tell you what that liquid is, but they’ve been sticking their heads into something that is not dry). I am sure they (these ABC reporters) thought that it would somehow mitigate, or explain, or even excuse this sad death, if it was a self euthanasia- a suicide to escape a more horrible death, right?
Wrong. The facts are all that you are to report, ABC NEWS. You are not ABC WORLD OPINION AND MADE UP STUFF, or are you?
Sloppy reporting again
The problem is that the “news” outlets have gotten away from real journalism for so long that they no longer know how to investigate a story.
And add to that their foolish misguided belief that they must be first with the story. I would much rather hear the facts later than rumor early. Does it really matter in a case like this if I hear about it a few hours later? And are the details of his personal struggles really my business anyway?
These idiots have obviously got TOP GUN confused with
JUMPING THE GUN-
Isn’t the situation bad enough without a bunch of lies and distortion added to the tragedy ?
Being first is not important when dealing with sensitive matters. Being accurate trumps the hell out of that. Hold back if you don’t know for damn sure, and be clear.
I don’t think we need to know why this great director committed suicide. However, he felt compelled to for whatever reason. Rest in peace, and my deep condolences to his family, friend and colleagues.
It’s disgraceful the media outlets are trying to get the “scoop” on why he did it. Erroneous sources, not checking facts…disgraceful journalism. Deadline has gone up even further in my estimation for not biting when so many other news outlets did.
The lame stream media have turned into a bunch of buffoons. All they know how to do is read White House press releases and sound bytes. Serious journalism is a thing of the past for these dopes. ABC, why not just give up!
John Patrick Ryan: Good take.
Scott’s death is tragic. ABC’s inability to tell the truth and present news in a professional manner is chronic. No wonder their ratings stink.
I gave up on ABC being accurate in 1977 (story New York Brown out; video told different point of view than the “reporter”). In the years since, they and the other TV network media have not improved. This report of Mr. Tony Scott attributed to cancer before the facts were gathered is just one more example.
I truly will miss what this director’s future productions could have been. He is one of the few that brought me back to watching some TV programs.
Without facts, I cannot make a guess as to why he chose to end his life. If the family ever publishes the reason, so be it. I simply say thank you Mr. Tony Scott for all the time effort and energy you did share with the World’s societies.
Gee, can the lame stream media get anything right these days? They are so unreliable it is disgusting!
Gee, isn’t so great that we can just leave our television sets on 24 seven and “know” that we are getting fair and unbiased truth?