Justin Bieber’s Bodyguards Battery Claim By Paparazzo: Where Is The Line?
Two members of Justin Bieber’s security team have been accused of battery by a paparazzo in Miami.
According to local reports, at the time of the alleged attack the “As Long As You Love Me” singer was skateboarding in the Hit Factory studio parking lot in North Miami.
Spotted by a paparazzo who began taking shots of the 19-year-old, the photog claims he was approached by two of singer’s security guards.
The allegations are that Bieber’s guards choked the paparazzo, before grabbing his camera and removing the memory card.
Miami Dade Police Detective Roy Rutland reports that an officer responded to a report of an assault taking place outside The Hit Factory on 149th Street on Wednesday (June 5).
When the police officer arrived, he spoke with the two bodyguards and the pap, and gave the (as yet) unidentified photographer a case number.
“The officer concluded that what occurred may have been a simple battery,” Rutland said. “Now, the photographer can pursue this with the state attorney’s office if he chooses.”
Bieber arrived in Miami over the weekend and was seen courtside at Game 7 of the Miami Heat games against the Indiana Pacers on Monday. Online censure of the teen star’s leather, shades, tie-dye hat and gold chains outfit was followed by similarly tabloid media coverage of his multiple club visits that same night.
But, while the singer is being investigated in two alleged and unrelated police cases: Firstly, for the alleged battery of a resident in his Calabasas, California neighborhood, and secondly for alleged reckless driving; this latest alleged incident raises wider questions:
Do paparazzi exceed reasonable limits in their quest for pictures and the desire to make a buck? And, do celebrities have a right to expect a degree of privacy even if they are considered “public” property and therefore fair game?
From an extensive list of incidents that could be considered pap overstepping, a selection:
Gossip Extra reports police in Miami’s North Palm Beach were called to a local school on May 22 after Tiger Woods got into an argument with three photogs when he and his girlfriend Lindsey Vonn dropped off his two children.
Alec Baldwin’s ongoing complaints about the New York Post’s alleged constant doorstepping are well documented. The actor was accused of racially abusing a black Post staff photographer in one such encounter, a claim he vigorously denies.
In April, Halle Berry traveling back from a vacation with her daughter Nahla, 5, and fiance Olivier Martinez were swarmed by paparazzi as they descended the terminal escalator at LAX. Despite pleas by Berry to the photographers to step back because of her child, she was ignored. A mild scuffle between one pap and Martinez reportedly ensued.
Steven Tyler, frontman of Aerosmith felt sufficiently violated by nude pictures taken of him while he vacationed with his girlfriend at his Maui holiday home in Hawaii, to ask a local senator to sponsor new legislation commonly known as the Steven Tyler Act to prevent paparazzi taking photos or videos of celebrities in private moments. If passed, it would only apply in Hawaii.
The bill, formally called SB465, would officially create a civil cause for action for the “constructive invasion of privacy.” In February, the bill was endorsed by two-thirds of the Hawaiian Senate but has since stalled before voting could take place in the House of Representatives.
Of the bill’s call for a “reasonable expectation of privacy,” Tyler said:
“The paradise of Hawaii is a magnet for celebrities who just want a peaceful vacation. As a person in the public eye, I know the paparazzi are there and we have to accept that. But when they intrude into our private space, disregard our safety and the safety of others, that crosses a serious line that shouldn’t be ignored.”
The chasing then photographing of the late Diana, Princess of Wales’ and Dodi Al Fayed by paparazzi as they lay dying in Paris’ Pont de l’Alma road tunnel, is perhaps the most chilling example of the lengths paps are prepared to go to for that money shot.
In January, Chris Guerra, a 29-year-old photographer was hit by a passing car on the Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles, after he stopped to take pictures of Bieber’s white Ferrari that had been stopped by police.
At the time, Guerra believed the Canadian was in car. But in fact the driver was Lil Twist, a rapper and close friend of the singer. The unfortunate irony of that only serves to highlight the apparent recklessness of some paparazzi in pursuit of a target.
Guerra’s death spurred renewed debate over the dangers paparazzi can bring on themselves and the celebrities they chase. In a statement released by Island Def Jam Music Group, Bieber said of the incident:
“Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves.”
The “Baby” star, who has had numerous run-in’s with paparazzi, each one adding to his low expectation of protection, was himself chased by five paps on L.A.’s 101 Freeway on July 6, 2012. Stopped by police for speeding as he tried to escape the photogs, one of the officers reportedly told Bieber: “You waive your rights to privacy when you’re a celebrity.”
Without question, a pop star who can pull in a 50,000 crowd on any given day of the week must expect a certain degree of intrusion. But when is the line crossed, when does the red camera light switch off to allow a human being to do the same?
Fast forward to reports of two previous pap clashes before Wednesday’s alleged battery, at what point would it have occurred to the paparazzo in the parking lot who had already snapped multiple pictures of Bieber, to stop and think: ‘Right I’ve got enough, why don’t I let a teenager who clearly doesn’t want me here enjoy a rare moment of peace?’
Audio, video, in the end it doesn’t actually matter. No-one invites paparazzi to violate the privacy and personal space of others, but them.
[Images via Sugarscape]
