SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

TMZ turns down Tony Scott suicide video, would you?

Aug 21, 2012, 1:20 PM | Updated: 1:59 pm

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cedargrove
Traffic rolls over the the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro section of Los Angeles where director Tony Scott jumped Sunday. (AP Photo)

When Hollywood director Tony Scott jumped from a Southern California bridge to his death this week, someone on a nearby tour boat caught it on camera.

TMZ reports it was offered the footage for a price, but the gossip site says it turned it down.

“I just find it so sleazy,” says news anchor Ursula Reutin on Tuesday’s Dori Monson Show. “Honestly, I don’t need to see it.”

But both Dori and producer Jake Skorheim admit they’d probably watch the video if it surfaces.

“It’s news. We talk about the news, so I feel a responsibility to know what we’re talking about,” says Jake.

“I think I would watch it, but I don’t think I would pretend it was for any news reasons,” says Dori.

The story reminded Dori of another famous suicide video, a grisly series showing people jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge.

“I watched it one night and I don’t know why I watched it because it is one of the most haunting things I have ever seen.”

With video becoming ubiquitous, seemingly every morbid incident ends up captured on camera. And both Dori and Ursula hope the Scott video doesn’t get widely distributed. But if it does, they hope it leads people to seek help.

“The hope that I would have is that people look at it and say, ‘OK, here’s a man who seems like he had everything, but felt he had no way out and there’s help for people,'” says Ursula.

“It’s awful to contemplate. You’ve got somebody who’s got everything in the world financially, but that does not bring happiness to someone like that,” Dori says.

If the video does surface, would you watch it?

If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the National Suicide-Prevention Hotline: 800-SUICIDE, or the Local Crisis Clinic: (206) 461-3222

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TMZ turns down Tony Scott suicide video, would you?