Top 20 Worst Things The Paparazzi Ever Did
#20: Niall Horan Gets Dragged to the Floor
When it comes to the paparazzi, patience certainly isn’t one of their watchwords. Back in November 2013, the boys of One Direction touched down in Los Angeles to promote their upcoming album “Midnight Memories.” Upon exiting the terminal at LAX Airport, they were overwhelmed by crowds of screaming fans and aggressive photographers. Amid all of the chaos, Niall Horan was apparently knocked to the ground by the rowdy paparazzi just outside the airport. After making it out of there in one piece, Horan took to social media to express his frustration, blaming the maniacal photographers for preventing him from interacting with fans.
#19: Tori Spelling’s “Pretty Big” Accident
No matter how famous they are, celebrities sometimes just want to engage in everyday activities without having to deal with the paps. But things hardly ever pan out that way. Take Tori Spelling for example. In 2011, the actress, who was pregnant at the time, was chased down by paparazzi while dropping her kids off at school. As she attempted to evade the relentless photographer, Spelling ended up crashing her car into a school wall. Shockingly, even that didn’t dissuade the cameraman from taking more pictures of them. Fortunately, neither Spelling nor her kids were hurt, but it’s alarming to consider just how awry the situation could have gone.
#18: Keep Your Hands off Jennifer Lawrence’s Dog
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Who knew Jennifer Lawrence could give John Wick a run for his money? The Oscar-winning actress may have no problems being harassed by the cameras, but she draws a hard line when it comes to her beloved dog. While leaving LAX airport in 2017, Lawrence was ambushed by a TMZ reporter. After getting no response to his questions, the guy then reached down and tried to pet her dog. Needless to say, that was a huge mistake. Lawrence immediately scooped up the pooch and unleashed her wrath on the paparazzo before getting into her car. Always remember, paps, touching Jennifer Lawrence’s dog is a line you should never cross.
#17: Zero Privacy for Prince William & Kate Middleton
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During their 2012 vacation in Provence, France, Prince William and Kate Middleton found themselves unwittingly exposed to paparazzi. While soaking up the sun on a terrace, Middleton took off her top, unaware of the long lens cameras snapping away from a distance. Subsequently, several topless photos of the Princess of Wales were published in the French magazine, Closer, which left Middleton deeply saddened and outraged the royal family. The controversial images were further distributed in an Italian gossip magazine, across a 26-page spread. As a result, the royal couple took legal action against Closer and won a settlement of roughly $120,000. The magazine was forced to pay the price, unable to argue that they were only experimenting with editing.
#16: Paparazzi Scales Fence for the Clooney Twins
When a Hollywood power couple welcomes a baby, the media typically goes to great lengths to obtain the first photos of the child. However, there should ideally be a line… or in this case, a fence, when dealing with the young ones. In 2017, George and Amal Clooney became parents to twins, Ella and Alexander, and later vacationed at their home in Lake Como, Italy. Eager to capture the first images of the kids, a paparazzo trespassed onto the private property, climbing over the fence and up a tree to take pictures of the family. The publication of these images in the French magazine Voici infuriated George Clooney, who vowed to take legal action against everyone involved.
#15: Olivia Colman Leaves London to Avoid Paparazzi
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You know things have gotten out of hand when paparazzi essentially drive a celebrity to relocate to a different city. That was the case for Oscar-winning English actress Olivia Colman. Colman previously resided in London with her husband and three children, but grew increasingly frustrated with the relentless intrusion of paparazzi into their lives. The actress recounted a particularly distressing incident where she and her family were chased by two cars. The terror she felt left her in tears, while the offending paps laughed at her. Fed up with the constant invasion of their privacy, Colman and her family were forced to leave London for her hometown of Norfolk, seeking a more peaceful environment.
#14: Ron Galella’s Tireless Pursuit of Jackie Kennedy Onassis
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Known as “the Godfather of the U.S. paparazzi culture,” Ron Galella pioneered some of the stalking tactics used by paps around the world. His methods drew the ire of many celebrities, including Marlon Brando, who once punched him, and Sean Penn, who spat on him. But Gallela’s main focus was former First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis, whom he relentlessly stalked and photographed. His fixation resulted in what is arguably his most famous picture, the iconic “Windblown Jackie.” However, Onassis detested this constant intrusion and dragged Galella to court twice, ultimately obtaining a restraining order against him. Despite this, Galella continued to hound Onassis, until he was banned from photographing her and her children.
#13: Daniella Cicarelli’s Steamy Video Makes It Online
In 2006, Brazilian model and TV host Daniella Cicarelli got embroiled in a scandal when a paparazzo filmed her with her boyfriend on a beach in Spain. The video, which captured intimate moments between the couple, was then broadcast on the Spanish TV show “Dolce Vita.” It quickly took off from there, making its way onto YouTube and several other websites. Cicarelli took the case to court, resulting in the temporary blocking of YouTube in Brazil for two days. This action sparked major outrage in the country, with thousands sending protest emails to MTV Brasil, where Cicarelli worked, demanding her dismissal. In 2015, following a lengthy legal process, Cicarelli and her boyfriend were awarded settlements of $64,000 each.
#12: Paparazzo Allegedly Breaks Into Sean Penn’s Room
Once upon a time, Sean Penn and Madonna were Hollywood’s hottest power couple. Soon after their wedding in 1985, the couple signed on to star in “Shanghai Surprise” and headed to Macau for filming. However, the production faced constant intrusion from paparazzi, one of whom allegedly broke into Penn’s hotel room to take pictures of the couple. Penn and his personal assistant confronted the intruder, identified as Leonel Borralho, and reportedly threatened him by hanging him over the balcony of the ninth-floor room. The incident resulted in both Penn and his assistant being arrested and charged with assault. According to the actor, however, the pair later escaped from jail and fled to Hong Kong.
#11: Ryan Reynolds Hit-and-Run Incident
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In 2015, while shooting his movie “Deadpool” in Canada, actor Ryan Reynolds found an unlikely adversary in a Vancouver paparazzo named Richard Fedyck. Fedyck allegedly stalked and harassed Reynolds for weeks, leading to a physical confrontation in the parking lot of the actor’s hotel. During the incident, Fedyck apparently struck Reynolds with his car while attempting to flee the scene. Fortunately, the actor didn’t sustain any significant injuries and continued with production of the movie. Fedyck, on the other hand, was arrested a few days later and brought up on charges of assault with a weapon, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and criminal harassment.
#10: Reporter Kisses Will Smith on the Mouth
Ukrainian reporter-slash-prankster Vitalii Sediuk seems to be looking for trouble. At the 2012 “Men in Black 3” premiere in Moscow, Sediuk kissed the Fresh Prince. Smith didn’t take kindly to the lip-lock, giving Sediuk a backhanded slap. Perhaps Sediuk forgot that Will played Muhammad Ali. Smith said, “He’s lucky I didn’t sucker punch him.” Perhaps Will was also lucky. Sediuk has since, in separate incidents, given Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, and Brad Pitt what could be best described as red-carpet crotch-hugs. And Kim Kardashian has had two run-ins with Sediuk, one where he allegedly shoved her and another when he tried to kiss her ass, literally.
#9: Reese Witherspoon Assaulted by a Paparazzo
Reese Witherspoon doesn’t like the paparazzi. Check that: Reese Witherspoon really doesn’t like the paparazzi. Maybe this contentiousness started at her daughter’s sixth birthday party at Disney’s California Adventure Park in 2005. “The Happiest Place on Earth” wasn’t so happy when pap Todd K. Wallace allegedly became angry when Reese and her friends declined to be photographed. Wallace faced battery charges as he, according to prosecutors, struck a girl with his camera and shoved two park employees. It wasn’t Wallace’s first arrest; the previous year, he faced charges stemming from his pursuit of Mischa Barton.
#8: Chris Brown Chase Causes Crash
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Chris Brown hasn’t exactly been anyone’s favorite celebrity since he pled guilty to assaulting Rihanna in 2009. Still, that doesn’t mean we have to like what happened to him in 2013. Brown was driving to an LA-area charity event when two paparazzi vehicles allegedly blocked his car, with the paps jumping out to shoot pictures. Trying to escape, Brown was reportedly cut off by two more vehicles, causing him to swerve into a wall. Brown walked away, but his Porsche was totaled. This may not have been Brown’s only car wreck, but this incident appears to be another example of overzealous paparazzi.
#7: Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver Boxed In
Before Kim and Kanye, there was Ah-nold and Maria. The marriage between the Terminator and Shriver, a journalist who was also John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy’s niece, could be called a marital mismatch made in media heaven. However, a jury determined that paparazzi Giles Harrison and Andrew O’Brien took it too far in May 1997. The two chased — then blocked from leaving — a car carrying the couples’ 3-year old, a five-month pregnant Shriver, and Schwarzenegger, who himself had recently undergone open-heart surgery. The actions were considered so egregious that Harrison got 90 days and O’Brien 60 days in jail, both found guilty of false imprisonment.
#6: Nicole Kidman Run Over by Paparazzo on a Bike
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In 2013, Kidman was entering Manhattan’s Carlyle Hotel when paparazzo Carl Wu, blazing down the sidewalk on a bike with camera shuttering, lost control and careened into the Oscar-winner. While the actress was knocked to the ground, she was uninjured. Wu, considered one of the most disliked members of the paparazzi, did apologize and called it an accident. While Wu wasn’t arrested, he was issued a fine for reckless driving. With this and a 2010 run-in with Lady Gaga’s bodyguard, let’s just say we’re not surprised that a “Fu--You, Carl Wu” Tumblr page existed.
#5: Lindsay Lohan’s Car Intentionally Crashed Into
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Off the screen, Lohan has acquired quite the “party-friendly” reputation. Part of that rep comes from the fact that she’s not exactly kind to her cars. However, a crash in 2005 — the same year her film “Herbie: Fully Loaded” hit theaters — can be blamed on an overzealous lensman. Paparazzo Galo Cesar Ramirez followed Lohan, but when she was about to report it to police, Ramirez reportedly rammed her Mercedes. Ramirez was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, but as it turns out, there was already an outstanding warrant out for his arrest on a $5000 narcotics charge.
#4: Blocking Britney Spears’ Ambulance on Way to the Hospital
Britney has given the paparazzi a lot of stories over the years. Like when she shaved her head, then days later went after a car with an umbrella. Or when she almost dropped her baby in front of a zillion photographers? There are also the countless nights she stepped out on the town sans underwear. So did they really have to block her ambulance? In January 2008, Britney was taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. The throng of photogs ignored sirens and honking horns until they got their shots – a move as reckless as it was potentially life threatening.
#3: Jennifer Aniston Photographed Topless in Her Backyard
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So no one told Jen life was gonna be this way… back in 1999, at the height of “Friends’” popularity, a paparazzo scaled an 8-foot wall at the Malibu home Aniston shared with then-husband Brad Pitt. Armed with a high-powered lens, the photog took several shots of a topless Aniston sunbathing in her backyard. The photos appeared in tabloids worldwide, but Jennifer didn’t take the intrusion lying down. Instead, she sued the photos’ distributor, Francois Navarre, for invasion of privacy, trespassing, and misappropriation of her likeness. The case was settled out of court, with the “Friends” star receiving over half-a-million dollars in damages.
#2: Sean Penn & Madonna’s Wedding Interrupted By Helicopters
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It was hard to find a higher wattage celebrity couple in the 1980s than Sean Penn and Madonna. After their engagement, countless media outlets salivated at the possibility of getting the ultimate shot: Sean and Madge tying the knot. It took rooting through the couple’s trash for the paparazzi to ultimately unearth the location of the top-secret nuptials: a cliff-side home in Malibu. Held on Madonna’s 27th birthday, multiple helicopters descended on the wedding, whirring so loudly the couple’s vows couldn’t be heard. Madonna responded to the disruptions with a one-finger salute, and Penn wrote “F– off” in the sand below. But really, can anyone blame them?
#1: Contributed to Princess Diana’s Death
Paris. August 31, 1997. It’s the moment that arguably turned the public and celebrities alike against the paparazzi. Princess Diana, reported boyfriend Dodi Fayed, and their driver Henri Paul died when their car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel. At the time, most fingers pointed at the overzealous paparazzi chasing Diana’s car. An 18-month French judicial investigation blamed the crash on an inebriated Paul, while a British inquest found both the paps and Paul equally responsible. However, no paparazzi did time for her death. In the court of public opinion, however, the paparazzi will likely always be inexorably linked to the death of the People’s Princess.
What’s your take on the celeb-paparazzi dispute? Should celebrities have their privacy respected, or does the public have a legitimate interest in knowing about their personal lives? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
