Stars tackle paps at meeting

Last Modified: 01 Aug 2008
Source: ITN

Officials from around Los Angeles and celebrities such as singer John Mayer, have met to discuss how to fix what some see as a growing problem of paparazzi dangerously hounding Hollywood stars.

Officials outlined proposals for creating an emergency telephone line devoted to celebrities and licensing the paparazzi.

Los Angeles City councilman Dennis Zine likened paparazzi who follow Hollywood stars to "a pack of wolves, stalking their prey."

But Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton criticised the idea of issuing paparazzi credentials, arguing it was unnecessary to spend city money on extra protection and scoffed at a plan to create personal safety zones around stars.

"What is this protected space that they are entitled to that the rest of us are not entitled to?" said Mr Bratton.

The celebrity photographers have become more aggressive in recent years and in some cases, their tactics have led to violence.

In the most notorious incident involving paparazzi, Princess Diana was killed in 1997 along with her lover, Dodi al-Fayed, when the car she was riding in crashed while being pursued by photographers in a Paris road tunnel.

But Mr Bratton believes the paps have cooled their ways. "Paris Hilton's out of town, things are quiet; Lindsay Lohan's got a new girlfriend, that's keeping things quiet; and evidently Britney (Spears) has gone straight now in terms of cleaning her act up, so basically paparazzi are losing interest," he said.

Brad Elterman of Buzz Foto said he was happy to be a part of the dialogue, but he called some of the stars "cry-babies" and said dealing with the paps was part of their job.

"I am not ashamed of what I do, everybody benefits from the paparazzi - retail, hotels, tourism," he said.

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