Ben Affleck had an incident with the paparazzi on Friday, an incident in which he got angry and yelled at photographers who were getting too close to him and his daughter, Seraphina, while he was picking her up from preschool. At one point Ben stuck out his leg to indicate a safe distance at which the photographers should stay. He allegedly did not kick anyone, and reports state that the paparazzi were yelling at his four year old daughter, as they often do with children and anyone they’re targeting, when Ben’s paternal instinct kicked in. Here’s part of US Weekly’s coverage:

On Friday, March 1, things got a little too close for comfort when he and his 4-year-old daughter, Seraphina, were swarmed by some particularly aggressive paparazzi outside her school.

A source close to the Argo star tells Us Weekly that photographers were “all over” the actor and his little girl — to the point that it was actually scaring Seraphina. “She was asking for them to stop,” the insider says, noting that Affleck asked them repeatedly to back off. “The paps said they needed to be ‘that close.’”

“They were really swarming his daughter and yelling at her — yelling at a 4-year-old,” the source adds. Affleck, for his part, tried to protect Seraphina by picking her up and then using his leg to illustrate how much space he needed, but the “menacing” paps continued to close in.

The director and his wife, Jennifer Garner, are generally pretty accommodating when it comes to being photographed, even with their kids. (Seraphina is the middle child, between 7-year-old Violet and 12-month-old Samuel.) But this particular incident crossed a line, the Affleck source says.

“It’s terrible…This is a 4-year-old we’re talking about,” the insider tells Us. “This is a preschooler on her way to school, not a star outside a nightclub.”

[From US Weekly]

TMZ has a follow-up with a photo of Ben sticking his leg out. They report that Ben told them “You need to be this far away” and that little Seraphina was so scared she was crying.

There’s no need for paparazzi to be gathered outside schools, and especially to be yelling at little kids, and Ben has taken incident with this practice before. I found a video from 2009 in which the photographers were snapping Ben picking up his older daughter, Violet, from school. (One of many videos.) Jennifer Garner was pregnant with the couple’s second baby, Seraphina, at the time and one photographer yells “Violet, what’s the baby’s name?” Ben very firmly says “You can talk to me. Don’t talk to my kid.”

I’m surprised that paparazzi are even still gathering outside schools. There was an anti-paparazzi law passed in California in 2009, declaring that “A person is liable for constructive invasion of privacy when the defendant attempts to capture, in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person, any type of visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression of the plaintiff engaging in a personal or familial activity under circumstances in which the plaintiff had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

The law is worded sort of vaguely, and I can’t claim to understand the legal implications, but don’t parents have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” when they’re dropping their kids off at school? Isn’t that a “familial activity?” They’re not going out to lunch at the Ivy. That said, Ben did let us see him out with his kids many times in the lead-up to his Best Picture Oscar win. Some think he staged photo ops. It’s not like he was getting mad at the paps when he was campaigning, but they weren’t making his daughter cry at that point, either.

I wanted to mention that CNN ran a brief biography on Ben Affleck’s career this weekend. It was called “Ben Affleck, Back on Top” and I DVRed it to see if they would cover anything I hadn’t heard about. They didn’t, and the only interview they had with someone close to Ben or Jen was with Victor Garber, who just confirmed that he officiated their marriage and said some nice things about them. The whole show was only a half hour and they didn’t get into Ben’s charity work. They did remind me that he was in plenty of stinkers besides Gigli, including Paycheck, Jersey Girl, and Surviving Christmas, not to mention Reindeer Games.

Ben and Seraphina are shown out at Brentwood Country Mart on 3-1-13. Reports say that this happened outside of Seraphina’s school so I think these are different photos from the same day. All our our agencies had them, so it’s safe to assume they were surrounded by paparazzi here. Credit: FameFlynet

On Monday, a paparazzo was hit and killed by a car while attempting to photograph Justin Bieber’s white Ferrari after a traffic stop. Bieber was allegedly not driving, nor was he in the car. It happened when the photographer stood out in traffic attempting to get a shot, after he was warned by police to step back. TMZ has more about the man who was killed, along with detail about the scoop on Bieber he was allegedly after. There’s plenty of information, and it all boils down to a sad situation highlighting the dangers paparazzi can pose to themselves and others.

* Bieber has issued a statement expressing his sympathy to the family and stating that he was not present at the time of the accident. He’s also calling for anti-paparazzi laws to protect celebrities, bystanders and photographers. *Kaiser covered Bieber’s full statement in her earlier story about Miley Cyrus. As Kaiser mentioned, there are laws in place already in California to protect against the paparazzi, although it’s unclear whether they’re being enforced. (See below)

*TMZ revealed that the photographer’s name was Chris Guerra, that he was in his late 20s, and that he moved to LA in March in order to become a paparazzo. Guerro was single with no children.

*Guerra’s friend, an unnamed source who worked at a photo agency, told TMZ that Guerra called him and said he was certain that he saw Justin Bieber smoking marijuana while driving his car earlier in the day. What’s more is that Guerra claims to have spotted Selena Gomez’s car at the Four Seasons, where Bieber was staying. Guerra’s friend explained that Guerra was “overzealous” because, in TMZ’s words, “he believed he was on the cusp of an enormous scoop.” The friend partially blames Bieber for Guerra being in the situation that led to his death, due to how recklessly Bieber regularly drives.

*The person driving Bieber’s Ferrari at the time Guerra was tailing it was Bieber’s buddy, a 19 year-old rapper named Lil Twist. Apparently Lil Twist had just partied in Mexico with Bieber for New Year’s (because the two underage stars could legally drink there) and was hanging out with Bieber at the Four Seasons in LA. Bieber lent Lil Twist the keys to his Ferrari, and Guerra took off in pursuit, incorrectly assuming that Bieber was driving. There’s no word as to who the passenger in the car was, as we’ve heard there was more than one person in the car.

*In response to allegations that he was spotted smoking up, a source told TMZ that Bieber hated Guerra (I’m paraphrasing) and that Guerra “made Justin’s life hell … following and chasing him at every opportunity.” Bieber’s people also claim to have a solid alibi for their client that would exclude the possibility that he was getting high in his car. TMZ writes that their “sources say multiple witnesses will say the only time Justin left the Four Seasons on New Year’s Day was to go to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood for lunch, and there was never a pipe in sight.”

*Sources also tell TMZ that there’s no way Guerra could have spotted Selena Gomez’s car at the Four Seasons because the on-off lovebirds “had a blow-out argument on December 30 and broke up… They haven’t seen each other since and she was never at the Four Seasons on New Year’s Day.” TMZ’s source goes on to say that Bieber had “‘very little respect’ for Chris Guerra but was trying not to say anything out of respect for the family, but Chris made it ‘very difficult by telling this guy (his friend) lies about Justin.’”

I have a lot of questions about this story that will probably never be answered. I want to know if Guerra was positive he saw Bieber smoking up and driving, or if it was possibly Lil Twist. If it was Bieber getting high, and Bieber realized he was seen smoking, did he possibly send Lil Twist (I can’t with that name) out in his Ferrari to deliberately throw Guerra off his trail? Why is Bieber so adamant that Selena Gomez wasn’t with him on that day, and what difference does it make?

Also, I’m wondering if the same guy that Justin Bieber stopped traffic for this November in order to tell him off. You can see a video of that here. Justin just sits there in his Ferrari while drivers behind him beep at him to move it. He tells the person filming that he’s “just not fun” and asks him “What do your parents think about what you do?”

There was another incident, in July, in which Bieber was cited for going over 100 mph on the freeway and a paparazzo faced charges for pursuing him. That was a different photographer, a guy named Paul Reef. The judge threw out the case, and ruled that the California anti-paparazzi law, passed in January, 2011, was unconstitutional.

Oh and in May Bieber was a suspect in a case of possible battery against a photographer. It looks like a different guy was involved there, too, but I can’t tell for sure. That case was also thrown out.

So does this mean that the anti-paparazzi law needs to withstand more legal battles before it can be enforced? This sad incident just brings more attention to the fact that something needs to be done. I also wish that Bieber’s people would move him somewhere remote. That would solve so much.

Update: I wanted to clarify that I wasn’t blaming Justin at all in this story. What happened is that I got really focused on the details while I was covering this, and I realized that there were more details that I wanted to know about what happened, that were unanswered. Of course Bieber is in no way to blame for a photographer stepping out in traffic when he was warned against it specifically by police. I do want to know what happened to precede this chain of events, and how everything went down, but that in no way makes Bieber culpable for this guy’s death.

Bieber is shown on 12-10-12 and 12-12-12. Credit: FameFlynet

These photos are from 12-3-12

When I first read the headline for this story, a scenario formed in my head of a high speed car crash. We’ve seen video of Bieber bobbing dangerously in and out of traffic with the paparazzi in hot pursuit, and he’s been cited in the past for high speed chases involving the paparazzi. He got a ticket in July for going well over 100 on the freeway.

What allegedly happened in this case is just as sad, but not as damaging to Bieber’s reputation. (I’m sorry to put it that way, but my initial instinct was to blame the kid for speeding and not pulling over. It’s not like he would have been entirely to blame in that scenario either, but this is more cut and dried. That is, if it happened the way they’re claiming.) So cops had pulled Bieber’s car, a white Ferrari, over for a “routine” traffic stop, according to TMZ. Supposedly Bieber wasn’t driving or even in the car, which sounds suspicious to me. A photographer who was following the vehicle got out of his car to take photos of the incident and was supposedly warned by police to get back as it wasn’t safe. The photographer was then struck and killed by an oncoming car. TMZ reports this and notes in an update that Bieber wasn’t even there. More on that in a moment:

8:40PM PST: Justin Bieber was not in the Ferrari … sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ. We’re told one of Justin’s friends was driving and another friend was in the passenger seat.

A paparazzo attempting to shoot photos of Justin Bieber’s Ferrari was hit by another car and killed this evening — although Bieber was NOT behind the wheel of the Ferrari … TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Bieber’s white Ferrari was pulled over by California Highway Patrol for a routine traffic stop on Sepulveda Blvd. … near the Getty Center in LA.

According to our sources, Bieber was DEFINITELY not driving at the time. It’s unclear at this point who was driving, and if Justin was even in the car.

We’re told a paparazzo — who was following the Ferrari at the time of the pull over — attempted to snap pics while officers conducted the traffic stop … until CHP advised the photog to move back because the situation was unsafe.

At some point, we’re told the photog was struck by an oncoming vehicle and killed.

Our sources say drugs and alcohol were not a factor for the driver of the vehicle that hit the photog.

[From TMZ]

The pap did a dumb thing but he didn’t deserve to die for it. I’m confused by the detail that the guy put his life in danger to step out in traffic to photograph some of Bieber’s friends. The same paps follow Bieber, he seemed to know the guy he was berating in that video I mentioned and he told another paparazzo following him that he really liked him. So it’s not adding up to me that someone was so keen to get a photo of Bieber’s friends getting pulled over. The guy probably didn’t realize Bieber wasn’t in the car. It looks like the Ferrari has tinted windows. I feel like we’re not being told the full story here, but maybe that’s the nature of breaking news.

You know what makes me a little sick, though? Someone is going to want to buy those last photos taken before this guy got killed. At least the money will go to his family.

Photo credit: WENN.com

Yesterday a photo came out of Anne Hathaway getting out of an SUV outside her NY Les Mis premiere and flashing the paparazzi. She wasn’t wearing any drawers, basically. (DListed has the censored version here. The uncensored version is easily Googled if you’re interested.) We didn’t run that story because we didn’t have the pics and because the ad companies don’t like it when we point out celebrities showing their goods. The flash looked deliberate to me, but you know me, I’m a cynical bitch. I was blogging in the Fall of 2006 when Paris Hilton schooled Britney Spears on how to show the goods to photographers. (She didn’t train her very well, it was all too obvious and Britney did it on at least five separate occasions. I’m not exaggerating.) Also guilty of this practice was Lindsay Lohan, with at least two different flash moments that I recall.

My point is that Anne’s dress was hiked up higher than it looked like it should have been, and the photo really reminded me of Britney, Lindsay, and Paris circa 2006. It was reminiscent of a played-out move, but it was possibly a mistake. Maybe she didn’t want any undie lines in that fug Tom Ford number with the bondage shoes, and maybe it didn’t occur to her to get a string bikini or a thong because she assumed she would be covered. She allegedly told a Vanity Fair writer at a luncheon that she was devastated by the photo. If it went down like that she must be mortified.

The “Full Hathaway” revelation was a shocking break from her flawless looks, and came hours after the actress left a taping of the “Late Show with David Letterman” looking stunning in red. During a luncheon Tuesday at the Four Seasons, Hathaway was overheard moaning about her mishap in the black taffeta Tom Ford gown.

“I was getting out of the car and my dress was so tight that I didn’t realize it until I saw all the photographers’ flashes,” she told Vanity Fair writer Ingrid Sischy.

“It was devastating. They saw everything. I might as well have lifted up my skirt for them.”

The “Devil Wears Prada” beauty, well on her way to being a Meryl, accidentally pulled the Britney when she attempted to seamlessly exit her black SUV with the help of a bodyguard who reached for her delicate hand upon arrival. But — oops! — as she swung both of her bondage-inspired boots toward the curb, her thigh-slit dress fell open and she flashed her lady parts.

Was her longtime stylist Rachel Zoe behind the mishap? Or was Hathaway just trying to avoid lines under her slim-fitting gown? Alexis Bryan Morgan, executive fashion director at Lucky magazine, says the incident was “shocking and unfortunate” because Hathaway is always “very pulled together.” Morgan said Hathaway could have avoided the problem.

“It’s so much better to be caught in Spanx,” Morgan says. “If you’re not looking for shaping I recommend the Commando brand. It’s hands down the best. It’s seamless and raw cut.” She also recommends Spanx Simplicity High-Waisted Girl Short.

“The fabric is slinky and seamless, and if your dress flies up you’re not naked,” she says. “Her dress had ruching, I don’t know why she felt she needed to go commando.”

If Hathaway still prefers going pantyless, Patricia Fitzpatrick, founder and director of the Etiquette School of New York, offers a solution: “Even Kate Middleton has shown her underwear with her legs spread apart. To prevent it, before you get out, you put your knees together and then you bring them up and out and swing them over the side of the car out to the curb.”

“Knees together girls!” Fitzpatrick says. “When you’re sitting, you sit with your knees touching.”

A classy recovery helps also.

“Do like Kate Middleton. Don’t even answer questions about it and go on your way if it happens.”

And she threw in one final solution: “Wear underwear.”

[From The NY Daily News]

I love how the NY Daily News got an etiquette expert to comment on this. It’s totally obvious advice to wear some knickers and yet their expert plays it straight with advice on specific Spanx to wear! It’s awesome. Well maybe it’s true, maybe Anne didn’t mean for this to happen. This is Anne Hathaway we’re talking about, she’s known as being classy and very professional. She’s been all over the place lately though, and at this point I wouldn’t put it past her to stage this. (Again, I’m cynical and have seen a lot, so take my opinion for what it is.) The verdict is still up in the air, I think.

photo credit: WENN.com

This news came out a couple of days ago, but I’m just seeing it now so you’ll forgive the lateness. ET Online has video of Justin Bieber getting tailed by a paparazzo who is following him as he speeds, bobs and weaves through traffic in his white Lamborghini to evade the guy. It looks incredibly dangerous and unsafe, and the douchebag taping it all is clearly eating it up. Then Justin stops his supercar right in traffic to tell the photographer that he’s stalking him, basically. The people in the cars behind him start beeping and getting out of their cars to tell him to move it, and Justin sits there calmly for a few more moments talking to the photographer before jetting off again. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Justin driving like a maniac with the paparazzi following him – he had a similar incident in July, in which he was cited by police for driving over 100 mph on the freeway. Photographers were following him at that time too, and people were divided as to whether the chase was Justin’s fault or whether the paparazzi were to blame. Seeing this latest video (you can watch it here) I think it’s safe to say that both parties are at fault – the kid with too much money, fame and toys and the photographers who consider it their job to get under his skin. It’s a recipe for disaster. Here’s ET’s report:

On Saturday [Justin Bieber] got into a confrontation with paparazzi following him around the streets of Los Angeles.

In this exclusive video obtained by ET, Bieber is seen darting through traffic in his white Ferrari while being trailed by photographers recording his movements.

At one point when Bieber stops in traffic, he has paparazzi vehicles on both sides of his car. One of the photographers converses with Bieber, who has his window down. “You’re driving pretty crazy,” he tells the pop star, adding, “I think you should slow down a little, don’t you think.” Bieber responds: “I think you guys should probably stop following me.”

Bieber then speaks to the photographer on the other side of his car and says, “I like you.” But he then gestures to the other paparazzo who criticized his driving skills, saying, “I think this guy’s just not fun.”

Bieber then asks the photographer, “What do your parents think about what you do?” When the photographer says, “I make them proud,” Bieber responds: “Oh, you make them proud. Do you tell them, ‘I stalk people for a living.’”

Traffic is halted in the street as the conversation continues, with other drivers honking and loudly urging Bieber to move. The teen heartthrob then tells the photographer, “You guys love this don’t you?”

[From ETOnline]

Bieber is 18 years old. I got in several car accidents at that age, minor ones, because I just didn’t know how to drive yet and I made stupid mistakes. It’s a no-brainer that this twerp shouldn’t be driving a high powered exotic sports car through traffic filled with innocent people! Of course the photographers shouldn’t be chasing him, but it’s his choice to run! He could just put his sunglasses on and drive normally and calmly, he could alternately get a sweet limo with tinted windows and hire a driver to ferry him around while he talks on the phone, watches movies or goes online. (That sounds so nice to me, I’m fantasizing about it now.)

In regard to Justin’s previous incident in July, in which a photographer was also charged for chasing him, TMZ had an update last week. Apparently two out of four of the criminal charges against the photographer, made under California’s new anti-paparazzi law, were thrown out as the trial judge considered the law unconstitutional or something. I don’t know if this is the same a-hole chasing him here, but it’s clear that nothing is deterring these creeps – and that nothing is stopping Bieber from driving like a maniac. I hope his mom sees this video and puts the fear of God in him. I got the impression from her appearance at the AMAs that Bieber has her under his thumb, though.

Amanda in 2009

Do you remember when Britney Spears was losing it before her big head-shaving umbrella incident, and when she used to drive around aimlessly for hours and talk in a British accent? She had a weird symbiotic relationship with the paparazzi hoard that was following her, and she even dated a paparazzo for a while. (And there were inevitable sex tape stories, but I digress.) That’s what I’m reminded of when I see the video (at this link) of Amanda Bynes going off on a photographer. The guy is bugging the crap out of her and is super rude, as they are. Amanda tries to reason with him and asks him to delete a photo she thinks is unflattering. It’s hard to tell exactly what’s happening, but then she poses for him, a scuffle happens and she tries to grab his camera. At the end of the clip he accuses her of scratching his neck with those talon nails of hers. (I think they’re fierce actually, I would do that with my nails!) It bothered me to see, because it seems like she’s having mental issues when she talks about how she doesn’t like photos taken of her face. Maybe she’s just trying to control photos of herself and doesn’t want to get papped, though. You can see why she hates the paparazzi and hides from them when they act like this.

Anyway, here’s ET Online’s account of this video, which you can see on their site.

More trouble for Amanda Bynes… Only ET can show you exclusive footage of the embattled former teen star locked in a disturbing altercation with a paparazzo… Watch the video, then tune into ET tonight for the full story!

The struggle caught on tape began with Bynes walking down Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, shielding her face when she realized she was being photographed. Apparently the star didn’t like the way she looked, and tried to reason with the paparazzo and flatter him into deleting the pics, agreeing to pose for a new set. What happens next turns ugly, as it appears there’s a struggle over control of the camera.

The melee ends with the pap yelling that the star hurt him, with Bynes calmly saying, “I didn’t touch you.”
Bynes has become a paparazzi magnet ever since her car was impounded following a citation for driving on a suspended license – suspended after a series of fender benders and accused hit and runs in addition to a DUI charge for the star.

[From ET Online]

I don’t want to get into a whole chicken and egg scenario of where Amanda started having problems and when the paparazzi came in. The paparazzi don’t cause celebrities to have mental issues, but they flock to the ones that are having them like fleas on an old dog. This photographer’s behavior is unacceptable, and Amanda probably deals with that crap now whenever she leaves the house. It makes me feel for her actually. That and the fact that she’s not trying to say anything publicly about how Lindsay Lohan is a hypocrite degenerate who should never utter her name.

As for how Amanda is doing otherwise, we’ve heard plenty of stories about her acting bizarrely, most recently in a spinning class when she stripped down to a bra and applied makeup in front of everyone. TMZ reports that Amanda’s entire management team – her agent, publicist, and entertainment lawyer – have all dropped her as a client. They claim “According to one source, all 3 members of the team made multiple efforts to help Amanda before she went radio silent — but Bynes was not receptive. Eventually, the team decided to cut bait … acknowledging they can’t help someone that doesn’t want to be helped.” Apparently Amanda wants to go into fashion and considers herself retired from acting, which is what she told People yesterday. Well, at least her parents are around her now, allegedly.

If you have some time to kill and would like to go over a dated list of Amanda’s legal problems and terribly driving record, MTV has compiled a very good timeline. They didn’t even include this latest scuffle, which happened after the published. Also, we heard a while ago that she was supposed to personally appear in court today, but I don’t know if that’s still happening as her lawyer was just there on her behalf on Wednesday.

Photo credit: WENN.com

Halle Berry was photographed angrily yelling and confronting a photographer outside her daughter’s school yesterday. I guess I don’t blame her. We all know that Halle stages happy family beach photo ops with Nahla’s bonus/replacement dad, Oliver Martinez. So she’ll use the paparazzi when they work in her favor and curse them out when they don’t. I still take her side, though, when it comes to protecting her kid. School should be off limits to paparazzi, and there was a law passed in California in 2009 that makes it illegal to “take and sell unauthorized photos of celebrities in ‘personal or familial activity.‘” A school pick-up outing would fall under that category, and Halle could have called the cops if she wanted to. According to E! online, she just told the guy off though. Here’s more:

The Oscar winner was picking up daughter Nahla from school in Beverly Hills when she was spotted—and duly photographed—shaking her fists at something (or someone) in the parking lot.

So, what had gotten Berry’s summery, turquoise maxidress-clad goat?

Would you believe the very person who captured her ire was also the one doing the irking?

“It is inappropriate for these people to stalk a child’s school everyday,” a source close to Berry tells E! News, “these people” being the paparazzi who chronicle an awful lot of Berry’s comings and goings.

“They pushed too far [today],” the source added. “Halle felt that her daughter was being threatened. Having words with someone who is stalking your family is not out of line.”

No one officially reported a pap-vs.-A-lister confrontation going down at the school, so it appears that Berry was able to collect her daughter without further incident and be on her way.

But this isn’t the first time that Berry’s movements have been plagued by unwanted attention. She filed a criminal complaint in 2008 against a photo agency that was circulating pictures the actress claims were taken of her and Nahla in their backyard rather than out and about.

[From E! Online]

You know I’m in no way a Halle Berry fan, but she has a right to bitch someone out whom she perceives as threatening her kid. The paparazzi scream all sorts of ridiculous things, to kids, to get their attention. They shouldn’t be allowed on school property. There’s a difference between photographing celebrities on Robertson Boulevard or out at the clubs and following them when they bring their kids to school. Especially if the paps are getting right up in little kids faces.

This is Halle Berry we’re talking about, though. Maybe she just got mad at something and wanted to blow off steam.

Photo credit: Bruja/Juan Sharma, PacificCoastNews.com

It’s safe to say that Hugh Grant has some issues with the paparazzi. In just the past few years, he’s hauled off and thumped one over the head with a tub of baked beans as well as kicking a photog in the crotch seemingly just for giggles. To be utterly fair, Grant’s got a pretty understandable reason to dislike the tabloids and their paps, for he was one of the thousands of public figures targeted within the huge wiretapping scandal involving the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World and The Sun. That particular scandal went down a couple of years ago, and it’s such a huge mess that we’ll probably not see the end of it for quite some time.

Hugh’s story picks up a few months ago when he was merrily driving along in his Ferrari (he calls it “my midlife crisis car”) and broke down on the side of the road. Shortly thereafter, a bloke stopped to help him but then pulled out a long-lens camera and commenced snapping away. At some point, Hugh realizes that this guy is Paul McMullan, a former News of the World pap and one of the key whistleblowers in the aforementioned wiretapping scandal. McMullan now bides his time running a pub, but that certainly didn’t stop him from selling the photos and story about finding a broken-down Hugh to the Daily Mail.

Hugh then later contacted McMullan and, unbeknownst to the former pap, recorded their conversation, which is now published in New Statesmen for all to see. Amongst many other revelations recorded by Hugh, McMullan actually thanks Hugh for breaking down on the side of the road and helping him make £3000 for the story, and also for being “a very good earner” for him in the past. McMullan goes on to claim that, in the past, Daily Mail was also just as bad about tapping cell phones as the two tabloids that got popped in the wiretapping scandal. He also bemoans the fact that the days of analogue mobiles have since passed, for that was a time when it was incredibly easy to use a cheap scanner and record the full phone conversations of Princess Di, Prince Charles, and the like. The entire article details a rather riveting discussion, which is well worth reading in full, but here are some relevant excerpts pertaining to McMullan’s former employ under NOTW:

Grant: Murdoch, yes . . .
McMullan: So I was sent to do a feature on Moulin Rouge! at Cannes, which was a great send anyway. Basically my brief was to see who Nicole Kidman was shagging – what she was doing, poking through her bins and get some stuff on her. So Murdoch’s paying her five million quid to big up the French and at the same time paying me £5.50 to f*ck her up . . . So all hail the master. We’re just pawns in his game. How perverse is that?

Grant: I suppose the fact that they’re dragging their feet while investigating a mass of phone-hacking – which is a crime – some people would think is a bit depressing about the police.
McMullan: But then – should it be a crime? I mean, scanning never used to be a crime. Why should it be? You’re transmitting your thoughts and your voice over the airwaves. How can you not expect someone to just stick up an aerial and listen in?
Grant: I’d rather no one listened in, to be honest. And I might not be alone there. You probably wouldn’t want people listening to your conversations.
McMullan: I’m not interesting enough for anyone to want to listen in.
Grant: But celebrities you would justify because they’re rich?
McMullan: Yeah. I mean, if you don’t like it, you’ve just got to get off the stage. It’ll do wonders.
Grant: So I should have given up acting?
McMullan: If you live off your image, you can’t really complain about someone . . .
Grant: I live off my acting. Which is different to living off your image.
Him Yeah, but you’re still presenting yourself to the public. And if the public didn’t know you . . .
Grant: They don’t give a sh*t. I got arrested with a hooker and they still came to my films. They don’t give a f*&@ about your public image. They just care about whether you’re in an entertaining film or not.
McMullan: That’s true . . . I have terrible difficulty with him [points to pap shot of Johnny Depp]. He’s really difficult. You know, I was in Venice and he was a nightmare to do because he walks around looking like Michael Jackson. And the punchline was . . . after leading everyone a merry dance the film was shot on an open balcony – I mean, it was like – he was standing there in public.
Grant: And you don’t see the difference between the two situations?
McMullan: You can’t hide all the time.
Grant: So you’re saying, if you’re Johnny Depp or me, you don’t deserve to have a private life?
McMullan: You make so much more money. You know, most people in Dover take home about £200 and struggle.

[From New Statesman]

All of these admissions essentially speak for themselves, and the paparazzo comes off looking like a huge douche. Of course celebrities (especially those like Johnny Depp, who would never sell wedding photos to a tabloid) don’t deserve to have their private conversations targeted by hackers. The argument always exists whether people who purposely seek out fame even deserve privacy, and to a degree, they necessarily give some of it up by not being able to walk down a street without having their photograph taken. And of course, they shouldn’t be stupid enough in this day and age to put nude photos on their cell phones, but they don’t deserve to be hacked.

Photos are from September and December, 2010 and March, 2011. Credit: WENN.com

This story is from the April issue of Cigar Aficionado magazine with Matthew McConaughey on the cover. It’s been on newsstands for a while, but I picked it up in my local CVS and was pleased to see some new quotes I had read yet from McConaughey, who was recently unnecessarily bashed in Esquire by a journalist with a chip on his shoulder. (Thanks to all of you who pointed out that this was the same guy who made Brooklyn Decker look like an idiot, which she very well may be, but still.) The story in Cigar Aficionado is the one that McConaughey deserved in Esquire, because he comes across as thoughtful, introspective and grateful for his success in life. They quote people close to him who praise his career moves and talk about what a great guy he is. This is the impression I get of him in every interview and while I understand that he can be up his own ass sometimes, he’s a harmless stoner and they have that tendency. There’s no reason to paint a skewed picture of the guy because of it.

There are a lot of gems in this interview and it’s a shame they haven’t been more publicized. I love McConaughey’s take on the paparazzi particularly. He sees it as part of his job, and he’ll work out deals with them to leave him alone after they get their shots. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this article, and I would recommend you pick up the March/April issue of Cigar Aficionado if you’re a fan. It’s a very interesting and well written piece.

On public opinion making the law
“Public opinion is the tail wagging the dog, which is the law. It should be inverted. We elect these people because they supposedly know the law. Experts supposedly make the law. Judges are judges because they’re supposed to know the law. But when the public shouts first, public opinion creates a verdict before something even gets to court.

On Michael Vick
“Look at the Michael Vick thing. The NFL didn’t go hard on him, until public opinion said, ‘Hang him.’ Then the feds and the NFL stepped in. I don’t think the penalty would have been what it was until the public’s outrage was expressed. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have served time. But look at all the high profile people who’ve been allowed to stay free while doing heinous things to other people. But you create any kind of smoke and a team or an institution is going to say, ‘We don’t like this attention,’ and they’ll fire him.”

On how he deals with the paparazzi
“I was tired of getting pissed off. It was legitimate but I was tired of it. I though, well, am I ready to move to a place where they weren’t? No, not for good. Was I ready to build fences or tall walls around my house? No. So I just shook hands with it and dealt with it.

“So, say I’m taking my kids to the beach. And the photographers are there. I just talk to them and say, ‘OK, go ahead and take your picture. And then move on.’ How many pictures do they need of me running on the beach? So far, they’ve mostly respected that. But you’ve got to have a relationship with that kind of thing if you go out in public because that check’s already been written. Sure, I feel intruded upon. But I don’t feel it’s unfair. I can’t do anything about it unless I move on or imprison myself, and I don’t want to live like that.”

On whether he’ll marry Camilla
“Marriage isn’t something I’m against. My parents married each other three times – and divorced twice. I know a few older couples who have been married a long time and are happy; I’ve been around healthy marriages. I knew I wanted a family and I found a woman I love and felt was right for me. I thought, ‘That’s the woman I want to make a family with.’ But marriage – it’s not something we feel we need to be complete. It doesn’t mean we won’t do it.

“It doesn’t make my mom that happy that we’re not married. But it doesn’t make her mad either. Of course, I was raised to believe that you don’t have sex until you’re married. So there you are.”

[From Cigar Aficionado, print edition, April 2011]

There’s a lot more in there about how McConaughey got his start in Hollywood. He was discovered by a producer on Dazed and Confused in a bar in Austin, Texas. Then he went out to LA and started auditioning, earning his first leading role in Grisham’s A Time To Kill when he was up for a part of a Klansman and told the director he thought he should be the lead. They let him audition and then Grisham picked him personally for the role. McConaughey described the moment when Grisham called him personally with the news. “After I hung up, I went out and howled at the moon. That was big. I understood what that meant.”

I’ll be a Matthew McConaughey fan until he makes a dick move. Considering that he hasn’t done that in his 15 years of fame and has been nothing but low key, mellow and gracious with the press and even to the paparazzi that hound him, that probably won’t happen.

Above photos are scans from Cigar Aficionado magazine, where there are more. Photos of McConaughey running below are just from the month of March. Credit: Fame Pictures

There’s new video of Miley Cyrus telling the paparazzi that they need to back off and stop following her. In the video, she pulls over, walks up to the photographer’s window and says that the driver of another car is calling the cops on him for cutting him off. It’s notable not just for the fact that Miley is rightfully annoyed at the paparazzi, but because of how well and calmly she handles the situation. Miley is in control and she doesn’t get upset while she tells the photographer he’s not going to follow her any longer. She’s very respectful in a situation where other celebrities might be screaming at the guy to leave. The girl knows how to handle herself, that’s for sure.

This is Miley’s second recent confrontation with a paparazzo. She told a photographer from Splash news to stop taping her while she was having lunch with her little 10 year-old sister. (The video is here and photos below.) That was the day that Miley went out in a thin white t-shirt without a bra. She could dress a little more modestly, but I can’t fault her for the way she’s handing the paparazzi. She’s telling them to lay off and is doing it calmly and assertively. To the earlier photographer, she said “You were disrespectful and rude. Have some class, dude.”

I like Miley so much more after this. She’s not throwing coffee at photographers (like Shia LaBeouf recently), screaming and swearing at them (like Julia Roberts), hitting them (Russell Brand) or smashing their cameras (Kanye West) she’s just calling them on their bad behavior. This girl is 17 year-old and she’s handling herself better than many adults with years more experience in the business. If only she would stop trying to act like an adult in her music videos too.

Video via ONTD

Miley is shown in the header photo on 10/13/10 (credit: Fame). She’s shown schooling the photographer below on 10/12/10. (credit: WENN.com)