Is the death of Danny Gans worth covering? Don't take our word for it. Ray Richmond, an indisputably respected journalist and columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, writes about the mysterious death of Danny Gans on his indispensible blogsite, Man Bites Tinseltown:
RAY RICHMOND
MAN BITES TINSELTOWN
The Danny Gans Death Mystery Deepens
It has now been a week since the mega-mysterious death in his sleep of Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans, and the primary question may be why no one is asking questions about why a purportedly healthy 52-year-old man would suddenly pass on in his sleep. Actually, there is one guy trying to ask the troubling questions, and he's getting threatened and attacked for his trouble. His name is Burt Kearns, and he runs a popular blog called Tabloid Baby. He's also an author and movie producer and an all-around decent and talented guy. But he's being viewed as a leper simply for trying to get to the bottom of what remains a bottomless issue. The silence out of Las Vegas -- from media, from police, from the celebrity culture -- has been deafening, giving disturbing credence to that whole "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" marketing mantra. Is a coverup afoot? Kearns certainly is wondering. In a week's worth of blog posts, Kearns has sought to unravel things and has been not only stonewalled but been forced to endure personal attacks even from fellow journalists. The cops are saying there is no suspicion of foul play but at the same time maintain they are continuing to investigate, which sounds somehow contradictory. In his posts, Kearns has heard hints about alleged steroid abuse on Gans' part and a disturbing undercurrent of secrecy surrounding his life. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. There also is discussion about how Gans was unhappy about sluggish ticket sales for his show at the Encore Hotel, and at how boss Steve Wynn was booking stars like Beyonce into his theater at the hotel.
Kearns also addresses claims that Gans had been text messaging a former beauty queen-turned-TV reporter in the days before his death, and of an alleged 4 a.m. phone call from Gans' manager Chip Lightman to the reporter in question informing her of Gans' death mere minutes after his wife had called paramedics. More suspicious than anything, however, would seem to be the fact no firsthand accounts or greater details have emerged in the death -- from paramedics, from neighbors, from journalists, from friends, from anyone. At the least, something clearly doesn't smell right here. Stay tuned.
