In September 2018, Hilary Duff posted a video of a paparazzo who’d been following her all day. Hilary was nine months pregnant at the time and scared for her safety since the man’s actions verged on stalking. Over the weekend, Hilary caught another paparazzo acting shady, this time at her kid’s soccer game. Hilary filmed herself confronting a man with a long lens camera, who was taking photos of the children’s practice. Hilary asked if he had any association with any of the families on the team and he just kept telling her that it was legal for him to be there, taking the photos. He did offer ID, but no justification for why he needed shots of seven-year-olds playing soccer. When he refused to stop taking his ‘legal’ photos, Hilary told him she would post her video of his face to her 15M followers, and then she did.
Hilary Duff has made it clear she is not OK with paparazzi invading her personal space — and that goes double when her kids are involved.
On Saturday, February 22, the Lizzie McGuire star posted a video of herself confronting a paparazzo who was seemingly photographing children on a football field. “Do you know any people on the team? Can you stop taking pictures of the kids please?” Hilary can be heard asking in the clip. In turn, the photographer pushes back by saying what he was doing was “legal.” When Hilary offers that she is uncomfortable by him photographing children, the paparazzo asks if she wants to see his ID.
“I’m not asking for your ID,” Hilary says in response. “I’m asking you to stop taking pictures of our 7-year-old children if you don’t know anyone that’s here. I’m asking you human-to-human — as a mother — if you don’t know anyone here, can you please stop taking pictures of our children playing football this morning?” The photographer can be seen responding: “I’m taking pictures, I’m practicing photography,” adding: “Your paranoia is unwarranted.”
I’m in kind of a crap, dark mood so my first reaction when I heard this guy’s response was “custody battle.” Not Hilary’s, but that someone’s lawyer hired a private eye to get evidence of an affair or agreement breach, especially when the guy offered to show ID. That would explain why he was so evasive in his responses, but his standing in the open, obviously photographing the field kind of debunks that. I agree that if some guy is taking pictures of a group of kids and wants to be left alone, he’d better come up with a valid reason. And “practicing photography” isn’t it. If he was there to get shots of Hilary (I don’t know if any other famous parents have kids on the team), then I especially see her motivation, because she’s the reason all those kids are being exposed. Teen Vogue said the photographer had made no comment by the time they’d published their story.
Most of Hilary’s fellow celeb moms defended her in the comments and applauded her calling this guy out. Many of the non-celebs felt differently, though, claiming her actions were racist (for what it’s worth last photog she called out was white). Some questioned the way she went about this by not enlisting the coach to act on the team’s behalf or at least some of the other parents. A few pointed out that Hilary had done the same thing she’s accusing this guy of by filming the children and parents when she turned the camera on them and then made that video public.
Ooooh, paparazzipodcast responded to Hilary’s post saying, “In addition we have worked LA and the Valley for over 12 years and have never seen this guy. He is not a pap. #falseaccusations” Okay, I’m going back to my custody battle theory *places tinfoil fedora back on*
Here is the video Hilary posted:
Photo credit: WENN/Avalon and Instagram
It is creepy for some person to take pictures of your kids playing soccer and she likely felt responsible if it was bc or her – all the parents were probably talking about how uncomfortable they were.
Is anyone really checking for Hillary and/or her kid like that, though? If I were the photographer, I would sue her. He was there legally. He wasn’t hiding. It’s a public place. He can take pictures if he wants to. Is it slightly creepy? Yeah. But the kids are appropriately dressed, their parents are there, etc. She over-reacted.
What would you sue Hilary for? I understand why she felt like saying something. And honestly, I would do the same thing if someone was filming my kids practice with no affiliation with the league or association with anyone on the team
Because she has opened him up to abuse for doing something that is perfectly legal. She has millions of fans and followers and her temper tantrums can put people at risk. It is a valid cause of action and I hope he lawyers up.
LoonyTunes, how do you know he hasn’t opened her children up to abuse? How do you know HE doesn’t have millions of followers on sites that are for child predators? You are saying he has no ability to hurt her or her children, and you just do not know that.
Taking pictures of children you don’t know should be illegal, it doesn’t matter what they are wearing! More so when their parents ask you not to.
But it’s not. Doxing someone, invading their privacy and exposing a black man to serious harm with her histrionics is actionable
@LooneyTunes No. Bad take. This man – regardless of his race was taking video of people’s kids and did not give a valid reason as to why. Im not a mother but if I were seeing someone randomly filming children I would step up and say something too. That isn’t being “histrionic”
It should be illegal to take pictures of children. I work with a very nice older man and we usually go for walks on our lunch break. One day I didn’t walk with him and the police approached him asking if they could see his cell phone. The cop said that a parent had called the police because they thought he was taking pictures of children playing baseball. He handed his phone over because he didn’t have anything to hide. It was an old flip phone. I don’t even think it had a camera.
What about the kids here? Could you imagine being a kid, trying to play soccer, and seeing an adult man, that you do not know, just sit there, watch you & take pictures. I was a kid & I had grown men watch me a couple times at parks, it was legal, and it wasn’t okay.
It’s odd to me that someone would admit it’s creepy behavior towards children, but then defend the actions of this guy because it’s legal. Lots of immoral & abusive things are legal, btw, and it doesn’t mean we should tolerate them.
Doxxing in general isn’t illegal. The invasion of privacy standards from a general perspective are not met here. And if exposing people to danger via histrionics was actionable, someone would’ve won a case against the president. What specific cause of action do you think this man has against Hilary? Because I’m an attorney and if someone came to our firm asking us to sue on his behalf, we would probably start using him as a training example.
I kinda wish this was on twitter so I could submit it to BadLegalTakes.
He’s also in public. She can take and post his photo if she wants to.
Exactly. That’s why the invasion of privacy standards aren’t met 🙂
“Is anyone really checking for Hillary and/or her kid like that, though?”
I hate this kind of attack on the level of fame of a person, used as an excuse for them to be harassed.
It is completely wrong to take pictures of children you don’t know without the permission of the their parents.
Additionally, just because a person is a lower level celebrity doesn’t mean that there aren’t people out there that are dangerously obsessed with them or a threat to their safety. Danger doesn’t care about fame level.
Parents routinely question and discourage adults taking video or photo of children at practice or play. It’s common community safety. Whether he was after Hillary or not…there’s nothing actionable about confronting an adult taking photos of other people’s kids.
You approach any park or practice field/pitch in the U.S. and start taking pictures or video, the parents are going to see you, watch you, and eventually approach you and confront you and then ask you to leave. If you persist, they will call the cops and have you removed. So…not sure why you’re defending a dude who’s taking pictures of kiddies for money. Shady as all hell.
It’s 2020. Any parent who DOESN’T get concerned when randos who don’t belong to any of the kids on site show up and start taking images…should.
I just find it wild that anyone thinks Hilary Duff is famous enough to validate following her around as a paparazzi.
LMAO!
What’s so ridiculous is that HD has paps on speed dial for her daily mail appearances- she literally knows every pap in town….
I don’t get it! Photos of her surely can’t bring in that much money.
Seriously!
She seems like a nice woman,but I really don’t get why she would assume there would be so much attention on her??
Sorry to sound mean,but I can’t believe she’s the ONE paps would love to have photos of (or her kids)but whatever.
It’s creepy if you think though,for any reason someone is taking pics of your kids without consent so I do get that.
Lol, I feel a little bad too. And I grew up OBSESSED with Lizzie McGuire. Like, I’m sure there’s a general interest like “huh, what’s HD been up to lately?” but it seems weird that they would be desperate enough for photos that they’d turn up at a kids sports match.
It IS creepy as a parent, I’m sure. I’d be pretty sketched out as one of the other parents involved, and I probably wouldn’t have great feelings towards her because of it.
“I really don’t get why she would assume there would be so much attention on her??”
That’s not how it works in reality, though. I’ve seen paps put people’s lives in danger to get photos of D list celebrities. She doesn’t need to “assume”…she probably experiences harassment regularly. Trying to make sense of demand when it comes to paps is a losing game. Many times there is no logic, just the exhilaration of the “hunt”.
As I said above, just because a person is a lower level celebrity doesn’t mean that there aren’t people out there that are dangerously obsessed with them or a threat to their safety. Danger doesn’t care about fame level.
She said why. She saw the same guy with a camera following her all day long, and then he showed up and started photographing the kids.
She said exactly ZERO about thinking she was getting pap attention. The dude showed up and started photographing her kids after she saw him around her all day.
I’m not a celebrity at all, and I would never assume someone was paying attention to me, but if I saw the guy more than once, and he showed up at my kid’s practice? I’d ask him if he had a kid on the field, and if he refused to respond or said, “no,” I’d tell him to leave or I’ll call the police.
We don’t play with potential predators around kids, Ladies. We just don’t.
She said why. She saw the same guy with a camera following her all day long, and then he showed up and started photographing the kids.
She said exactly ZERO about thinking she was getting pap attention. The dude showed up and started photographing her kids after she saw him around her all day.
I’m not a celebrity at all, and I would never assume someone was paying attention to me, but if I saw the guy more than once, and he showed up at my kid’s practice? I’d ask him if he had a kid on the field, and if he refused to respond or said, “no,” I’d tell him to leave or I’ll call the police.
We don’t play with potential predators around kids, Ladies. We just don’t.
Famous or not, i would be incredibly creeped out by someone who has no connection to the children photographing the children. Not because he’s black, just because it’s creepy and unnecessary. The guy could be a pedophile, he could be a kidnapper, who the hell knows.
I am a mother and a POC and I completely agree about her being within her rights to approach this man and tell him to stop photographing the children. She has a bigger platform to expose him than most, but his responses are beyond suspicious. I wouldn’t care about the fact that he’s black, only that he has a zoom lens pointed at my kid and a bunch of other kids he admittedly doesn’t know. If you are “practicing photography” you get permission from subjects.
I thought the laws had changed in California and it wasn’t legal anymore to take pics of kids like that?
It sounds like the law prevents photographers from “harassing“ the kids of celebrities, but in this case it seems that would be hard to prove, considering the kids probably aren’t even aware of him, and he is standing off at a distance.
I think it’s highly unlikely that the kids didn’t see him watching & snapping pics of them.
He wasn’t far away, he had a big camera & was standing alone, right on the sidelines of the playing field. The parents are clustered together to watch (they usually ask you to be on one side of field, in a bunch), and this guy is not off in a distance, he’s just on another part of the playing field, a few feet away.
They possibly saw him, but I don’t know if a young kid would automatically assume he was suspicious, wouldn’t they just think it’s a parent or someone from the other team? I don’t know. But anyway, my point was that law was written about “harassment” after paparazzi had been yelling at celebrity kids to get their attention, and getting WAY too close, so that particular law likely wouldn’t apply here if he was just standing off to the side.
Anyone taking pictures of children they don’t know like that is creepy and suspicious.
But I don’t think taking it upon herself to confront him while immediately filming and then putting him on blast on her social media is the appropriate response.
Very much agree.
I feel like you shouldn’t photograph kids without permission. My brother took a picture of a kid at the beach coming in on a surfboard. The parents got freaked out, grabbed their kids and left. My brother meant nothing by it, but it comes across as creepy. I don’t think she should have put it on Instagram. His intentions could be innocent but when it comes to kids, no one wants to take a chance
I didn’t realize she was still famous enough for this. Also, if he was a pedophile or something sinister I don’t think he would be out in the open. And he certainly wouldn’t hang around and argue with her on camera. He would be suspect 1 and only if anything happened to any of those kids.
WTF – the fact that she’s not as famous or “in demand” makes it all the more creepy and shows his focus is on the kids.
I think Hecate is on the right track. He’s more likely a private investigator trying to catch a parent doing something wrong or something like that. Someone with ill intent needs to be less conspicuous.
It’s one thing to chase after a celebrity to get the “money shot”, but it’s downright creepy to stalk children in order to get their photos. Seriously.
Pictures/Social media etiquette has a long way to go IMO.
A week ago this local woman who is laughable in her attempts to become an instagram influencer was at our gym during open hours and *modeling* her workout style and moves-she also got other unknowing gym goers in her pics.
People complained and pictures got removed from her insta,but sometimes just don’t photograph people without their consent-it’s not that hard.
Sadly this kind of behaviour is becoming “normalized” – at the gym anyway. Where I go they have signs stipulating no cell phone use in workout areas but they are referring to phone calls – not invading people’s privacy by capturing their image in your selfie!!! It’s pointless complaining because this activity Is rampant!
Y’all are missing the point. I don’t think she assumed they were there to pap her or her kid. I think as a mother she wanted to know- like any DECENT person would – who was this random man filming CHILDREN
Do not photograph random children! This would be unnerving for any parent, aunt, grandpa etc… I don’t necessarily agree with her posting that video but I can understand it. Is he legally free to take non-sexual images of minors? To a degree, yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s free from the consequences of doing so, especially without anyone’s consent.
Exactly! At my daughters school we are not allowed to take photos. The teachers take photos and share them with us. DO NOT TAKE PICTURES OF OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN
My first thought would be pedophile/kidnapper/human trafficking . No one should be taking pictures of children without parents permission. I don’t care if you are male, female, white, or black. Who is to say what he intends to do with those photos. And what the consequences of his actions may be. I would’ve called the police and let them talk to this guy instead of confronting him myself though.
My mind went so much darker than custody dispute. People take pictures of children at parks and public spaces for much darker things. I know when I was reading up on a huge case involving child abductions in Europe, that they discovered perps would take pictures of kids at the beach and out with parents and then people would “request them” and later the kid is abducted and sold to predators. So I would have been in his face too.
^^^^^^^
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with you completely. I just got done listening to a podcast this morning about a 12 yo boy, Johnny Gosch, who was abducted back in the 80s. The men took pictures of him and then shopped his photo around to see who wanted him. He was used in a sex/pornography ring. The story, if true, implicated men high in politics all the way to the Whitehouse.
I was listening to a 2 part series from NYT on this issue. They said that it is such a HUGE problem, but it is hard to get action because people just don’t want to hear about it. They don’t want to read about it, see stories in the news, articles online, etc. because it is so disturbing. But this makes our children vulnerable.
There are so many predators out there. We can’t bury our heads in the sand about it.