There have been many cases in which stars have come to us first to break the news because they knew the pressure was on. They wanted to have it on the air so that they could give their honest evaluation of the situation.
In a lot of cases, as in Tom and Nicole's case, the tabloids were about to break the story, so they said just let the news out. And they called organizations such as ours.
Many have been with the show for years, and they have sources in the business, so we do know things, but until it is verified, we don't run with the story.
I can't say I'm happy to be talking about John Ritter and his passing. In my 21 years of Entertainment Tonight, this really was one of the most shocking and sad things to have happened.
