Five Ways The Media Sold Stephen Gately’s Death

STEPHEN Gately dies and the tabloid press suspects that he had died from drinks, drugs, suicide, depression, acute gayness, no longer singing with Boyzone and being Irish (and that was just the Daily Mail).

Then there is a post-mortem and we discover that he has died from natural causes.

A court official on the island of Majorca said the singer suffered a pulmonary oedema, an accumulation of fluid on the lungs.

Fluid. He chocked on his vomit, right? The Mirror’s Fiona Cummins and Graham Brough knew it. They screamed:

Stephen Gately choked to death on his own vomit

And if not vomit, then that fluid was booze. The Sun’s Sean Hamilton knew, just knew:

Stephen killed by 8hr binge

And not just the booze, but the drugs. Oh, yes the drugs. And sex. Bild newspaper was sure of it – just sure of it:

BOYZONE’S STEPHEN GATELY IS SAID TO HAVE DIED AFTER CHOKING ON HIS OWN VOMIT FOLLOWING A BOOZE AND DRUGS BINGE – WHILE HIS HUSBAND WAS HAVING SEX NEXT DOOR.

LA gossiper Perez Hilton sensed depression:

And although he had suffered depression in the past, that was not the reason for overdoing it!

A star dies and the clamour for sensation creates speculation that diminishes Gately to an also ran at his own death, overtaken in a league table of vital ingredients to the story by sex, drugs and drink.

Stephen Gately – a life in pictures…

The Telegraph delivers this tasteless tome before the post-mortem: