Laura Ingraham and Bill O'Reilley on Heath Ledger's death

O'REILLY: Now, let's get to another topic, which is interesting and in the news. It seems that the Hollywood community has rallied around the late Heath Ledger, and they told Paramount, which runs "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider," two gossip shows, you better not run the video taken of Ledger at an alleged drug party a couple of years ago. And if you do, you know, you're going to be in a lot of trouble with the Hollywood community. Therefore, the two celebrity shows, "ET" and "The Insider," said, OK, we won't run it, after paying $200,000 for it.

What do you think about that? No. 1, Hollywood very rarely does stuff like that. And is that a cause to rally to? They say they don't want the Ledger family to be hurt.

INGRAHAM: Sounds something like that the Tattaglia family would do in, like, "Godfather 2." I mean, it's just like strong-arm tactics.

O'REILLY: They're strong-arm.

INGRAHAM: ...establishment. And to me, you know, Bill, I don't like any of these stories. I don't like talking about them, and I don't like the coverage of them. I think we do too much of it.

However, it's a little late for Hollywood to express this selective moral indignation: "Oh, you can't run this video." And I think part of it, Bill, is that they don't want people to get a bird's-eye view of what goes on in places like the Chateau Marmont in L.A., where you know...

O'REILLY: I think there's some truth to that, because they — it's in...

INGRAHAM: Coke party central.

O'REILLY: There are so many illegal drugs surrounding the entertainment community, and you very rarely ever hear of any arrests. I think they're protecting these people. And they have, like, 15 guards and all of that.

But here is the deal that disturbs me. I think that the death of Heath Ledger or Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin, these people, sends a message to people. It certainly sent a message to me when I was a kid, all right? When I saw these guys dropping in the '60s, one after another after another from drug use, I said, you know, "I'm not going to bother with that." I wasn't inclined to do it anyway. But it just reinforced that inclination.

And I think that when these people go from the drug overdoses or something, it's worthy to tell young Americans, "Hey, look at this. Look at this guy. Thought he was invincible? Boom!" Isn't that worthy?

INGRAHAM: Now don't you think the Lindsay and Britney coverage...

O'REILLY: They're not dead.

INGRAHAM: No. But has that really stopped, you know, the excesses among young actors and actresses in Hollywood? I don't see evidence of that. Maybe that's happening.

O'REILLY: I don't care about the people in Hollywood, excuse me, what they do. I care about the people on Long Island or the people in Alabama, the young people. Don't you think when they see Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears embarrassed and scorned and mocked, don't you think that they say, "Maybe I'm not going to do that"?

INGRAHAM: No, I really don't. I think we all become numb to it. I don't see evidence of young people, en masse, saying, "I'm not going to pick up that bottle of Miller. I'm not going to, you know, take a toke on, you know, on that joint." I don't see that that happens.

I think we're immersing ourselves in these images and this footage that, frankly, is making us numb and dumb. I've said it before on this show, and I'm going to say it again. I think the Hollywood crowd is obviously completely hypothetical in this regard, and that's a given. But is this all helping us become better people? I don't think so.

O'REILLY: OK. I do think that there is a cautionary tale to be told on these deaths.

INGRAHAM: Read about it. Read about it then.

O'REILLY: Kids don't read.

INGRAHAM: Oh great.

O'REILLY: Kids watch TV, and they do the Internet. And that's what they do.

But anyway, Laura, we appreciate your perspective as always, and we will see you next week.