Britney Spears: Gangs Threatening Paparazzi
 |
Allie @ Gone Hollywood | Monday, February 11, 2008 |
More and more paparazzi are dropping out of the pack following Britney Spears, because of the risk. Gangs are threatening them!
Reports the Daily News,
The legion of lensmen has been infiltrated by L.A. gang members — Crips and Bloods, according to some photo-agency heads. They claim rival agencies are arming the thugs with cameras and sending them out to do battle with the dozens of paps who rubberneck around Hollywood’s favorite train wreck.
Veteran snapper Nick Stern, who quit the Splash agency this month, said: “I’ve heard stories of fights, of car tires being slashed, cars being blocked in.”
All of the agency heads we interviewed said they do not hire street toughs.
“They may dress like gang members with large pants and tattoos, but to say they’re gang members right now, well, real gang members are not into Britney Spears,” said Frank Navarre, a Frenchman who owns the X17 agency. “I think red carpet is worse. I used to do red carpet myself, and one guy broke my camera.”
“Britney Spears attracts huge numbers of photographers, and whoever muscles their way to the front gets the best picture. They’re not AP photographers wearing flak jackets, but that’s not to say they’re thugs, either,” said Chris Doherty, owner of the INF agency, which got the first photo of Spears after she was sprung from the UCLA Med Center psych unit Wednesday. “We got it because we didn’t follow the gang mentality.”
It gets hairy just being on the road with the “Mad Max“-style convoy of snappers who chase Spears.
Brad Elterman, who owns Buzz Foto, got out of Brit biz after his agency got the closeup of Spears strapped to a gurney.
“It’s too dangerous,” said Elterman, whose work will be featured in the show “Paparazzi as an Art Form” at L.A.’s Maryam Seyhoun Gallery. “She goes through a yellow light, you go through a red. People break laws. I tell my guys now, ‘Don’t speed, don’t chase, and stay away from Britney Spears.’”
Things may get safer now that the singer is under psychiatric care and Jamie Spears has had his daughter’s vehicles garaged. But no one can tow away the story.
“I cannot say she’s boring, no,” says Navarre. “I must say she’s been pretty good at renewing herself. She doesn’t accept any authority, any boundaries. To some people, that looks crazy. She’s stronger than you think.”
Still kissing her ass after all this time. Oops, did I say that?
What others said:
- The Superficial says, “I want to say this whole Britney situation has officially reached new levels of insanity, but at least these guys are off the streets and earning an honest living. Capitalism does work! Hold on there’s someone at the door. Hey, sorry, folks but there’s a nice young man here by the name of Fuk-U-Up who wants to pistol whip me in the street for crediting some photos wrong.”
- Jossip says, “Yeah, it would be so unlike X17 to violate whatever decency there is in the celeb-photo business.”
source: Paparazzi fear Britney Spears shoots [daily mail]
- Britney Spears Runs Over Yet Another Photographers Foot - VIDEO
- Britney Spears to Perform on Sesame Street
- Britney Spears Media Circus, Cops Called
- Britney Spears Threatens to ‘Kill’ Photog
- Britney Spears Teams Up with the Paparazzi for Charity
- Jamie Lynn Spears Decoy Lands Airport Police in Hot Water
- Britney Spears Makes Fun Of Lindsay Lohan
- Britney Spears: Adnan Ghalib’s Agency, Finalpixx Speaks
- Britney Spears and Her Bizarre Affair with a Photographer
- Britney Spears Has a New Love Interest - Another Photographer!
- Mark Ruffalo’s Brother Shot In The Head
- Prop 8 : The Musical
- Kristen Stewart to play Joan Jett
- Families Move into Homes that Brad Pitt Built
- Sean Avery Gets Suspended for Calling Ex Elisha Cuthbert ‘Sloppy Seconds’
- Stephen Colbert Challenges Kanye West
- Patrick Swayze Is Not Dying
- Links To Hollywood - #153
- Britney Spears on Good Morning America - Photos
- Jessica Alba Shows Bikini Body
Comments are Closed
