In recent history paparazzi have become very aggressive, surrounding and stalking celebrities and becoming involved in dangerous high speed car chases. A paparazzi chase is said to have been a factor in the accident that killed Lady Diana and Dodi. Technology allows the images that the paparazzi capture to move much faster than before. Eva Longoria went swimming with a dog biscuit tucked into her suit, got a photo taken of her doing it, and when she went back to her towel, she found a message on her cell asking why she was wearing a dog biscuit. The pictures had moved that fast.

Not to mention the psychological impact of those Britney upskirt pictures – I like my gossip with my morning coffee, and I was truly not prepared for Britney’s crotch, that early in the morning.

So Dennis P. Zine, LA councilor, is going to help.

Last week, spurred by the aggressive paparazzi coverage of Spears, City Councilman Dennis Zine announced that he plans to push for an ordinance that would create a minimum “personal safety zone” around individuals targeted by the media.

Saying he didn’t “want a repeat of what happened to Princess Diana with a celebrity in Los Angeles,” Zine said he plans to introduce a motion that calls for the city attorney and LAPD to draft new restrictions on paparazzi, including an ordinance that would create a zone of clear space in order to protect public safety on streets, sidewalks and at access points to emergency care facilities and private businesses and homes.

Police Chief William J. Bratton, however, said existing laws are sufficient for his officers to deal with the paparazzi

Fox

It is of course against the law to break the speed limit, trespass on private property and take pictures up someone’s skirt without their consent. In some countries paps actually need the permission of their subject to release the photos, but this doesn’t matter as they just sell the pictures to overseas agents.

I don’t think new laws need to be created, but maybe better enforcement of the ones already established. I see that this would protect all people in the media, and I hope this includes people who have been the victim of a tragedy. Families of murder victims, for example, are often approached by media to make a statement, sometimes before they have even been informed of the death by police. Hopefully the law will apply to them as they have no representative or security to act as a buffer between them and the media.

Of course, I’m to sure where Britney and her house party invites, gas pump assisting and sexual relationships with paparazzi fit in with all this. Maybe she’ll have to go back to dating pop stars and attending a-list parties. Oh, those were the days!

Picture note by Celebitchy: Britney Spears is shown on 1/29/08 after she drove around for an hour, got lost, then got out and asked the paparazzi to help her get home. I guess she never thought to purchase a GPS with one of her new high-end cars. It’s not like she’ll ever need one if she’s followed by so many other people. Thanks to WENN for this image.

Photo from May, 2007 of paparazzi shooting Britney pulled over on the side of a busy road to change Sean Preston’s diaper
The mood is definitely somber this Friday after the untimely death of Heath Ledger last week and the mental health hospitalization of Britney early Wednesday morning. I know I’m feeling guilty about our incessant focus on celebrities’ lives, and there has been more of philosophical debate in the wake of all these stories about whether we should work to give them peace and privacy when they’re facing all-too-human difficulties. Many people say that the trade off for fame and fortune is the freedom and anonymity that most of us take for granted. There is also the argument that celebrities like Britney court the paparazzi and strive for any kind of publicity so they have to suffer the consequences that go along with that. Britney is having a severe mental health crisis, something they used to call a “nervous breakdown” when I was younger, and whether she wants to have her photograph taken or not doesn’t seem relevant now that she’s not making sound decisions. The issue is that she’s going crazy and we’re all watching her and indirectly paying people to help us.

A photographer for Splash News has quit over the media circus that surrounds Britney. He says that it’s dangerous to Britney and to other people and that he’s no longer going to be a part of it:

Nick Stern has resigned from Splash, a Los Angeles-based, British-owned celebrity picture agency, in protest at the “aggressive” tactics employed in pursuing Spears, and predicted tragedy.

“Directly or indirectly, Britney is going to come to some horrific end, or a member of the public will,” he said. “It’s not what’s being done, it’s the way it’s being done. As she continues to deteriorate psychologically, I just can’t see a positive way out.”

The biggest threat, Stern said, came from the high-speed convoy of photographers’ cars and motorcycles that follow Spears’ every move through Los Angeles. The pursuit reached a new frenzy in the early hours of yesterday when the paparazzi tailed an ambulance and police escort taking the 26-year-old singer to hospital for the second time this month.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the trail of emergency vehicles that took Spears to the UCLA Medical Centre stretched longer than a football field. In an operation conducted with military precision, police and medical crews spoke secretively of “delivering the package”, in a failed attempt to throw photographers off the scent.

“The paps are completely out of control,” said Stern, 43. “It’s not unusual to have 20 or 30 cars pursuing her at any one time. It’s become acceptable to drive at 80mph down the wrong side of the street into oncoming traffic. I was horrified at what goes on. It’s so aggressive, there are fights and crashes and slashed tyres. I felt I needed to say something.”

[From The Guardian via We Smirch]

Before Britney had her first hospitalization, Perez Hilton answered a question on The View over whether he felt guilty for tearing celebrities down by saying “If Britney committed suicide tomorrow and died, she would be the only one to blame I think.” He wasn’t even asked about Britney and it’s like he was salivating over her possible death. Maybe he was nervous and had some answers prepared ahead of time and it didn’t come out like he wanted it to, but to me he was saying he refused to take any responsibility for the way he was tearing her down.

We talk a lot of smack here too, and I ripped on Heath Ledger about a year and half ago for what I perceived as an inability to play nice with the paparazzi. About a month later, I tried to cover the other side of the story and said I may have misjudged the situation, but maybe the damage was done already. I’m not saying Heath or anyone close to him would bother reading our crap, but maybe the rude way we covered it influenced other people to think he was a whiner too when that wasn’t the case. I often said he was fug and ugly, and that was mean. His death looks like an accident, but if you look at how a few celebrities are affected by the bullshit you can sling without thinking you can feel incredibly guilty.

Now Britney has really lost it, and good for someone to refuse to be a part of that circus. This is dominating the news, there’s almost nothing else going on today, and I feel like we can’t just ignore it. People want to talk about it, and we’ll do our best to cover it tactfully. Please be considerate in the comments and don’t just yell at us to ignore it. I’m thinking about it, and thoughtful comments will be more effective.

One more thing - DListed had this video of Britney getting scared while she was driving earlier this week. She gets out of her car in traffic and talks to the paparazzi in her British accent, asking to turn around. It’s amazing how many photographers swarm around her constantly, but what really struck me, and I mentioned this yesterday, is how many of them are British. It’s like she completely identifies with them and is trying to fit in by speaking in their accent. She’s even dating one of them.

Sheryl Crow has a new interview with Newsweek in which she talks about her own celebrity status as well as our obsession with the rich and famous. She says that she wasn’t a paparazzi target until she hit the lowest point in her life, having broken up with Lance Armstrong and learning she had breast cancer shortly afterwards. When asked about how she feels about what Britney is going through, she says we all need to step back and stop distracting ourselves from this celebrity nonsense because it’s taking away from more meaningful things in life:

As a mom, can you even imagine what Britney is going through?
The only way for paparazzi to stop chasing people around is to not buy the magazines. I would strongly encourage anyone who’s interested in that kind of stuff to not watch because every moment you spend rejoicing or distracting yourself with that is a moment that you can’t get back in your life. It’s fast food and it’s not good for us.

You’ve been a tabloid target yourself.
I was never top-shelf celebrity. I was never chased by paparazzi until my lowest point—when my public relationship [with Lance Armstrong] fell apart and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. What’s that say?

[From Newsweek via ONTD]

She makes a good point about how too much of a celebrity diet is harmful and how we should just try not to watch. The way she phrases it reminds me of the way that traffic stalls around a car crash. I’m one of those people who tries to drive at a steady pace and will myself not to waste everyone’s time behind me looking, but the temptation is hard to resist. This is the woman who also told everyone to use one square of toilet paper in order to save the environment, though she seems to have said it half-jokingly. She is right that too much gossip about other people doesn’t add much to our lives, although I feel guilty contributing to that.

Crow’s adopted son Wyatt is nine months old and she also talked to Newsweek about how active he is and how he adds a purpose to her life. She said he is trying to walk and that he crawls fast and pulls himself up. She said that having a child helps her feel a sense of urgency for how things need to change in the world and that “until you have a kid and you’re really emotionally invested in what kind of planet you’re leaving for your kid, you don’t realize the sense of urgency that you’ll feel.”

Sheryl Crow has a new CD out next week called Detours. Rolling Stone gives it a three and a half star review and says that each song is unique, but “What holds [them] together is Crow’s unwavering emotional commitment.” The LA Times calls it “a bold album that puts Crow’s convictions - and her chops as a singer and songwriter - front and center.”

You can send in taped questions for Sheryl Crow for an interview with RollingStone.com next week. They’re taking submissions through YouTube.

Here are some non-paparazzi photos of Crow at The Annual Black Ball Concert for ‘Keep A Child Alive’ on 10/25/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

Celebrity attorney Paul Barresi, who has visited our site and commented here, told Page Six that he spoke with a paparazzo who verified that Britney Spears does call the paparazzi to let them know her every move, as has been rumored. She probably doesn’t call the entire hoard to follow her and just contacts a select few, but they multiply like flies with big ‘ol bug eyes and swarm around her. It’s how Britney gets her kicks, Baressi claims, so when she starts flipping out from all the attention it’s not like the paps are entirely to blame:

Britney Spears is in cahoots with the paparazzi to make sure her every move is chronicled on camera, a top snapper says. Lensman Alison Silva tells celebrity private eye Paul Barresi: “Britney is in on it. [She] calls the paparazzi before she goes out. We know 15 minutes before she leaves the house. It’s all staged.” Silva adds that when four photographers were arrested last week for chasing the increasingly demented pop tart, “one of [them who] works for my company told me that Britney sent him a text message and said she was sorry. She tried to talk the cops into not arresting them . . . Money, fame, the excitement. It’s part of her life.” Barresi told Page Six that after reviewing footage of Spears with Adnan Ghalib, “[he] appeared to purposely position Britney in full view of fellow paparazzi to help them get the shot . . . It appeared that Britney is in on the sham.” Barresi says if anti-paparazzi laws are ever enacted, celebs in cahoots with them should be just as liable. Spears’ rep could not be reached.

[From Page Six]

Britney spent two hours at a deposition yesterday at K-Fed’s lawyers office and wasn’t dressed completely inappropriately, although she did leave early and forgot to wear a bra. She seems to be easily influenced and has ditched her paparazzo married boyfriend for her old friend Sam Lufti, who at least looks like he’s convincing her to show up to court and fight to see her children again. Britney is likely to have stopped hanging out with hangabout Adnan Ghalib after he went incommunicado over the weekend and refused to speak to her. She was seen looking cozy with another photographer in what struck me as blatant attempt to make Adnan jealous. Lufti also seems to have pressured her not to take Adnan back.

OK! Magazine reports that Britney ditched the deposition after 2 hours looking furious but has at least 4 hours more to go. They say that her remaining testimony will be split up over several sessions because “she simply can’t sit still.” Now do you think that attorney would make that provision for any other mother who held her child hostage and has repeatedly flouted court orders and refused to show up to custody hearings?

Britney is shown yesterday leaving her deposition, thanks to Splash News.

Paris Hilton and her Swedish pizza delivery boy, Alex Vaggo, were trying in vain to be scenesters in matching track suits, but failed to get the attention of the paparazzi they are likely to have tipped off. They wandered around a restaurant for 20 minutes without ordering and waited for someone to pay attention to them. When no one showed to take their pictures Paris decided to have herdriver tape them instead:

What does Paris Hilton do when the paparazzi aren’t around? She creates her own photo frenzy! She and pizza boy/model Alex Vaggo showed up at trendy diner Ketchup on the Sunset Strip on January 4 wearing “his” and “her” sweatsuits. They didn’t eat or drink and left after 20 minutes. Things got really strange when Paris realized there were no cameras watching her - so she had her driver grab a video camera! He filmed her and asked personal questions as she walked to the car.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 21, 2008]

Paris gets all dressed up with her boyfriend-for-show and they can’t even get their picture taken! What a dilemma.

Like America’s favorite trainwreck, Britney Spears, Paris also might soon be barred from the Four Seasons hotel for bad behavior. In Paris’ case she was ordering around the staff too much and even bullied a little girl!

Paris Hilton… carelessly tromped on the long dress of a little girl on a hotel staircase - making the kid fall down and start bawling! Moments later, Paris actually told management to shut the annoying brat up! Then she started ordered hotel staff around like they were slaves. First she demanded the pool boys have a cluster of chairs waiting for her and her part - parents Kathy and Rick, sis Nicky and even loathsome Brandon Davis - but like shrieked like a demented diva when she claimed the chairs weren’t facing the right way and were too crammed. “Move the chairs to the beach and set up all my umbrellas immediately,” she ranted. By this time, fed-up management - furious at being treated so disrespectfully - revolted. The Four Seasons manager confronted Paris and formally warned she’ll be unwelcome on the premises henceforth if she doesn’t lose the attitude.

[From The National Enquirer, Mike Walker's column, print edition, January 21, 2008]

The Four Seasons doesn’t take crap from anyone, and they must realize that their money comes from the rich people who spend a lot of time there, and not from the celebrities who flit in and out and cause a ruckus for everyone. I love how they keep Paris in check and told Britney she’s never allowed in again. At least they don’t have to worry about Paris bringing a lot of paparazzi with her when she comes since she’s not really attracting that much attention lately. Watch for a big stunt from Paris soon. She knows it’s passé to vag flash after she revealed her secret to Britney and she abused it, but she realizes that she needs to pull something in order to get more press.

Paris Hilton and Swedish pizza boy Alex Vaggo are shown out to dinner and shopping on 12/22/07, thanks to Splash News.

Britney had an event-filled few days leading up to Christmas in which she gave us a public lesson on typical bipolar and/or drug addict behavior. You’ve probably heard by now that she decided to pick her next lover from among the paparazzi that swarm around her constantly, and settled on a British guy named Adnan. OK! Magazine has the blow-by-blow, so to speak.

The handsome photographer wasn’t around when Britney decided she wanted to shack up with him on Saturday, so she asked his co-worker to summon him for her. Adnan showed up and hung out with her in the car as they drove around aimlessly for an hour. At one point she got out to take a photo of a mural and then freaked out swearing at photographers for taking pictures of her, throwing her camera on the ground. When one of them retrieved the memory card for her she was all sweetness and light, saying “I love you guys… it’s not like me to get mad at you.”

Britney visited several public restrooms that night, which seems to be evidence of some kind of UTI or drug use. My vote is on drug use since she was seen covering her face and nose. She also changed outfits three times.

Adnan and Britney went to her house, but they didn’t stay there because she told him it was too dirty. He then went to the Pennisula hotel with Britney and came out of the room an hour later to buy cigarettes. He told photographers who quizzed him on what was going on that “It’s hard to make babies when you’re just having lunch.” It was night time at that point, so he must not have meant it literally.

After buying some smokes the guy went back up to the hotel with Britney and left Sunday morning at 10:30 am. He then went to her house, and OK! notes that her kids were scheduled for a visit later that day.

So Britney shacked up with a photographer. She doesn’t really have a lot of suitors to chose from at this point. It seems inevitable that she picked one of the guys who is around her constantly, especially since that restaurant manager didn’t work out.

There’s also a story in this week’s National Enquirer that Britney wasn’t just barred from the Four Seasons - she was personally escorted out by security when she didn’t pack up quick enough:

[Britney] raised so much hell at swanky Four Seasons hotel in BevHills she was summarily ejected from her Presidential Suite and escorted off the posh premises by security guards! Sources say Britney, who’d practically taken up residency at the legendary inn, had been warned repeatedly by management that a Hollywood bigshot in the suite directly below hers - a longtime resident who pays a million bucks-plus per year - was complaining about nighttime parties, loud music and drunken hoochie-momma’s screaming from Brit’s balcony to people below! After visits by security failed to silence Swamp Thang and her brain-fried menagerie, Mr. Angry VIP phoned the hotel manager and threatened to move out. Fed up, the manager phoned Britney and ordered her to vacate the premises immediately. Incredibly, the furious brat refused at first. Snapped the manager: “I’m sending security up NOW! Pack your bags and leave, please.” Finally bowing to the inevitable, Britney packed up and was escorted down the street and out the exit by security.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker's column, December 31, 2007]

It seems as if Britney tried to return on another night, because outlets were reporting that she was turned away from the Four Seasons and barred from future visits.

And there’s a story that experts feel Britney is at risk for suicide. They probably got the idea from Perez Hilton, who said on The View when asked if he felt guilty for reporting so negatively about celebrities that “If Britney committed suicide tomorrow and died, she would be the only one to blame I think.”

Page Six quoted an “addiction expert” as saying that “[Britney's] going to eventually lose it altogether if she doesn’t get the help she needs.” The expert also says that Britney is seeking attention after her sister got pregnant, taking the focus away from her erratic behavior and calling for even more drastic measures.

Hang in there Britney, all you need to do is start hanging out with your sister again once she starts showing and you’ll get plenty of publicity.

Britney could also take the Paris Hilton route to mass media exposure - she could go to jail. OK! Magazine reports that if Britney misses another deposition in her custody case with K-Fed she could be sent to jail for contempt of court.

Britney is shown out without a bra with her paparazzo hook up this weekend, thanks to WENN.

Julia Roberts is getting some pretty bad press for chewing out one of the paparazzi who had followed her to her kids’ school. Apparently she was so pissed that she got in her car and was following the guy and blaring on her horn. The paparazzi caught the whole thing on tape, and of course sold it as soon as he got home. It seems like a lot of people are criticizing Julia, but she makes some really good points. There is a line between following celebrities – who have chosen to be famous – and following their little kids, who deserve a reasonable amount of privacy, and didn’t choose fame.

Julia Roberts, a mother of three, has made it clear – in her actions and now in words – that she doesn’t like paparazzi staking out schools in order to get photos. Roberts, 40, recently chased down a photographer in her SUV near a school and gave him an earful, in an incident that was caught on video and shown on TMZ. Asked by Access Hollywood for Friday’s show what she said to the man, Roberts replied, “I just told him a school is not a place for a grown man to be crawling around trying to take pictures.”

She added: “If you want to take a picture of a person, then go to an adult place. Go to the coffee shop, go to the grocery store, go to the restaurant. Don’t stake out someone’s children’s church, school or playground environment.”

In the recent incident, Roberts, who did not have her kids with her, pursued a car of photographers and got them to pull over. Telling one man to shut off his camera, she said, “I want to talk to you about the fact that you’re at a school where children go. Turn it off!”

[From People]

Frankly I think Roberts was perfectly right to get mad. Even if her kids weren’t with her, she was at their school, so it had to do with them. There are worse things than overprotective parents. I think it’s totally normal that her natural inclination is to get mad and go after people that she feels are invading her kids’ space. She might have been a bit irrational, but I’m sure it’s not the first time paparazzi have shown up around her kids. It was probably just the straw that broke the camel’s proverbial back. In an article in this month’s Vanity Fair, Julia mentioned that she thinks it’s wrong for the paparazzi to take pictures of kids and/or publish their faces. She’s standing by what she believes, and every parents has the right and duty to look out for their kids’ well-being. Though the paps did catch her parking in a handicap spot last week, so maybe she’s riled up for another reason.