The Autopsy & Toxicology of Artist Manager Jon Hensley Released
Summary of Facts:
- The official cause of death is “Asphyxia via Choking on Food Substance” and “Ethanol Andalprazolam Intoxication.”
- According to the medical examiner, “Intoxication by the combined effects of ethanol [alcohol] and alprazolam [Xanax] is a contributing factor to death.”
- Hensley’s blood alcohol level at the time of death was 0.300% — over 3-times the legal limit in Kentucky (0.08).
- The amount of Alprazolam [Xanax] in his system was 49.9 — above the “therapeutic” level [10.00 – 40.00].
- Jon was injured with a scabbed abrasion over his left eye, and an abrasion on his left leg.
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The autopsy and toxicology report for artist manager Jon Hensley was released to the public on Friday (7-17) with an official cause of death determined to be “Asphyxia via Choking on Food Substance” and “Ethanol Andalprazolam Intoxication.” Jon Hensley died unexpectedly on June 1st in his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A 911 call was made just before 10 a.m., and when authorities arrived at his home, Hensley was unresponsive. The death was preliminarily labeled “accidental.” He was 31-years-old.
The autopsy was performed on June 2nd, 2015 at 9:25 a.m. by Dr. Randall Falls and Dr. Donna Stewart. Upon examination, the doctors concluded, “Death in this case is due to asphyxia via accidental choking on food substance. Intoxication by the combined effects of ethanol and alprazolam is a contributing factor to death.”
On the choking, the autopsy specifically states, “Lodged within the oropharynx and occluding the proximal airway is a solid, tan-white, partially-masticated food bolus that consists of what appears to be pork or chicken.”
Jon Hensley has a blood alcohol level of 0.300% at the time of death which is over three-times the legal limit (0.08%) in Kentucky. 49.9 ng/mL of Alprazolam, which is a generic Benzodiazepine, commonly known as Xanax, was also in his system. The “therapeutic” range of Alprazolam is 10.00 to 40.00 ng/mL. The therapeutic range is the average level of drugs in the system for someone who is prescribed the drug as a medication. Anything above the therapeutic range is considered dangerous or lethal. Saving Country Music has been unable to independently determine of Jon Hensley had a prescription for Alprazolam.
Natural diseases or lethal trauma were ruled out as a cause of death in the autopsy report, though two injuries were found during examination.
- 1) 1/4″ x 1/8″ irregular red-brown scabbed abrasion over the lateral left supaorbital ridge.
- 2) 3/16″ irregular red abrasion over the mid anterior left leg.
The 1st injury was the black eye referred to in the original police report released on June 3rd.
Other than these findings, everything else examined during autopsy and toxicology appeared normal.
Upon the receipt of the autopsy and toxicology report, the Bowling Green Police Department officially closed the criminal case pending in Jon Hensley’s death, according to reports.
Jon Hensley is given credit for helping to revitalize the career of Wanda Jackson when the Queen of Rockabilly began to perform and record again after a lull in her career. Wanda Jackson recorded an album with Jack White called The Party Ain’t Over in 2011, and worked with Justin Townes Earle on 2012’s Unfinished Business, putting her back into national prominence. “Jon’s very valuable to me and the resurgence of my career,” Wanda Jackson is quoted as saying. “We’re kindred spirits.”
Hensley also managed Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and The Dirt Daubers, Gary Bennett of BR549, and Goose Creek Symphony. John previously worked under the management, publicity, and distribution company Thirty Tigers. Recently Hensley was best known as the manager and right hand man of Waylon Jennings’ son Shooter Jennings.
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Because of the common occurrence of rumor, conjecture, and accusations involved in this story, the verbatim scans of the relevant pages of the autopsy and toxicology can be found below. PLEASE NOTE: This is not an effort to exploit a sensitive situation or to delve too deep into a private manner, only to validate facts. The full autopsy and toxicology is a matter of public record, and all the information reported on here can be attained and verified independently.
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Cause Célèbre – The Factual Irregularities and Cover Up in Reporting the Jon Hensley Death
Since the beginning of Saving Country Music’s reporting on the death of Jon Hensley, there has been an open and active effort to smear and discredit Saving Country Music’s reporting, and suppress the information surrounding his death.
A reporter for examiner.com named Jessica Blankenship offered favorable reporting to individuals she personally refers to as “friends” when reporting Jon Hensley’s autopsy. Beyond not reporting on the secondary cause of death of “Ethanol Andalprazolam Intoxication” whatsoever, she also printed falsehoods about Saving Country Music’s previous reporting.
“While another website disclosed the police report with personal information, they also led readers to believe that the death was due to drugs,” the report says, but nowhere did Saving Country Music ever say, imply, allude, or hint that drugs or an overdose had to do with Jon Hensley’s death. Conversely, Saving Country Music strongly cautioned the public from coming to conclusions or spreading rumor before the autopsy and toxicology was released.
On June 3rd, Saving Country Music specifically said, “…rumors of Hensley passing away due to overdose or other causes have yet to be confirmed, and no official cause of death has been determined.” And on June 15th, Saving Country Music posted a specific report in an attempt to stave off rumors surrounding the case, once again stressing no cause of death had been determined, and cautioning people from speculating.
And of course, in the end, drugs were a determining factor in Jon Hensley’s death. However Jessica Blankenship did not report on them whatsoever.
Jessica Blankenship’s report also says, “Family members of Jon Hensley reached out and requested that the information was to be removed due to the sensitive nature of the matter.”
This is also incorrect. Saving Country Music has never been contacted by any member of Jon Hensley’s family requesting the police report, or any other coverage be taken down.
Finally, Jessica Blankenship states, “This [police] report was to not be released to the public as it was an open case at the time. Instead, the website continued to lead readers on an over dramatic scenario, as well as disclose personal information on the family.”
This is also incorrect. No personal information on Jon Hensley’s family was ever published, and Saving Country Music exhaustively validated that there was nothing incorrect, untimely, or improprietous in posting the police report, and has taped interviews with Bowling Green Detective Jared Merriss and Police spokesperson Ronnie Ward that can validate this.
Jessica Blankenship did not name Saving Country Music by name to clear herself of concerns for libel.
Meanwhile multiple high profile individuals, including Shooter Jennings, have been telling individuals to ONLY trust the reporting of Jessica Blankenship referring to her as “us,” and characterizing it as the “truth.”
Saving Country Music remains committed to serving the public with the correct information about the unfortunate death of Jon Hensley, and extends its sincerest condolences to Jon Hensley’s friends, family, and fans for this unfortunate passing. Donations can be made for Jon Hensley’s final expenses by CLICKING HERE.
July 17, 2015 @ 5:49 pm
You done opened the flood gates lol. On a serious note though, at least we got answers that are factual.
July 17, 2015 @ 6:21 pm
That is weird man. Last I remember I came here to read about country music not to learn a lesson on drug abuse and hear scary stories so I don’t OD. Speaking from experience it wasn’t your place to make your public service announcement. I appreciate your sentiments but it really should have been left to family to make that decision after they had some time to heal which hopefully in due time they would have made the announcement so that someone could learn from it. And if another publication let the cat out of the bag in the interim that is fine, you should have kept your integrity and kept it to yourself. But you just couldn’t stand letting someone else break the story huh? and you just had to show that Blankenship was not being truthful and you were right all along. Not gonna lie.. A little disappointing partner..
July 17, 2015 @ 6:45 pm
Honest Charlie’s Productions,
” Last I remember I came here to read about country music not to learn a lesson on drug abuse and hear scary stories so I don”™t OD.”
With all due respect man, but where in this story did I preach or offer my opinion in any capacity to push “a lesson on drug abuse.” I can’t see anywhere where I even remotely implied that. I have said in comments that I think we could have something to learn from this unfortunate circumstance. But I would challenge you to find any place where I’ve been preaching about the travails of drug abuse, especially here where not one single word was written on the subject. I don’t mean to come across as callous, but I just have no clue where this opinion is coming from here. This story is just facts.
“Last I remember I came here to read about country music”
Then man, you and everyone else need to start reading them. Because that what I do here 75% of the time, yet it’s articles like these that are the ones I see this feedback for. If you don;t want to read this, then man by all means skip it. In the last 48 hours I posted a review for Jason Isbell’s latest album, an article on Keith Whitley and the Hall of Fame, and about great artists who’ve passed on. So go read those, and don’t read this one. I wn’t be disappointed.
“I appreciate your sentiments but it really should have been left to family to make that decision after they had some time to heal which hopefully in due time they would have made the announcement so that someone could learn from it.”
Charlie, all due respect man, but I feel like you’re leaving a comment on someone else’s article. Understand man, Jessica Blankenship purposely left out half of the information in the autopsy report to cast what she believed and Shooter Jennings believed would be a favorable light on the death of Jon Hensley. This is absolutely unethical, and as someone who has been coming here for years, I would hope you would have a little more faith in what I’m trying to do here with this story.
“But you just couldn”™t stand letting someone else break the story huh? and you just had to show that Blankenship was not being truthful and you were right all along.”
I don’t give a shit about “breaking” a story, I give a shit about being right. And I was right. And Jessica Blankenship was misleading. It is my sworn oath and affirmation as a writer to make sure something printed to mislead people is challenged in the public.
July 17, 2015 @ 6:50 pm
right here.. And to be honest it isn’t your place to tell them what they should and should not be embarrassed about.. “Kyle Coroneos There is nothing for the family to be embarrassed about here. Let’s honor Jon by learning why and how he died to make sure more 31-year-olds don’t end up with this same fate. We owe that to him, and we owe that to ourselves. I hope nothing but the best for Jon’s family and friends.”
July 17, 2015 @ 7:00 pm
Charlie,
I said that as a RESPONSE to a FACEBOOK comment, and you came here taking it as the totality and theme of this article. I really don’t want to come across as disrespecting, but man, read the article, and then go read Jessica Blankenship’s if you want. And if you aren’t shocked, then I don’t know what to tell you.
Look, I totally understand that this thing has made me really unpopular on Facebook. There is an open and active PR campaign to smear me so that when people come here, if they do, they make it about ME instead of what is printed above. And they’re winning that PR battle. But what everybody needs to understand is that I don’t give a shit. I don’t care if reporting on this story results in my website going into a tailspin and barely anyone reads it any more because of how unpopular I am. Because I would rather go down telling the truth, then let the public be mislead and have to try and sleep at night. I’ve received death threats and death “promises” over this issue. I’m reporting on it because deep down in my heart, I believe this is right, and because I know the truth. And if it results in my demise, or the demise of this site, then I went down for a good cause.
July 17, 2015 @ 7:12 pm
I’ve read it all dude and this is just my observation from your Facebook posts and from what you have written here. I understand your take and I don’t agree. This subject is a rough subject with me and I don’t agree with what you did, but as you said you don’t care. You proved you were right all along so you win. This isn’t going to deter me from reading here I’m just disappointed is all. When I was in their situation I would not have been able to handle you breaking this publicly and it would have hurt me on so many levels that I can’t even begin to describe.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:01 pm
Death promises, huh? Lol, wow Trigger, you must’ve peed your pants over that. Scary stuff. Hahaha.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:07 pm
Honestly if even one person follows that Facebook link here to troll you and learns about new music then it’s all for the best.
July 17, 2015 @ 9:00 pm
Charlie,
Look man, I really don’t want to drag this out, but I just want to clarify a couple of things.
” I understand your take and I don”™t agree.
My take? There is no take. There are facts, and there are fallacies. What I posted here were facts, what was posted by some others were fallacies. This is black and white. There’s no opinion. There’s no take. There’s just right and wrong.
“You proved you were right all along so you win.”
No I didn’t. I never said I knew what happened to Jon Hensley. I was cautioning folks not to rush to judgement. This isn’t a victory for anyone. This is how ridiculous this issue has become. The only way someone can say that I either wanted or believed that Jon Hensley overdosed is if someone told them that and they believed it, because my reporting is completely to the contrary.
Look, there might have been something in your personal narrative that gives you a different perspective on this issue from mine and others, and I respect that. Some folks truly think I relish in reporting this info when in truth I hate it. I’m a human too. My dad died when I was 5-years-old. Every one of us has suffered personal tragedy.
But maybe try to put yourself in my shoes as well. So someone posted an article that only gave half the facts of the issue and directly attacked me personally. So I guess I’m supposed to just sit here and take it, which would only validate in most people’s minds that what was said was true. What am I supposed to do?
July 17, 2015 @ 9:10 pm
Clint,
There are people actively using fear to to steer folks towards the information they want you to see, and away from the information they don’t want you to see. This is their only play, because the facts are against them.
July 18, 2015 @ 6:15 am
….”There are people actively using fear to to steer folks towards the information they want you to see, and away from the information they don”™t want you to see. This is their only play, because the facts are against them.”….
I know Trigger, and my mockery was directed at them, not you. I was laughing at how silly and pitiful those people are who make “death promises”.
I think you misunderstood my comment.
July 18, 2015 @ 7:07 am
No, I understood Clint, I wasn’t disagreeing with you as much as making an observation. I think it explains the level of eithical depravity some are bringing to this issue.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:02 pm
Third paragraph from the bottom you have a typo you need to correct forthwith where you repeat Shooters name… check it out
July 17, 2015 @ 6:23 pm
Thank you for all your efforts on this matter, but given all the drama that has already transpired, you are certainly a brave man.
July 17, 2015 @ 6:50 pm
Man it’s dangerous to drink alone, or to get drunk and go to sleep. I remember a couple of times when I was younger, getting drunk alone, and waking up with a puddle of vomit in front of my face. I thought, ‘wow, if I’d have gone to sleep on my back I’d have choked to death’.
July 17, 2015 @ 7:58 pm
I woke up in the middle of the night once and my arm had somehow found its way deep down into my pillowcase and I wasn’t alert enough to figure out how to get it out.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:02 pm
What? I’m confused Fuzz.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:05 pm
Darn it I wasn’t finished typing. Sorry about that, that comment was unfinished. In all seriousness though, that’s how we lost Tommy Dorsey, he took so many sleeping pills that when he vomited he choked on it and never woke up. Alcohol, and even a lot of medicines can be beyond dangerous. I aim to never have any truck with any of them. Except Root Beer.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:06 pm
Well, that’s happened to a few people in the music industry. Bon Scott, anyone? Jimi Hendrix? John Bonham? Different genre, yes, but considering how much country tends to endorse the sauce it’s hard not to consider these relevant examples.
July 17, 2015 @ 6:58 pm
Funny thing is, the document they link to on the Examiner website does have “Ethanol and alprazolam Intoxication” as another significant condition contributing to his death. So they didn’t read the document they posted or flat out chose to lie about it.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:19 pm
When Jessica Blankenship said about Saving Country Music, “they also led readers to believe that the death was due to drugs.” that is the smoking gun that says they want you to believe it is NOT due to drugs.
July 17, 2015 @ 7:13 pm
I like this site and read it daily, but posting this information is a bit much in my opinion.
July 17, 2015 @ 7:22 pm
I agree with this statement.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:14 pm
Just be thankful it wasn’t the kind of overdose Kyle wanted. He’d have ridden that for days. He wanted to be able to drag Jon and thereby Shooter through the mud with the cause of death. No one is more disappointed today than he.
He had lots of mud loaded up to sling, and it’s all for naught now.
It’s also funny that despite not being named he paints himself as the site described in the article. That’s a guilty conscience.
“I wasn’t talking about you, but if the shoe fits feel free to lace it up and wear it to town.”
July 17, 2015 @ 8:21 pm
Why would someone wish that on someone? Don’t fuel the problem.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:36 pm
What basis do you have to assume that anyone here would be happy if Hensley had died in any other way? What would make you so cynical to assume as such? Was this Shooter/Trigger feud, the details of which I do not know, so bad as to make one side rejoice in someone’s death? Come on.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:38 pm
Venice,
Jessica Blankenship did not name me by name 1) Because she’s a coward. 2) Because she’s a yellow journalist who thinks this type of activity is acceptable. 3) She knew she was lying, and didn’t want to be held libelous. Why else would she not say who “website” was. But we all know it was Saving Country Music.
What Jessica Blankenship and Shooter Jennings are betting on is the public is too stupid to do their own homework and actually look into the facts of this matter. They think YOU are stupid. That’s the only way they can post half of the information in the autopsy report and think they can get away with it. And you know what? They’re right. They story out there right now is that Jon died of choking, the tox screen was totally clean, and I am posted this article simply to hurt Jon Hensley’s friends and family because I am an evil, callous guy. That’s why you would leave a comment saying that I wanted the information to be worse than it was. Why then did I mention the possibility of choking in my followup post on June 15th (linked above in the story)?
In truth, I was hoping it was choking, and choking only. You think I enjoy this conflict? You think I like receiving death threats and having friends of mine that have absolutely nothing to do with this lampooned and threatened? This is horrible. But I refuse to sit here and let folks be lied to.
P.S. Best of luck leave a dissenting comment on the examiner.com article, or ANY comment for that matter. You’re not allowed. But yes, Saving Country Music is the site that’s patently unfair.
Also appreciate that Jessica Blankenship used the posting of Jon Hensley’s autopsy to attack me directly. For some, this has never been about getting the facts straight about Jon Hensley’s death. This is about using Hensley’s death to attempt to destroy Saving Country Music. And when I simply defend myself, I’m the one painted as callous.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:47 pm
I know.
You know I know.
I know you know I know.
You can keep the spin cycle up, but we’re good. Really.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:29 pm
I agree. It’s speaks to the abomination that American journalism has become that some two-bit blogger running a website out of his living room is the one that has to clarify facts about a man that died after a concerted effort has been put forth to mislead the public about it.
I find it funny though that when I posted the autopsy for Wayne Mills, I never saw comments like these. And Wayne Mills also had a positive mark for drugs and was highly intoxicated, and he was the victim of the crime:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-autopsy-report-of-wayne-mills-released
In fact Wayne’s fans and friends reposted the hell out of it. Why? Because they wanted folks to know. I think that is the most natural reaction to situations like this. This whole idea that it’s none of our business how Jon Hensley died, I’ve never seen that in a death case. And then when Shooter told folks to repost the article on examiner.com, they dignify complied and forgot all about how they were saying his death was nobody’s business a month ago. The fix is in.
July 18, 2015 @ 2:05 am
Also understand that all day today, Shooter Jennings surrogates, specifically JD Myers, Joshua Morningstar, Jahshie P, and many others were publicly chiding Saving Country Music for not posting the autopsy results. Basically, “Ha! So now that it came out that he choked you refuse to report it.” Of course during this time I was just trying to obtain the report and then write this article, but it basically became impossible for me to not post on this matter. Of course now that I have and they’ve figured out they were misled, they’re nowhere to be found.
A similar instance happened with the Jon Hensley obituary. Friends of Jon Hensley contacted me requesting I post one. I had no idea he had passed. So I did, and then people said I was being opportunist.
July 17, 2015 @ 7:25 pm
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but is Shooter Jennings not fairly wealthy? I am just curious about the fund set up, and linked on that other site, to help pay off funeral expenses. In no way is Jennings responsible for the death or the cost of the funeral, but it seems like there should have been someone that should/could have stepped up to pay for it, if his family or estate was unable. I know that a GoFund me type account is certainly not unusual after a death, and maybe I am grossly over assuming their wealth, but I feel like it’s sort of strange for the family of someone that managed celebrities to be asking fans to help pay bills.
July 17, 2015 @ 8:11 pm
I aways felt that the shooter Jennings clan didn’t like the hank III coverage from here back in the day and things have constantly soured. I really don’t know what exactly cause the hate though other than bad shooter reviews. To me, a mainstream country fan that comes here to read daily, I don’t know Jon Henley and don’t really care about him or shooter. It just seems with the past history this is a super sticky subject. I don’t think any other major country outlets cared about someone from shooter Jennings clan taking too much Xanax and alcohol and choking on chicken. I don’t think the average country fan cares about shooter Jennings cause he is pretty much overrated and rides his dad’s name anyways. I enjoy the rants, song reviews, album reviews, and talent I would never hear in mainstream and the juicy gossip at this site. Trigger does an excellent job reporting on it. To me, this was too much but I do understand triggers point of accurate reporting especially after the smear campaign.
July 17, 2015 @ 9:45 pm
I feel that it is perhaps worth noting that comments with respect to the BAC reading being “three times the legal limit in Kentucky” raises a point that is, due to the fact the deceased was not driving, entirely moot.
With that said, I’m heading back to Facebook to remove a comment I’d earlier posted. I wish that I’d first read the report.
Trigger, you’re still an ass -and will no doubt always remain an ass- but, with the exception of the above, you do in this instance seem to be sticking to the facts in their entirety, and I simply cannot say the same for the writer for the Examiner.
July 17, 2015 @ 9:57 pm
I agree that talking about “legal limits” is not exactly germane to this situation because he wasn’t driving and there’s noting illegal about being drunk. But it’s a good way to illustrate the level of toxicity. I think it is fair to say that Jon Hensley was very drunk.
What’s interesting about the examiner article is that if you click on the “cause of death” hyperlink, the secondary cause of death is right there. It’s tiny, but if you zoom in, you can see it. I don’t think they have any clue it’s there. And meanwhile, no comments are able to be posted over there, so good luck questioning the post.
July 17, 2015 @ 9:59 pm
Accordingly, I want to apologize for the particularly harsh Facebook post made earlier today. It’s just been removed.
July 17, 2015 @ 10:12 pm
Thanks Jeff.
July 17, 2015 @ 10:07 pm
Trigger wrote:” I think it is fair to say that Jon Hensley was very drunk.”
I strongly disagree. That’s extremely presumptious of you…it’s actually a huge stretch.
Different people handle alcohol differently. I know guys -and so too do you- who’d blow .35 and you’d not ever suspect they’d had a single drop. Conversely, the chap w/ a BAC of .12 could be falling-down drunk.
In this article, you’ve done a decent job of sticking to the facts, don’t start injecting your opinion into it at this point — for your opinion concerning how drunk he may have been is entirely irrelevant.
July 17, 2015 @ 10:17 pm
Frankly, I don’t think that’s an opinion, I think that is a clinical prognosis based off of an established measurement comparing the amount of alcohol in a person’s body to their level of impairment based off of scientific research. That is the reason I cited the “legal limit” to give people a context. I totally understand what you’re saying as far as different people’s tolerances, but I think we can all agree that once you get past .28, this is on the far range of alcohol impairment. It’s “over 3-times the legal limit.” But this is semantics, really.
July 18, 2015 @ 3:02 am
“I know guys -and so too do you- who”™d blow .35 and you”™d not ever suspect they”™d had a single drop.”
You can’t be serious. A BAC of 0.35 is the threshold for coma and possibly even death.
July 18, 2015 @ 8:05 am
Eric,
Technically, you are correct. But there are exceptions. I don’t know how many drunks and/or alcoholics you’ve known in your life, but I’ve known dozens, and was one myself.
If a person drinks heavily, and consistently over a period of time, they build a tolerance, just like with any drug. In the prime of my drunk days, I could drink a liter of anything 80 proof, over the course of a night, and not die. I did it more times than I can count. I don’t say that to brag, as it’s very shameful; I say it as an example to prove my point.
I’ve known beer people, who could drink 7 pitchers of beer in a night, and still be out 2-stepping when the bar was closing.
July 18, 2015 @ 9:47 am
I’m sure that it is possible to survive, and maybe even manage to stay awake, at a BAC of 0.35 for someone who has built up a high tolerance. However, the idea that someone at that point can possibly “not ever suspect they’d had a single drop” just seems ridiculous.
July 17, 2015 @ 10:19 pm
I applaud you for sticking through this. You said you were and then you did. Your reporting has been objective and clear. As someone who reads visits here daily and has a personal connection to this story I applaud you for reporting the facts and the facts only when no one was.
July 17, 2015 @ 10:23 pm
Post the “facts” as you deem necessary but think about leaving your repeated commentary out of it. No other serious journalist posts an article and then makes a point to respond to every single comment that happens to disagree..state what you see as the facts then shut up..are you a professional or are you just an asshole that wants to get attention?! The latter I’m sure.
July 17, 2015 @ 10:37 pm
Betty,
I sincerely appreciate your concern, and I definitely understand that the way I handle comments is sort of a new school approach. But I have been doing it for 8 1/2 years, and it has resulted in one of the most open, enlightening, and thoughtful comments sections on the internet, and it’s one of the primary reasons many folks come here.
The reason I respond to comments is because I want folks to know that I care about what they have to say. Their words have value to me and to the public as well, and I cherish giving people a forum to express themselves. I read every single comment on this site, consider it, try to learn from it, and the comments criticizing me or my coverage I take especially to heart. I am proud of the robust dissent in this comments section and others. But that also doesn’t mean I don’t have a right to disagree just like anyone else. So this isn’t about ME getting attention, this is about YOU the commenter getting attention.
Go and try to post a comment on the examiner dot com article on the Jon Hensley autopsy. You can’t do it. You can’t dissent. They don’t care what you have to say.
Finally, I just want to point out that in lieu of being able to actually refute the facts in this case, the effort has been made to make this about ME, to portray me as someone who wants attention, or traffic, or to get back at Jon Hensley, whatever. You can’t refute the facts, so all you can attempt to do is erode the integrity of the messenger.
I know you hate the fact that I respond to comments, but I wanted to take the time to explain why I do so for you and others.
Thanks for commenting.
July 18, 2015 @ 4:54 am
I do feel that is true about your motives. Although I recently had a comment deleted by you when I pointed out that “Eric from the Bay Area” is a communist that consistently posts comments that are infused with leftist rhetoric. You didn’t like that post so you removed it. But otherwise you are open to, and allow, a pretty wide berth of exchanging opinions and thought processes. The value in that “long rope” is that people can actual learn something and equip themselves with more information. I respect you and you do a very good job. You will not be intimidated by the orchestrated criticism you are getting ( which I think is sad and very petty and reflects poorly on those so childish to engage in it) and if you stick to that position, there is more value and credibility earned by you in that alone than the quality of very content you post.
July 18, 2015 @ 10:00 am
Ryder,
I am glad to know what you think of me.
Firstly, I am not a communist, but rather an old-fashioned liberal who believes in a mixed economy.
Secondly, I only post political comments in response to others. I have not initiated a political discussion on SCM in probably a year. I hate the fact that threads keep delving off-topic, but I also refuse to let one-sided comments stand without a response.
July 17, 2015 @ 10:51 pm
I don’t hate that you are commenting on every post or that you have an opinion but you are certainly opening yourself up for what you are getting..don’t blame anyone but yourself. It’s an odd approach that screams attention seeker.
July 18, 2015 @ 4:38 am
Now you’ve done exactly what he does…replied to a comment. Who’s the attention seeker now?
July 17, 2015 @ 11:17 pm
it’s amazing how often you hear such positive things about Shooter from everybody, like how great of a guy he is. fellow musicians, back stage guys, legends, average fans and even i believe he probably is too even though we’ve never met. but for some reason he genuinely loses his mind and has embarassed himself numerous times because of this website. whether it’s Twitter or SCM’s comment section, it’s been fantastic entertainment over the years. the worst thing that could happen to this site imo is Triggerman and Shooter burying the hatchet. i hope it never changes. lol.
July 18, 2015 @ 3:05 am
The fact that Shooter and his friends still harbor so much bitterness for Trigger even years after Trigger last wrote a negative article on him shows how vindictive Shooter’s camp is and how they refuse to let old wounds heal with time.
July 18, 2015 @ 4:42 am
I think that’s the mentality of a lot of “underground” acts, Eric. It’s worse, I would imagine, in some of the metal sub-genres. Any negative review or any criticism is regarded as a horrible offense, and the fact that these bands or artists aren’t top-tier mainstream superstars is because of awful people who don’t understand the music, or maybe a conspiracy to keep these “awesome musicians” off the mainstream. I started developing a poor opinion of Shooter based on this Jon Hensley crap-fest, but then the Luke Bryan thing comes up and he’s chill with it. I dunno.
July 18, 2015 @ 9:52 am
Believe it or not, Fuzzy, I think that the feuding issue might even be worse in the country scene than in any other scene except rap. I hate to bring this up again, but it might have something to do with what I consider to be the worst aspect of Southern culture:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_honor_(Southern_United_States)
Basically, this type of mess is possible in a culture that promotes a violent response to insults. One can argue that the violence in rap is also rooted in the same honor culture, since African-Americans are a fundamentally Southern people as well.
July 18, 2015 @ 10:15 am
To a man, every one of the individuals who has either personally threatened me, or is on the forefront of the movement to discredit and attack Saving Country Music’s reporting on the death of Jon Hensley is really into professional wrestling. It is almost uncanny. In some respects it makes sense because Shooter Jennings is really into wrestling, and Jon Hensley was really into wrestling. But I think that this my be fundamental to why these folks feel like someone needs to be feuded with in this situation. It’s just like a wrestling event. Someone has to be the good guy, and someone has to be the bad guy. And what do you do to the bad guy? You threaten him, you shit talk him. If it wasn’t me, it would be someone else.
All of the anger, all of the blame for the death of Jon Hensley has been lumped on my shoulders. Every part of it. I am the bad guy. I am the one responsible for Jon Hensley’s death. Me, a blogger in Texas. NOT the people that were around Jon Hensley when he died, not the people close to Jon who were in a position to help. And why would they help him? His death was a total accident. He choked to death, right? It had nothing to do with drugs and alcohol. As sad as this whole story is, the saddest part might be how certain people have told these lies so many times, they truly believe them themselves as fact. So what’s the impetus to clean up? What’s the stimulation to learn from all of this and make sure it doesn’t happen again? The lesson they learned is that The Triggerman is a liar and is happy that Jon Hensley died. That’s their lesson from all of this. And the party rolls on.
July 18, 2015 @ 8:13 pm
Country and rap have the biggest issue with artists feuding with one another and fanbases going back and forth. I mean rock, in it’s heyday of intensity, had some stories too. My favorite one will always be Mike Patton crapping in a jug of Axl Rose’s orange juice and resealing it and putting it back in the fridge.
July 19, 2015 @ 11:29 pm
Theres nothing inherently wrong with the whole honor thing. The trick is in knowing when you need to defend it and who you need to defend it to. In Jon’s case, you simply cannot hide that he clearly had a substance abuse issue. Anytime you combine scrips and alcohol it becomes an issue. So don’t try to hide that. Now if trigger had said that Jon had died doing key bumps with a hooker, then by all means defend your friend. Call trigger out on it personally. Don’t put him on blast on social media like a self unaware, overly dramatic high school girl. And if you have to call him out in public, then do it once, and make it count. At the end of the day, know that if a complete stranger has the wrong opinion of someone, the beat goes on. Those who truly matter know the truth.
July 18, 2015 @ 4:44 am
Kyle-
There are some things that I observed that I do not agree with.
Comparing Jon and Wayne’s deaths are two horses of different colors. Wayne was murdered. Jon died accidentally. These are two completely different entities. It is like comparing two casserole dishes and one not having a lid.
I also know you have been salivating at the release of these documents like mashed potatoes waiting for gravy from the gravy boat. I can only imagine the personal disappointment when you got them. Professionally you can spin it however you would like. Personally I know you wanted more.
I commented about this before. Who is benefitting from your Jon articles? Is it for the benefit of the artists? No. Is it for the benefit of Jon? No. Is it for the benefit of you?
Play it however you want. Say you are just being a journalist. Say you just wanted the readers to know. Most of your readers are smart enough to read between the lines.
July 18, 2015 @ 7:48 am
Travis,
I did not compare Jon Hensley’s and Wayne Mill’s deaths even remotely. Didn’t even come close to it. All I did was offer the observation that people didn’t complain when I posted the Wayne Mills autopsy and that there were similar circumstances between the two. This is yet another example that in the lack of substantive criticism that can be levied against my coverage, a grasping as straws ensues.
“I also know you have been salivating at the release of these documents like mashed potatoes waiting for gravy from the gravy boat. I can only imagine the personal disappointment when you got them. Professionally you can spin it however you would like. Personally I know you wanted more.”
Why? Because people on Facebook told you to believe that? Travis, your comment here is an excellent example of how the public’s perception has been manipulated. There is nothing here to corroborate the claim that I am somehow receiving satisfaction with hundreds of thousands of people reading lies about me, and lies about the circumstances surrounding Jon Hensley’s death. It is simply the last resort to try to discredit the facts in the matter in lieu of any serious intellectual stance or dialogue. Why aren’t you taking about the facts? Did you take exception to Jessica Blankenships’s reporting since she left out have of the facts from the autopsy report? Of course you didn’t, and of course you can’t because she’s not allowing comments to get posted over there.
“I commented about this before. Who is benefitting from your Jon articles? Is it for the benefit of the artists? No. Is it for the benefit of Jon? No. Is it for the benefit of you?”
Nobody is benefiting, because nobody is reading them, especially this one. Shooter Jennings and the effort to lie to the public about how Jon Hensley died has succeeded. They have succeeded in covering up the fact that drugs and alcohol were a major factor in his death, and tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people not only believe this lie, but they believe that Saving Country Music is lying about it.
This is really simple Travis. Go read the examiner dot com article. It clearly characterizes that drugs were not involved. Then go read the autopsy report that I posted verbatim:
“Death in this case is due to asphyxia via accidental choking on food substance. Intoxication by the combined effects of ethanol and alprazolam is a contributing factor to death.”
The simple fact is the people criticizing me are wrong, and the facts they are presenting are false. And 100 times out of 100 times in a court of law, this would be proven in my favor. They have deceived people. You’ve been lied to Travis, just like the rest of the public. They won. The lie won. And now this situation has become so acidic, I can’t even make an effort to defend myself and promote the truth in the matter without my own people turning on me. So rest easy knowing that you, Shooter Jennings, Jessica Blankenship, and the others that want to cover up the death of Jon Hensley have prevailed. From now ’till kingdom come, everybody will believe the lie, and the truth will be buried forevermore. So congratulations.
July 18, 2015 @ 8:39 am
The lies shooter and jons people are telling are only getting out to their fans… The whole world knows that alcohol and prescription drugs where contributing factors to his death… Ask any body and they will say it was a OD… Now that the facts are out… They(shooters people) are still trying too hide (cover) them… Thanks for the straight forward information and repetitive reporting on your behalf.. Since June 2 your reporting has been nothing but honest and sympathetic … Thank you for following up and reporting the facts!!!
July 18, 2015 @ 9:22 am
I wish I shared your optimism Tater. One thing I will say is that since examiner dot com is known as a spurious site, basically any time anyone goes to Google or any other search engine to try and find information on the death of Jon, they’re going to pull up Saving Country Music 20 to 1. Jessica Blankenship’s report is one of the reasons examiner articles rate so low through search engines, and at one point examiner was taken out of Google’s algorithm altogether. So in the long run, hopefully the truth will prevail.
July 18, 2015 @ 8:43 am
Trigger! I think you should stop talk Down on a dead man! He is not the first and probably not the last dieing from alcohol, while on medication, medicine that treats panic, i dont care about your site other than im tired of you talking shit about people that has more for music than alot others!
Dead people cant stand up for themself…
July 18, 2015 @ 9:16 am
Shutter,
When have I ever talked down Jon Hensley? Please supply the quote, the link, the screenshot, anything. This is hubris. This is people purposely perpetuating a sentiment on Facebook to mislead the public since they can’t repudiate the facts. All I posted here was facts, and if certain folks find those insulting or offensive, then I think that is a greater commentary on those people than it is my reporting. They have lied to you Shutter, because they don’t want you to know how Jon Hensley died. That is the ultimate sign of disrespect, to you and Jon.
You’re damn right dead people can’t stand up for themselves, and that might be the most fundamental reason I have stuck with this story despite the death threats and completely unfounded and fabricated rumors that I am in anyway attacking, lying about, or disrespecting Jon.
July 18, 2015 @ 10:43 am
First the comments Shooter is wealthy. That is very far from the truth. It’s there business but Jessi is alive and well so any funds from Waylon rightfully go to his mother. No Triggerman, I’m not saying you said that but others have commented that above and the other posts on Jon.
I’m not going to debate your posts, freedom of speech and blah blah as there’s no way you’ll ever say “hey you know you we’re right and I was wrong”. I will point out you brought Shooter into this and I quote above “and Shooter Jennings believed would be a favorable light on the death of Jon Hensley.” Shooter did not write the article period. Has he commented on you or this page recently ? No as he wants to move forward with positivity. And let’s not go down the route he’s friends with the author as you don’t know who the difference between people who have met him and who are actually friends (true friends not FB friends) of his. He shared the link to help give some closure as it was the first article out on the results. If you have a problem with the author then I can understand that as I agree she is talking about you. But again did Shooter write it? He’s been so positive with ending this stuff yet he gets pulled into again which he sounds like you still have a personal issue with him. No need to start responding as you know it does and I’m not going to read the response anyway. Just so you know he does not have any issues with you, so hopefully time heals all wounds and everyone does what they love on their terms.
I personally wish you the best and I truly mean that as life is short. Though I wish things had been done differently that time has passed, so it’s time for everyone to move on. Oh I will say this I 100% agree Keith Whitley should be in the Hall of Fame.
July 18, 2015 @ 1:27 pm
Brant,
Thanks for the cool-minded and thoughtful comment.
As far as Shooter Jennings’ involvement in this story, first off I’m not sure anyone is debating that. I think what Shooter said was an important element to how the release of the autopsy developed, and so I included it. Make no mistake about it, the way the autopsy was released by Jessica Blankenship was the culmination of a concerted effort over weeks to suppress the information on how Jon Hensley died. I have communications from people both public and private where folks close to Jon and Shooter were saying the toxicology screen was “clean” weeks before it was even concluded. We knew they would play this card once the autopsy was actually released. For weeks, many folks were working diligently to discredit Saving Country Music by saying I was posting “lies” and “rumor,” which as has been exhaustively established, never happened, though if you polled Shooter Jennings fans, 90% of them would tell you that I used Jon’s death to attack Jon and spread lies about him. That’s what certain people want you to believe so when I posted the autopsy report verbatim, they would either not believe it, or not pay attention to it, which is exactly what has transpired. They don’t want people to focus to be on what the report said, so they instead focused on trashing me.
As for Shooter’s involvement, I think it is very telling that he said “come to US for the truth.” That is why I included that Tweet. He is admitting that Jessica Blankenship is part of his circle, and that this information has been approved by him and others, as opposed to the work of an impartial journalist. That doesn’t mean Shooter wrote the story or even approved it, but there was a clear an concerted effort to have the information about Jon Hensley’s autopsy funneled through Jessica Blankenship, and I can tell you that by looking at traffic numbers, it was a resounding success.
Drugs were directly involved in the death of Jon Hensley. Jessica Blankenship purposely misled the public about this because she was friends with Jon Hensley and Shooter Jennings.
July 18, 2015 @ 11:58 am
I agree Blankenship was being very sneaky. She technically didn’t lie though. She said “no illegal drugs” were found in his system. That is actually true as Xanax is legal medication/drug . It is, however, a controlled substance and definitely “illegal” if not obtained via Rx from a doctor. So, her statement actually was not a lie, but definitely intended to be misleading. Did Jon have a legal Rx for Xanax? I don’t know the answer to that. But even if he did have a legal Rx it appears he may have taken a little more than the doseage prescribed as the blood content was above therapeutic range. I’m not throwing stones or judging because I’m no angel and probably guilty of the same thing at some point in the past . And to address the comment stating Trigger is just stating an opinion when he claimed Jon was likely drunk….I agree just via common sense. We all know vomiting is usually the bodies natural reaction to expelling alcohol from the body when too much has been consumed. People don’t usually vomit when below the legal limit or after “a few drinks” unless they have a certain medical condition or a stomach virus, in my experience. I also think Trigger stating “3 times the legal limit” was justified to give the reader a point of comparison. I really don’t understand the outrage at Triggers reporting. When Whitney Houston died how was the general public Informed about the specifics surrounding the death and COD? From journalists who reported the facts as obtained from medical records and the med examiner/coroner. That’s what journalists do…and the ethical ones report facts just as Trigger did. Those in the public spotlight, whether very famous like Houston or semi famous as Hensley was, just will have more people interested in their death/cause of death than folks like me who are “average Joes.” That’s just the way it is. Nice job Trig.
July 18, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
I did attempt to find out if Jon Hensley had a prescription for the pills, but was unable to determine this. That information might be available in the final police report from the Bowling Green Police Department. I think we all owe it to Jon to at least consider that he may have had a prescription, but he was above the therapeutic level, and he was above it while drinking large amounts of alcohol, which is always strongly discourage with any mood-altering drugs, especially Xanax which is a sedative, hypnotic drug that specifically relaxes skeletal muscles and could lead to the exact issue Jon unfortunately faced. David Lindsay, who was with Jon in the hose when he passed away, said he didn’t know if Jon had a prescription when he was asked by police. That information was in the initial police report.
As far as what Jessica Blankenship reported, there were two causes of death listed on the autopsy report, and she only listed one. To me, this is completely unethical. But where Jessica showed that she was trying to spin the story in a positive direction is when she mentioned Saving Country Music’s coverage and said,
“While another website disclosed the police report with personal information, they also led readers to believe that the death was due to drugs.”
First off, that is untrue. I said exhaustively that people should not jump to conclusions. But secondly, she’s basically saying that the conclusions people jumped to were wrong because drugs weren’t involved when in fact they were.
The fact that Jessica Blankenship was so dodgy in my opinion proves she knew exactly what she was doing. It would be one thing to just exhibit lazy journalism by only reporting half the story. She chose her words wisely, and didn’t name Saving Country Music in her accusations because she knew she was deceiving the public.
By the way, this is the second time I have caught this very reporter doing this. She also posted falsehoods about the now defunct Outlaw Music Hall of Fame a while back.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/gross-inaccuracies-in-examiner-com-article-on-outlaw-hall-of-fame
Jessica Blankenship is a scenster who uses her position as a hobbyist journalist to attempt to earn scene points with artists.
July 18, 2015 @ 12:48 pm
Trigger is doing the work of proper journalism here, using public records to report facts in a straightforward fashion. He has done so appropriately and professionally. He has no dog in this fight other than telling the truth.
As far as Blankenship goes, as someone who knows a thing or two about journalism, I can tell you this: Never trust a reporter who writes about their friends and tries to pass it off as journalism. It ain’t. You’ll never get the straight story because their interest in staying friends overrides their interest in telling the truth.
July 18, 2015 @ 1:32 pm
When this story first broke, I confronted Jessica Blankenship about how her friendship was impinging on her ability to be impartial. This was her response:
July 18, 2015 @ 1:56 pm
She’s seriously misguided about the role of a journalist, then. Yes, a reporter can (and usually should) be on cordial terms with the people he/she writes about. But you can be professional or you can be friends; you can’t be both. With virtually everyone we write about on a regular basis, there will come a time when — if you are doing your job right — you’ll have to write something your friend doesn’t like. So you can print it and lose your friend, or suppress it and keep your friend. It is plain Blankenship falls on the side of keeping the people she claims are her friends instead of reporting the truth.
The other thing at play is access. In the world of entertainment reporting (or political reporting, or most any reporting, for that matter) reporters can get intoxicated by access. I mean, hey, you’re getting to hang around with stars and they acknowledge your existence and even give you interviews. When you start reporting honestly, you often wind up doing stories those stars don’t like so one of the ways they control you is to cut off access. They don’t return your calls or texts or emails. So the journalist who wants to count these people as “friends” self-censors and steers clear of doing those types of stories — or, as is his case here, only provides the celebrity’s side of the issue and disses the other side. (In the news business, we call this a “shoot-down.”)
I’ll take Trigger’s professionalism and fine reportage any day of the week, and I’d stand on Blankenship’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.
July 18, 2015 @ 3:10 pm
I’m just glad you finally admitted you’re a “two-bit blogger” and not a journalist, as you’ve claimed to be many times. Because make no doubt about it you guttersnipe, you are no journalist. RE: “It”™s speaks to the abomination that American journalism has become that some two-bit blogger running a website out of his living room is the one that has to clarify facts…” You wouldn’t know journalism if it bit you on the arse and any facts you do report are very obviously influenced by the multitude of personal opinions, innuendos, and obviously personal agenda-driven words that surround them. You are a plague visited upon roots and classic country music and whatever good you may have done will forever be overshadowed by your lack of character, ethics and ability.
July 18, 2015 @ 3:32 pm
My question is why was it necessary to write about Jon Hensley’s death in the first place? I get that he is associated with some underground country artists, but was he ever the subject of any SCM articles prior to his death (this is an honest question that I don’t know the answer to)? I just don’t know why you felt such a journalistic responsibility to report on the death of a non-artist that I don’t recall you acquainting your readers with prior to his death. For that reason, I do question your motives a bit, and it kind of makes it come off as attention baiting, or fanning the flames of a tired fued.
July 18, 2015 @ 7:14 pm
Greg,
The reason I wrote my initial obituary for Jon Hensley is because numerous people who knew Jon specifically reached out to me to tell me he had died, and wanted me to notify the public. That is my job. This is what I do, and I do it on a weekly basis. I’m not omniscient. I had no idea Jon had died until friends of his reached out specifically for me to run a story. It never ever occurred to me it would stir a controversy. It occurred to me NOT posting something would have been taken as callous. I post obituaries and cover the deaths for artists and non artists alike, many times SPECIFICALLY because the public is not aware of who these people are. Sometimes I do it for people who I’ve written about before, and sometimes I haven’t written about them before. In the case of Jon Hensley, I had written about him seven times before I posted the obituary. Most of those instances had to do with the Wayne Mills murder trial, but a couple of them were in association with Shooter Jennings. If you want to check this out yourself, feel free to do a search. Here’s a link:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/?s=jon+hensley
Just this week I posted an obituary for Red Dirt artist Tom Skinner. I had never discussed Tom Skinner on this site before. But nobody else was going to write an obituary, so I did.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/red-dirt-founding-father-tom-skinner-passes-away
When I posted my Jon Hensley obituary, and fairly prominent podcaster chided me, saying that I had never written an obituary for an artist manager before and I was being opportunist. This again is untrue. I actually covered the death of Neil Reshen in December of 2014:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/outlaw-lawyer-neil-reshen-has-passed-away
I also covered the death of non performer Chet Flippo:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/chet-flippo-country-musics-original-outlaw-writer-rip
The Jon Hensley Memorial held a few weeks ago sold out for standing room, including dozens of VIP tickets at $100 a pop. This guy was very well-known in certain circles, and I definitely think his death was news and was worthy of reporting on. Also understand that if I had NOT reported on it, especially after I had been contacted by numerous people, the howls of bias and cruelty would have even been louder.
I stand behind my decision to cover the death of Jon Hensley, Randy Howard, Wayne Mills, Tom Skinner, Neil Reshen, and dozens of other unknowns who put their heart into the music and deserve to be honored in their time of death, especially since in many cases, no other outlet will do so.
July 19, 2015 @ 5:04 am
Who reached out to you personally that knew Jon? FUCKING NOONE! Lies, lies, lies. 1,2…
July 20, 2015 @ 10:18 am
“When I posted my Jon Hensley obituary, and fairly prominent podcaster chided me, saying that I had never written an obituary for an artist manager before and I was being opportunist.”
If Jessica is a coward for not calling your website out by name, doesn’t this make you a coward by not calling out this said prominent podcaster?
I’m sure you’ll have a four paragraph response to get around the fact that you just did an act that you yourself considered cowardly.
July 20, 2015 @ 9:10 pm
There’s a little bit of difference between paraphrasing in the response to a comment, and making libelous statements against an individual in an original article and not using their name so you can’t get sued. I could have said “JashieP,” but frankly a lot of folks would not know who I was talking about.
But yes, YOU, JashieP, this is who I was talking about. You, Josh Morningstar, JD Myers who has openly bragged about making death threats towards me, and about 12 or 13 others either demanded or chidingly wondered why I had not posted about Jon Hensley’s autopsy, some of which then attacked this site for refusing to post the truth (while I was simply trying to obtain the autopsy myslef and compose my article), illustrating why I had no other choice but to post the autopsy and do so verbatim. The fact that at this late hour, there are still individuals that believe that I either said, wanted, or spread rumors that Jon Hensley died of an overdose before the release of the autopsy report proves that there was an active effort to sew stupidity and lies ahead of the autopsy release. I was always going to post the autopsy, and what it contained was of no difference to me. It was simply my job to report it, whatever it contained.
Jon Hensley is dead. Thousands of people have been misled on how he died. The social fabric around him broke down. And the one person who has had to take responsibility for all the sins of this entire episode is a blogger in Texas who had the audacity to simply report the facts. You want to talk about cowards? Last night I received a message from someone who said they were going to kill me, and they were going to film it and then send the footage to all of my family members. The reason I was sent this message is the same reason you decided to take exception to the response to a comment: because there is not legitimate intellectual argument against anything I have done, and you, Shooter Jennings, Jessica Blankenship, JD Myers, Josh Morningstar, and many others, are counting on people being too stupid, and too lazy to think for themselves about this matter, and are supplanting all the guilt and all the blame for the death of Jon Hensley on me.
Meanwhile the lesson that could be learned from his death have been lost. Nobody will learn from Jon’s death that the mixing of alcohol and Xanax could be lethal. Instead they’ve learned how I purposely attacked the family to make them feel pain, how I lied about Jon Hensley because I hate him, and how I did all of this for hits so I could make money off his death. As if my coverage of his death has been some positive tradeoff as I have been publicly admonished by thousands.
I could continue following the threads of this story. I could interview the individuals who wanted to throw Jon Hensley an intervention. I could post the final police report, or deal with the fact that Shooter Jennings and his Angry Grandpa cohorts purposely lied about the nature of a crank call they made to ME. But I’ve decided to move on. And my suggestion is everyone else move on. You will never win this battle, because in the end the facts speak for themselves. And the fact is many many people were lied to, because some individuals wanted to take any and all blame for the death of an individual (which there wasn’t any of anyway), and lay it on me. Now THAT is cowardly.
July 19, 2015 @ 8:25 am
“It never ever occurred to me it would stir a controversy.”
You must be joking. It seems to me that every time you post something with any relation to Shooter, the fanboys come out of the woodwork in droves, not to mention the reactions that sometimes come from Shooter and his cohorts. To say you didn’t expect controversy over posting about the death of one of their own in the way that you did is ridiculous.
There are ways that this could have been handled that would have minimized the drama, but still allowed you to report on the story if you felt obligated to do so. Here’s an example:
“SCM has learned that manager Jon Hensley has passed away. Currently the cause of death is unknown. More info will be shared here once the autopsy report is released to the public. This is not intended to be an opinion piece. Out of respect for the dead, and due to the sometimes adversarial history between myself and Mr. Hensley and his associates, l have disabled the comments section for this post.”.
By allowing for comments and addressing rumors, it was inevitable that this would devolve into just another flame war. The internet is an ugly place, as you’re well aware.
Just my two cents, and of course hindsight is 20/20. It may not seem like it, but I really am a fan of your site, and I read it daily. Most recently, I enjoyed your Jason Isbell review. I credit you with introducing me to a lot of great music, and for that I’m truly thankful. As I’ve disclosed in the past, I’m a big fan of Shooter as well. I just wish both of you could let bygones be bygones and stop beating this dead horse. It’s tiresome, and the occurrence of a death would have been a good time for either or both sides to take the high road and not let egos lead us into yet another feud.
July 19, 2015 @ 3:28 pm
Greg,
That quote from me you posted wasn’t published until may hours after the initial obituary. When I posted the obituary, it was up for about five hours, and there was absolutely no issues and no vitriol from anyone for about five hours. I even had many fans of Shooter Jennings and friends of Jon Hensley comment on the obituary thankful to me for writing it. It was only after Mary Sparr told everyone on Twitter and Facebook to come here and demand I take it down that the drama ensued.
And there’s noting about beating a dead horse here. There were questions of how Jon Hensley died, and it was completely appropriate and anticipated that once the autopsy was available, it would be posted. On my end, this has nothing to do with a feud, this has to do with covering the death of a public figure, and is no different than the many other public figures I have covered in this manner.
July 18, 2015 @ 4:17 pm
Trigger, I for one am glad to see you defending yourself. When the first article was posted lots of people claimed you had posted it for one reason or another, and none ofthem were good. Nonsense, the death of Jon Hensley is news in the Country world, especially in the traditional/indie/clsssic/alt/etc. country world that most of us follow. Giving us all the information available is responsible and thorough journalism. From what I can tell nobody would have given 2 shits if ANYBODY else had in country had died and you posted the same article. But Jon’s association with Shooter is the issue. But from what I remember about the Wayne Mills trial you reported about people trying to link Shooter and Jon and drugs to Wayne’s death. And you were very clear that there was NO evidence of that or any other involvement by them.
As was posted earlier your readers are smart, smart enough to see that you aren’t attacking, that you weren’t hoping for any particular outcome. Yes, you have your fun poking and giving shit when it can be done, but it is clear there isn’t true ill will wished on anybody. If some readers can’t figure out the intent than FGL music must be far above their IQ.
I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that your loyal readers, those of us without an agenda or any personal involvement, are behind you 100%. Your contributions are positive, to hell with shooter and his fanboys. And I commend you on not making a bigger deal out of proving you were right. After the stink that was made I’m not sure I could have refrained from rubbing everyone’s nose in it a lot more.
July 18, 2015 @ 5:51 pm
…. but, he wasn’t right?! Actually according to him he never made any allegations to begin with & only posted facts so what would there be to be right about? The cause of death was choking. THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS CHOKING (excuse me asphyxiation). Alcohol was a factor just as much as me hesitating in the middle of a road when an oncoming car is coming could be a factor … cause of death – being brutally ran down by a car / secondary or contributing factor : fear … or, maybe my phone rang … secondary or contributing factor : cell phone. Read what I posted below if you’re going to respond please. I’m not going to repeat myself.
July 18, 2015 @ 7:37 pm
A Friend,
I agree with you, I was not “right” because I never took a side in any way on what I assumed the outcome of the autopsy would be. On the contrary, I went out of my way to caution individuals to not jump to conclusions and let the facts come out.
However again, I respectfully disagree that this was only about Jon Hensley randomly choking. Not according to my opinion, but the opinion of the medical examiner, “Intoxication by the combined effects of ethanol and alprazolam is a contributing factor to death.” Period.
July 18, 2015 @ 7:16 pm
Hey John,
Thanks man, I really appreciate it.
July 18, 2015 @ 4:19 pm
I’ve been understanding & I haven’t jumped on any ~ I hate Trigger bandwagons ~ but, I really do believe you’re putting a spin on this now & focusing too hard on the Xanax & alcohol (which he did have a prescription for). I understand your reaction to Jessica Blankenship & if I were in your shoes I’d feel the same way … but people were mean & people were cruel & people were jealous. I read comments on here that went way too far & there were so so so many people eager to blame his “rock star lifestyle” … however, the fact is that as much as Jon appeared to be living on the edge he was a very smart man, and also a man very aware of his mortality. No one could have accomplished what he did at such a young age had they not been … and it is because of that we are all outraged & hurt – because those of us closest to him know better. I sat on many occasion & watched how he was able to partake in a scenario & appear completely cool & part of the crowd while at the same time actually making all the right choices. So, what I’m saying to you is that in that sense WE WERE ALL RIGHT – WE ARE RIGHT – those on his side. He death was accidental. Had he been drinking? Sure. He was a hell raiser, but would he have ever gone too far? No. No further than usual. Was he on medication for anxiety that helped him function socially (which was critical to his career)? Yes. Neither crimes. Had he not been eating & had he not gotten something lodged in his throat he’d be alive today to talk about it. This is why they found him in the position he was in. This is why he was kneeling over the bed with his arms raised. Case closed. Just stop. Let the final words be good ones.
July 18, 2015 @ 7:34 pm
A friend,
Nothing has been spun here whatsoever. All I did was release the autopsy report verbatim. Period. That’s it. This information was reported on without any spin or bias and in a dry and agnostic manner, fully knowing individuals would come here to criticize my reporting for spin and/or malice. If you think too much is being made of the drugs and alcohol, then you need to take that up with the Warren County medical examiner. In their estimation DRUGS AND ALCOHOL WERE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO HIS DEATH, and it doesn’t matter what I think about that, it doesn’t matter what you think about that, that is a professional assessment of the man who has to sign his name to the death certificate and risk losing his livelihood if he is wrong. 31-year-olds don’t choke to death. Xanax specifically has a side effect and use as a skeletal muscle relaxant and an anticonvulsant, and Hensley was beyond the therapeutic level and over three-times the legal limit with alcohol. These are not the findings and opinions of me, but the professionals who conducted the autopsy.
“I understand your reaction to Jessica Blankenship & if I were in your shoes I”™d feel the same way ”¦ but people were mean & people were cruel & people were jealous.”
Okay so since some people were “mean and cruel” as you characterize, that gives Jessica Blankenship a blank check to deceive the public? What Jessica did was unethical and should be publicly rebuked and distanced from, especially by Shooter Jennings and the people close to Jon. They made it worse for Jon by drawing renewed controversy to this matter. When rumor, conjecture, or even mean and cruel things are swirling around an issue, this is even more reason to make sure as a reporter you stick to the facts and the facts only, which is exactly what Saving Country Music has done from the very beginning.
“I read comments on here that went way too far & there were so so so many people eager to blame his “rock star lifestyle” “
The negative comments worked both ways, and if you don’t believe me, just go read Shooter’s comments. And a lot of negativity coming from the one side stemmed from the fact that there was an open effort to attempt to use fear, lies, and intimidation to suppress information on the death of Jon Hensley.
Go try to leave a comment of any sort on Jessica Blankenship’s article. You can’t.
July 18, 2015 @ 5:36 pm
The real facts are right here!! Alcohol, drugs, and meat choke… In the report above it mentions victim had prior alcohol and drug abuse problems and was found dead.. The first report the officer notice a clear bag of blue pills… Last I heard that’s a felony o have prescribed drugs not in their prescribed bottle… That right there tells me no script..
And I believe that if he had a script they would of mention that..but the deputy working the scene noticed the foul play and called in a additional help to search the scene… I don’t know but if I had to guess… Like most addicts hooked on prescriptions .. If they don’t have one “script” they get the pills anyways and if they do .. They usually have ate them all the same day they get their script and are buying them illegal in the street … If I had to just guess, I’d say Jon had no script..
July 18, 2015 @ 5:52 pm
I think many of us have been in Mr Hensleys shoes. Many of us drink while taking prescription medications. It’s frightening to think simply having a few drinks to have a good time could end so horribly. I have almost choked trying to have a snack after a night of partying. This whole situation is sad and eye opening. I pray for peace for all involved…. and for fucks sake stop all the bickering. Rest peacefully, Jon.
July 19, 2015 @ 12:52 am
Thank you Trigger for providing this information.
July 18, 2015 @ 5:55 pm
Trigger, with all due respect, I think it is a mistake to be so persistent on this subject. Simple fact is, his family is grieving and wanted some privacy around this matter. Hensley is not a public figure or some compelling interest to override those privacy concerns. Before he died, most of us had never heard of him. Perhaps you thought he should be known, but a simple memorial would’ve done the trick. Like I said, the persistence seems out of place. This entire drama reflects poorly on several people, and you would have rose above it by simply moving on.
July 18, 2015 @ 9:06 pm
Toby in AK,
I appreciate your concern, and please don’t think that I don’t sense that some people who don’t find the coverage of this particular subject appealing are going tired of seeing it. But please understand that:
1) It was a GUARANTEE I was going to post the autopsy for Jon Hensley once it was available. There was never a scenario where this would not happen. And I said as much previously, and it should have been completely anticipated. So I’m not sure posting the autopsy was an act of “persistence.” I truly had no choice.
2) If I had NOT posted the autopsy, this controversy would have been 100 times worse, and that is not hyperbole. I was being publicly attacked and rebuked just for taking the time to actually obtain the autopsy so I had something to report on. After Jessica Blankenship posted her report, it was immediate open season for people to attack Saving Country Music for not reporting that Jon Hensley had chocked to death. It was being demanded of me to post a story.
“This entire drama reflects poorly on several people, and you would have rose above it by simply moving on.”
With all due respect, that is a completely incorrect assessment. I was personally attacked in the Jessica Blankenship piece. Then I was attacked for not reporting on the autopsy as I was trying to obtain a copy. Not saying anything would have been an admonition of guilt, and would have been ethically irresponsible since Jessica Blankenship had gone out of her way to deceive the public about the nature of Jon Hensley’s death.
July 18, 2015 @ 11:27 pm
Shooter and his cohorts ensured that Trigger would post the autopsy on the last go around. Not in a tit-for-tat sort of way but by blowing this whole thing out of proportion and really making it so that if he did not post the autopsy, there would be perceived credibility problems in certain quarters. If Ms. Jennings wanted this whole thing to go away quietly or avoid the light being cast on his friend’s passing, he should have just ignored what was posted on SCM and the whole thing would have faded quickly. The bottom line is this was never about Mr. Hensley. It was about Shooter and his circle’s not letting go of the criticism that was leveled at him by Trigger.
It is sad that that Mr. Hensley’s passing has proved to be the occasion for so much rancor. However, a thorough reading of all of Trigger’s postings will show any objective person that he has been respectful and even circumspect. If for no other reason than he is aware that everything he writes is going to be analyzed to death by those who bear him ill will, he has been extremely careful in what and how he has said it. Those who imply motives where he has been detached are bringing their own presuppositions into this whole affair.
July 19, 2015 @ 10:24 am
I think you are correct. It would have been cool though if Trigger had taken the high road and let it go. Let folks believe whatever. But it’s easy for me to say this when I struggle letting a comment about myself go on here and I am anonymous. Right or wrong, most of us would have handled this situation the same, and I mean this regarding both sides.
July 19, 2015 @ 10:58 am
I would like to think that most people would have more integrity and class than Team Shooter has demonstrated here. God help us if these kinds of attacks are the accepted level of maturity and way of dealing with situations like this. People used to have restraint, tact, grace and wisdom than has been on display in this whole matter.
I don’t want to come across as a complete Trigger sycophant here, but it is obvious that he is smart enough to thread the needle, stick to the facts and report things in a pretty sterile, objective manner. He is giving the Shooter camp the proverbial rope with which to hang themselves (possibly bad idiom under the circumstances). Their comments are antagonistic, flailing and vitriolic. His responses to them are invariably even-handed, polite, and firm. It does not speak well of the Shooter camp that they do not recognize this and have not changed their approach accordingly. Trigger is playing them for fools and they don’t see it. Sad.
July 19, 2015 @ 10:21 am
Personally, I feel that your attack on Jon Hensley was more of a low blow to Shooter Jennings due to your personal vendetta with him. You attacked first with you distasteful posts, knowing that people would react. Jon had a huge circle of family and friends that loved him. And instead of respecting them and minding your own business during their grief, you pounced viciously on them and have continued to ride this out. You are nothing short of a blood sucking leech. You are a shit stirrer and love a hot pot of it. You give facts and that’s it? So give your facts and tell which “friends” wanted you to post. Stop being circumstancial. Blankenship has class. Something you obviously know nothing about. I’m sure this post will be removed because it doesn’t applaud you for your devious ways.
July 19, 2015 @ 11:08 am
The facts are in the coroner’s report. What part of that don’t you understand?
July 19, 2015 @ 11:54 am
How was neutral posting on someone’s passing a low blow? How were Trigger’s posts distasteful or vicious? Examples? Referring to someone as nothing more than blood sucking leech and a shit stirrer isn’t distasteful or vicious? Do you honestly think that after the mud that has been flung his way, these words are going to have any impact?
This is getting to the point where it is beyond parody. It is almost like Team Shooter is doing the Mad Lib version of pissed off:
Trigger is _________. You are disrespecting the deceased and his family and friends because_________. You and your shitty blog don’t know anything about country music and should just_________. Trigger is a __________ and should shut the hell up. This post will be deleted because ________.
Get over it guys. Trying showing some maturity and move on. Not once have I seen a reasoned, steady, objective rebuke of Trigger from Team Shooter. It is all sputtering and angst. It is quite sad how little emotional breadth there is on display. Honestly, I am beginning to wonder just how shallow the artistic pool is over there.
July 19, 2015 @ 3:52 pm
I really think Mary and her friend embarrassed themselves with all of this.
July 19, 2015 @ 6:42 pm
It sucks that this whole debacle is going on.the only positive thing to have come out of the shooter/trigger feud is the song gunslinger. what a kickass tune.
July 19, 2015 @ 7:36 pm
I have been visiting Saving Country Music since 2010 and come here almost daily, or every other day. I read pretty much every article or close to every article that is posted and this is maybe the second time I have commented. I am leaving a comment because I feel it needs to be said.
For starters, anyone who has taken a high school Composition class or just an English class in general should be able to tell the amount of work and research that goes into writing these articles. I know that Trigger has been deemed as just a blogger but with the style of writing and the level of which that each article is written at; he is a journalist. Just because he is not at a famed publication like The New York Times, The Tennessean, Billboard, or even the “Examiner”; does not mean he’s not a journalist. I see this and regard it as a news site, a COUNTRY MUSIC news site. Same as if I was subscribe to it and was getting it in the mail everyday like a newspaper.
With that said, every newspaper reports about death; some of it from natural causes, some of it not. Is it horrible for the families to see it in the newspaper and possibly on the front page? Yes. It is horrible regardless. But being the fact that Hensley is connected in the country music community through various people, not just Jennings, it is not unethical to report on his death and show the autopsy report. Like it or not, that report is public record. You would see it in the daily newspaper, maybe not a picture but the details, and on the daily news.
So what is really the problem here? Is it only television reporters that are allowed to report on celebrities deaths like this? Is it because they only do it in passing of 30 second snippets in their newscast that it somehow makes it less callous? Do you really think that it will help his family grieve better if they don’t find his obituary on the internet alerting people of his passing and his contributions to country music? I highly doubt that.
So to those who came here intentionally seeking out a fight, you are the one’s who won’t let it go. You came here. Trigger didn’t come to you. This is his territory, you sought him out. So you do not have an argument on him being defensive. You don’t actively seek someone out, insult them, and then get angry when they defend themselves. How does that make any sense to you? No one forced you to come here. You choose to visit this website.
July 19, 2015 @ 9:04 pm
“Annually 4,000 perfectly healthy people die from choking a year. Often too embarrassed to panic or ask for help they run into a bedroom and/or bathroom resulting ultimately in death.” I tried to post a link to what I just quoted but was unable to do so – that being said, who are you Trigger to say that a perfectly healthy 31 year old doesn’t choke to death? An expert? Like I said, from the beginning I knew without a doubt that illegal drugs were not involved & the fact that they weren’t but you insist on clinging to SOMETHING tells me all I need to know & to Jamie – big deal, even if we went as far as to call Trigger that which he wishes to be called – a journalist – it does nothing to save his character. Congratulations. You’re a heartless journalist that has to be right & have the last word at all costs. I’m done here.
July 19, 2015 @ 10:10 pm
“who are you Trigger to say that a perfectly healthy 31 year old doesn”™t choke to death? An expert?
Jon Hensley choking to death because he was heavily intoxicated and heavily medicated beyond a prescribed dosage at the same time is not my opinion, and I never called myself an expert. That was the findings of Dr. Randall Falls and Dr. Donna Stewart who are experts, and concluded in the autopsy report, and I quote, “Intoxication by the combined effects of ethanol and alprazolam is a contributing factor to death.”
Is there a possibility that even stone sober, Jon could have choked and died? I guess. But in the medical examiner’s “expert” opinion, in this specific case, drugs and alcohol played a factor.
July 19, 2015 @ 10:56 pm
That is the same dangerous reasoning all alcoholics and drug addicts and people who defend them use. Unfortunately the thing with combining drugs and alcohol is the chance you’ll die. Whether it be because you ODed or because you were too fucked up to save yourself from a bad situation. The Xanax made it so he couldn’t properly use the muscles needed to cough something up. The alcohol intensified the effect. I get you want to believe the best in people. I really do. But not being real about a drug problem is the worst way to be a friend. Pills are bad news period. If he been responsibly taking them he would never have been over the therapeutic level and he would never have combined them with alcohol. And those were both clear findings in the official toxicology reports.
July 19, 2015 @ 9:09 pm
Karma has a funny way of coming around. I hope for Trigger, and all of you supporting Trigger that you never understand what it is to be a debacle. Let’s hope some random YouTuber or kid with a camera phone isn’t filming one day when you meet your maker & your family & friends don’t get to see every ugly detail.
July 19, 2015 @ 11:06 pm
And to be clear about the reasoning I mean, the kind of “it could happen to anyone” mindset. Yes it could happen to anyone. But in this case he only hurt his chances of survival. Car accidents can happen to anyone, but they can especially happen to people under the influence. I say this as a former alcoholic who tried to play off all my brushes with potential danger as “oh it could happen to anyone.” I was putting myself out there for it. When I sobered up, I knew differently.
July 20, 2015 @ 12:50 am
…and the bickering continues. Lame
July 20, 2015 @ 1:09 am
If you care about the deceased, let it go. Stop all this bullshit nonsense about who’s right or wrong. Let the family have peace and let Jon rest. If you feel you must talk about him make is positive and uplifting. i didn’t know him or the family but dang… all this is exhausting and sad. Love each other. Supportt each other….find good in this situation.. Make his legacy mean more than this hatred, he deserves that. We all do
July 21, 2015 @ 4:18 am
There have been only 4 posts (5 now) after July 19, read them, then tell us who is not letting it go? There is a faction here that seems to want this.
July 21, 2015 @ 9:09 pm
Thank you for posting the facts in their entirety, without bias or conjecture.
July 25, 2015 @ 4:44 pm
Dude got too fucked up and died at 30. As much as people want to deny it by saying he was a “good friend” or “good guy” he still died a cliche and they HATE that. Fact is it can be any one of them next and they just don’t want the party to end; so they create a reality where they can defend being a loser who will likely die from drugs and alcohol just like Jon.
July 30, 2015 @ 4:00 pm
You see there Trigger? You see what that low life “obvious” commented? You have given him & everyone else this platform. That is the real problem. Were it not for you all there would have been were memorial videos & condolences but YOU created a PUBLIC forum allowing people to bash Jon for all to see & you claim there’s no agenda there? If you truly wanted to just report, honor & post the facts you could have like “Greg” said – done so & disabled the comments. I don’t know how you’re sleeping at night. I can only pray that karma doesn’t catch up to you & you never find yourself on the other end of this … raped by a gang of thugs on CNN. Are Shooter’s people getting crazy? Yeah, that’s what love will do to you. Jon would have destroyed anyone who hurt anyone he loved & I guess we just want to do the same for him & what you’ve done here is horrible. I sincerely hope you look within yourself. Keep your posts. Delete the comments. What is the need for them anymore? You’ve made your point. Unless I’m right & you want the world to see. You want the hateful comments to be seen because there’s a part of you that’s jealous & bitter too but you’re too cowardly to admit it so you let everyone else here do it for you.
July 30, 2015 @ 4:55 pm
I forgot all about this until your comment put it back on the radar. Good work, dude.
July 30, 2015 @ 5:12 pm
Good work dude? Go fuck yourself. How bout that? You may have forgotten about it but there are things publicly said about Jon here that aren’t necessary & I’m just trying to ask Trigger if at any point he’s considering deleting the comments or if instead he’s going to leave things like “cliche” & “loser” up here forever to go down in history.
July 30, 2015 @ 7:52 pm
A Friend,
There were things said on BOTH sides of this issue (and it’s a shame there’s even “sides”) that I was forced to allow to be posted because both Shooter Jennings and Kathy Jennings posted very hurtful and defamatory comments and then chided that I probably wouldn’t post them here. At that point, I had no choice but to let all comments go through as long as they didn’t include direct threats to individual, or sexist/racist/etc. language. Frankly I am embarrassed by many of the things said on these articles, but it is an open forum and people can say what they want. If you feel it is inappropriate, hurtful, or flat out wrong, then feel free to challenge these comments yourself.
Appreciate there were also things said about Saving Country Music publicly that go far beyond hurtful and flat out wrong. They were slanderous lies, and unfortunately those individuals, namely Jessica Blankenship, did NOT open a comment section to let people correct the falsehoods printed, and to defend themselves.
This has been a very trying matter, and it is unfortunate so much acrimony has been allowed to be spilled. But I think we all owe it to Jon, his friends and family, and each other at this point to bury the hatchet and move on.
July 30, 2015 @ 8:07 pm
A friend,
Again, I agree some things said here are unfortunate and embarrassing. But let’s not act like the big travesty of Jon’s passing was that a few internet idiots left some hurtful comments. I’ve explained many times why these comment sections were dealt with as an open forum. Go and read any comment section on CNN or YouTube, and it will make this look like peaches and cream. I personally think it’s a travesty that so many were lied to on how Jon Hensley died, and the lessons of how mixing Xanax with alcohol can kill have gone unlearned. And I can make a bigger deal about that, but I said my peace, and it’s time for us to all move on and hopefully let the healing process again. Let’s not act like many hurtful things were not also said about me and others, and I refuse to delete those as well. If I deleted these comment sections, the howls of censorship from fans of Shooter Jennings would be enormous, and it would only make things worse. I guarantee it.
August 2, 2015 @ 10:44 pm
This Shooter fan sees the light.
Just like the king so goes the colonel to the spirit world.
August 3, 2015 @ 11:02 am
This is why you don’t mix Xanax and whiskey !!!!!
August 31, 2015 @ 11:50 pm
It sure sounds like John has a lot of people that care about him. Doubtless, he had some wonderful qualities and his death is certainly tragic. But in terms of the music scene, the guy was small potatoes. This controversy is drumming up more attention than his actual passing.
That said, I respect the right of the journalist to determine what is newsworthy. The information is being handled fairly. Journalistic motivations are always in question. Yet, they are not something that are easily knowable. It certainly seems fair to comment on motivations on a factual basis. But mostly what I read here is rampant speculation.
Perhaps, Kyle could do us all a favor by reporting on the history of his relationship with Scooter, John and other involved parties. That way we could all form judgments based on both factual information and quality of reporting.
Or, the whole thing could be dropped. The deceased has received more than enough attention. It is sad that attention has focused more on this controversy rather than any contributions he made to the music he championed.
September 1, 2015 @ 11:09 am
The donation drive had 13 days left yesterday and now it has 90 .. Just goes to show how the family is using his death as a profit ..
April 15, 2016 @ 8:09 am
Trigger your still full of shit and always will be!!! Jon was a great man and you only posted this stuff to cause drama. I guess living in your grandmas basement playing Rambo on a keyboard you need to find some kind of enjoyment out of life. And tell me HOW ARE YOU SAVING COUNTRY MUSIC!!! I THINK EVERYONE NEEDS AN ANSWER
April 15, 2016 @ 3:54 pm
The reason I posted this autopsy is because Jessica Blankenship of the Lexington Country Music Examiner, as well as many others, purposely lied to the public about the nature of Jon Hensley’s death, and purposely lied about how I was the origination point about the rumor that he had died of a drug overdose. Not only can anyone read that drugs were in fact involved from the autopsy report, and verify this through 3rd party governmental sources, I NEVER said, publicly or privately, that Jon’s death involved drugs before the autopsy report was released. Furthermore, high profile individuals and artists demanded that I post about Jon’s autopsy, because they had been lied to, and believed drugs weren’t involved. Many of those people have since apologized to me after they discovered the true nature of Jon Hensley’s death, and the motivations behind those who tried to cover it up and place the blame on me.
Jon Hensley’s death was a tragedy, and a lot of people were hurt by his passing. I took this into account the entire time I covered this story, and I stand by every bit of my coverage 100%.
August 31, 2024 @ 12:11 pm
Jon was a great guy. His accidental death is so tragic. I am sad I will never get to catch up with Jon ever again. I applaud Trigger for sharing information about my old friend, so I know what happened to him.
Sharing the information may have also prevented someone else from accidentally consuming too much alcohol with too much Xanax, which can lead to accidentally choking on food. I, for one, was unaware of that risk before reading about what happened to Jon. Thank you, Trigger.