THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY AUGUST 17 2009
MONDAY, AUGUST 17,2009
ENTERTAINMENT
7C
CELEBRITY
Family was not aware of drug use
BY MITCH STACY Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. —The family of TV pitchman Billy Mays said they were never aware that he used cocaine or other non-prescription drugs before his death and they were considering whether to have an independent review of an official autopsy.
TV pitchman Billy Mays poses with some of his cleaning products at his Palm Harbor, Fl., home on Dec. 6, 2002. An autopsy shows that cocaine use contributed to the heart disease that suddenly killed Mays in June officials announced Aug. 7.
The Hillsborough County medical examiner's office released the results of its autopsy on Friday, finding that cocaine use had contributed to the heart disease that suddenly killed the 50-year-old in June. He was discovered by his wife in bed at their Tampa condo June 28.
Mays was a pop-culture fixture with his energetic commercials pitching gadgets and cleaning products like Orange Glo and Oxi Clean.
While heart disease was the primary cause of his death, the medical examiner listed cocaine as a "contributory cause of death."
The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release.
The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in
the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays' cocaine use.
Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause thickening of the left wall of the ventricle and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said.
The toxicology tests also showed therapeutic amounts of painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone and tramadol, as well as anti-anxiety drugs alprazolam and diazepam. Mays had suffered hip problems and was scheduled for hip-replacement surgery the day after he was found dead.
Mays' family questioned the finding of cocaine and criticized the medical examiner's officer for issuing the report.
"We were totally unaware of any non-prescription drug usage and are actively considering an independent evaluation of the autopsy results," Mays' family said in a statement.
Longtime friend and colleague AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of the "As Seen on TV" product company Telebrands, said Mays never showed any signs of drug use and was always prepared for his many commercial shoots.
The statement said the family was "extremely disappointed" by the release of the information. They said the report "contains speculative conclusions that are frankly unnecessary and tend to obscure the conclusion that Billy suffered from chronic, untreated hypertension, which only demonstrates how important it is to regularly monitor one's health."
"I'm just shocked," Khubani said. "He was the model of a responsible citizen."
Mays, a McKeees Rocks, Pa., native, developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "As Seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years
He got his start on TV on the Home Shopping Network and then branched out into commercials and infomercials.
he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.
He developed such a strong following that he became the subject of a reality TV series, Discovery Channel's "Pitchmen."
ACHOSS
1 Coasters
6 "Rubber Capital"
11 Evening get-together
12 Pageant winners' bling
14 Wood-shop device
15 Unisex garment
16 Performance
17 Hall's singing partner
19 Goose, in Guada-lajara
20 Equal
22 Felon's flight
23 Stop up
24 Great warmth
26 Weigh heavily upon
28 — long way
30 As well
31 Win
35 Sac
39 Draftable
40 Youngster
42 Dandling locale
43 "Kidding!"
44 Ballad conclusion
46 Med. watchdog org.
47 Concern during takeoff
49 Lee Marvin TV oldie
51 Men of La Mancha?
52 Hard to make out
53 Picture puzzle
54 Elite Navy group
DOWN
1 Association football
2 Sang lightly
3 Historic time
4 Show-room sample
5 Calyx component
6 Try
7 Smooch
8 "Go, team!"
9 Balti-more bird
Check for answers on 9C
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10 Drug dealers' foes
11 Scotland's — Flow
13 Deer sirs?
18 Eastern "way"
21 Scoundrel
23 Law-breaker
25 Computer acronym
27 Burst
29 Suitability
31 Piquant flavors
32 He has a top job
33 Chant
34 Car-pool lane abbr.
36 Open up, as a flag
37 Fragrant trees
38 Impetuous
41 Interment sites
44 Beige
45 Gilligan's home
48 Plagiize
50 Sine-non link
8/17
TELEVISION ABC would like to see Abdul as part of family
PASADENA, Calif. — ABC is joining the chorus of those seeking to hire Paula Abdul, who said she's quitting "American Idol."
ABC programming chief Stephen McPherson told the Television Critics Association on
Saturday that he was "stunned" to hear she'd decided to leave the top-rated Fox series and that he's contacted Abdul, whom he called an old friend.
McPherson told Abdul he'd love to see her at ABC, home of "Dancing with the Stars."
Abdul said last Tuesday she was leaving said an "idol" judge following stalemated contract talks with Fox and the show's producers.
Associated Press
She said she quickly started receiving "wonderful" offers.
Difficulty Level ★
By Dave Green
Conceptis Sudoku
O X E U  X E B B F K F P  O X F K  E
Q F N N M O - H F N N S F P  I E K  U L S F P
U M  V E D F  R M I F H M P Q  X F
V E F L F P?  U X F  D M O E L P  D M O E L P
8-15 CRYPTOQUIP
2009 Concepts Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Today's Cryptoquip Clue: X equals H
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INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this March 27, 2007 file picture, Schoenbrun castle in Vienna, Austria, is shown. The King of Pop is about to get a royal send-off in Vienna. Events promoter World Awards Media GmbH confirmed Aug. 10 that members of Michael Jackson's family and a "high-profile lineup of international stars" are planning a tribute concert to be held within a few weeks.
Global farewell for Jackson will take place abroad
Associated Press
BY WILLIAM J. KOLE
VIENNA — It's a concert venue fit for a king — even the King of Pop.
Vienna majestic Schoenbrunn Palace, once home to Emperor Franz Joseph and his waspa-waisted consort, Empress Sisi, will serve as the backdrop for what organizers billed Monday as a "global" farewell tribute to Michael Jackson next month.
World Awards Media GimbH, the promoter, said members of Jackson's family and a "high-profile lineup of international stars" will perform on a multimedia stage built in the shape of a giant crown on the palace's sculpted grounds.
"For one incredible night Michael Jackson's unforgettable music will be brought to life again," World Awards Media said on its Web site. "Some of the world's leading artists will perform Michael's greatest hits
live in Vienna in front of the most fascinating historical sites in Europe and celebrate the life of the "King of Pop"
Jackson's brother Jermaine said recently that Vienna was special for Michael, who "loved castles." Tickets go on sale Aug. 20.
"For one incredible night Michael Jackson's unforgettable music will be brought to life again."
WORLD AWARDS MEDIA Via Web site
Organizers said Jermaine Jackson and other family members would perform some of Jackson's hits.
Many had expected the tribute to be held in London, where Jackson was booked to perform a series of concerts, or a larger European capital such as Berlin, Paris or Rome.
But Friday, on "Larry King Live," Jermaine Jackson said Vienna was "a very dear place for
World Awards Media chief Georg Kindel said the event would be held in the first part of September. Jackson died June 25 in Los Angeles.
They would not confirm reports that the tribute may include U2, Madonna, Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston, said a date would be announced soon.
"And he loved castles. And we're going to have this huge celebration in front of a castle," Jermaine Jackson said.
Michael," who performed several times in the Austrian capital over the years.
Spokespeople for British promoter AEG Live, which had been organizing Jackson's London concerts, had no immediate comment on the Vienna tribute. But London fans expressed displeasure.
The venue has enough standing room to accommodate 85,000 people. The daily Oesterreich said giant screens would be set up in parks around Vienna to handle the huge overflow crowds
Kindel said he hoped to secure official permission within the next eight days to hold the concert at Schoenbrunn.
expected.
"If he likes castles, they could've done it anywhere in the UK. We've got them here, too," said Peter Chowing, a 42-year-old London businessman.
A UNESCO World Heritage site, Schoenbrunn dates to the 14th century, but it's best known for more recent occupants: Franz Joseph, Sisi and other members of the royal Habsburg dynasty, which
ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Jermaine Jackson said, in a statement on World Awards Media's Web site, that the concert was conceived as an annual event to keep alive not only Michael Jackson's music, "but his spirit as well."
Kindel said a "not insignificant" portion of the proceeds would go to the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which helps patients who can't afford heart surgery.
The group, citing Jackson's legal entangements over allegations of child molestation, sent Vienna City Hall and Schoenbrunn's supervisory board a letter urging authorities not to approve the plan "for ethical reasons."
Monday's announcement drew an angry reaction from an organization calling itself Resistance for Peace Vienna.