It’s not news to anyone that the paparazzi who follow celebrities around can be completely detestable. From car accidents to verbal abuse, the paparazzi are a big checking point on the list of why none of us should want to be famous.
The poor behavior of these individuals seems unchanged since they began. Princess Diana’s car accident was 21 years ago, and there is still no change to be seen. Some recent incidents have continued to display to the public that the nature of the paparazzi doesn’t seem like it’ll be changing any time soon.
Some celebrities are very well known for hiding from the paps. Leonardo DiCaprio is famous for blocking his face with various objects, and Taylor Swift supposedly hid in a suitcase to avoid them once. Similarly, Michael Jackson often wore creative disguises and masks, and frequently made them for his young children too.
Recently, a member of the paparazzi seemed to have forgotten this about the late Michael, as shown in an interaction with Paris Jackson, Michael’s daughter, this week. While leaving a Tom Ford show, Paris attempted to hide her face from the paparazzi. In Twitter, she detailed that a paparazzi shouted at her “in a really mean way.” What did he say? “Michael would never have done that!”
As Paris pointed out on Twitter — he did, frequently. However, I don’t think that’s the important issue here. Paparazzi should not be bringing up the names of deceased loved ones to celebrities in any way that’s not offering condolences. Michael Jackson is a controversial figure, for sure — but Paris is his daughter, she’s 20 years old and she was only 11 when he died. How on earth is that statement appropriate to yell at her?
Nyle DiMarco, a deaf actor and model, recently commented on the loud nature of the paparazzi. He posted a video on his Twitter account of him on the pink carpet at the VMAs with the caption “retweet if you can hear paparazzis yelling to my deaf-ass ears lmao.” Though DiMarco is poking fun at the incident, it still displays a larger problem — they are frequently yelling and harassing people, whether or not they can even hear them.
Chris Hemsworth, block-buster actor of “Thor” fame, is known for having a generally calm demeanor and being a pretty genial guy. However, he shared back in August that once he was at a beach with his family, and his young son was naked. However, the paparazzi still continued shooting. He admits approaching the cameramen and firmly saying to them “Don’t you dare.” This firm stance seemed to have done the job, but he says he still wanted to destroy the camera.
One of the most disturbing issues this raises is the paparazzi’s treatment of celebrity children. And, of course, this is far from the first time that the paps have come close to crossing the line. Halle Berry testified to a group of California lawmakers about passing a law that prohibits this behavior after the paparazzi followed her daughter to school. When a 7-year-old Suri Cruise yelled at paparazzi to leave her alone, they called her a “brat” and a “bitch.”
These actions and these incidents speak for themselves. I believe that we have to place more social pressure on the paparazzi to get them to really rethink this behavior. Celebrities are still people, after all, and this treatment is absolutely inhumane.
