Actress Michelle Williams tried to get boyfriend Heath Ledger to check into rehab for drug abuse – but he refused and vowed to get clean himself, according to a bombshell US report.
Sources allege Williams begged Ledger, the father of her two-year-old daughter Matilda, to seek help because he was abusing heroin, cocaine and alcohol.
She even drove him to a California facility herself, but he got cold feet and told her he could beat his demons alone.
Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment on January 22. He was 28.
His naked body was surrounded by open packages of prescription sleeping and anti-anxiety pills, police have said.
The cause of death has yet to be determined.
Celebrity magazine Us Weekly claims Michelle tried to get him to seek help at Malibu’s Promises centre in March 2006.
But he broke his promise to clean up – and she left him in 2007 because of his hard-partying, the magazine claims. And she demanded he be drug-tested whenever he was going to be alone with their young daughter.
Ledger’s substance abuse, which included “a variety of pills,” was linked to depression and continued throughout and after his three-year relationship with Williams, a source said.
But in recent months, the Oscar-nominated actor “had been discreetly reaching out to private counselors,” according to the magazine.
“He looked like a zombie,” said a close friend. “A week or so before he died, he admitted he needed help. We were thrilled.”
Williams, 27, “cried and screamed as soon as she heard” the news about Ledger in Sweden, where she was shooting a movie, a source said.
When she returned to the Brooklyn, New York townhouse she bought with Ledger the following day with their daughter, she was a wreck, pals say.
A friend said: “She looked like she couldn’t cry anymore and was very quiet.
“Michelle is totally devastated.”
Meanwhile, actress Mary-Kate Olsen, rumoured to have been dating Ledger, is also devastated.
The masseuse who found Ledger’s body repeatedly called Olsen before she telephoned emergency services.
Another source said: “She [Mary-Kate] was inconsolable.
“She’s heartbroken and scared.”
The source said the 21-year-old star flew to New York from California right after getting the news.
It comes after Ledger’s father visited his son’ apartment for the first time since the tragedy, spending about an hour inside on Tuesday before telling a building manager he might return to collect Heath’s belongings.
Kim Ledger, accompanied by New York Police Department detectives, also paid an emotional visit to the basement, where staff has collected the hundreds of flowers, candles, cards, letters and other mementos left outside by fans in Heath’s memory.
“He said it was beautiful,” said building manager Tamba Mossa. “He was happy.”
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