Last year, Hollywood.com made the decision to no longer publish paparazzi photos taken without consent on our website and social media pages. While we still hold ourselves to this standard, the paparazzi continue to be an issue when it comes to celebrities’ privacy and safety.
BREAKING NEWS: From this day forward, we will not post another paparazzi photo taken without consent. #BanPaparazzi 🙅 pic.twitter.com/COPOppbHdX
— Hollywood.com (@hollywood_com) March 5, 2021
Social media has changed the way we consume paparazzi photos
Social media has built stronger relationships between celebrities and their fans: they’re able to connect with their supporters directly and can choose what photos their followers see of them. These stars can pick what they want to share, when they want to share it, and have control of how much of themselves they put online.
While social media has somewhat put the ball in the celebrity’s court, it has also opened new ways for paparazzi to make money. These paparazzi and celebrity drama accounts will approach celebrities in their everyday lives, capturing videos and photos of them that are then circulated on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Paparazzi no longer have to capture a ‘scandalous’ photo to sell to the press. If a paparazzi account captures the perfect clip that will garner attention from fans, viewers share it on social media and the views translate to earnings for the accounts. These photographers and videographers use this as an opportunity to ask celebrities bold questions about their personal lives and relationships, without any regard to how these inquiries might make a person feel.
In this age of celebrities sharing their lives on social media, an expectation has been developed that if you make your life public, fans and viewers have the right to know all aspects of your existence. This is what these paparazzi and drama accounts feed on. Because of the way that we consume celebrity content nowadays, the owners of these accounts don’t mind inserting themselves into celebrities’ business and publishing it for the world to see in order to make money.
Social media also makes followers feel like they know celebrities, making paparazzi feel more comfortable to approach these stars and cross the line between their public and private lives. On the other side of the screen, since fans engage with their favorite celebrities on a daily basis through social media, it is difficult to remember that these paparazzi photos and videos are being circulated on the same platforms without the subjects’ consent.
Many paparazzi lack respect and violate boundaries
In videos captured by paparazzi and fans, it’s evident that paparazzi often go too far. Even when celebrities become visibly uncomfortable and unresponsive, paparazzi continue to ask questions and pry for answers in order to obtain clips that will garner attention and make them money.
Recently, actress Elizabeth Olsen was out meeting fans and signing autographs when a paparazzo asked an objectively rude question about her famous sisters. The photographer asked Elizabeth why she is “so much nicer” than her sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Elizabeth was quick to reply “you guys have been bothering them their whole lives.”
A fan posted the interaction to their Twitter account.
“how come you’re so much nicer than your sisters?”
“you guys have been bothering them their whole lives”
elizabeth olsen knows how to clear a bitch https://t.co/6F5a968CSe
— alias (@itsjustanotherx) January 3, 2022
Elizabeth Olsen handled this situation with grace and made a statement with her simple response. The way that this paparazzo framed the question makes it evident that paparazzi expect interactions and a level of transparency from the celebrities that they target. It is also highly probable that this photographer was asking the question because he knew it would make Elizabeth uncomfortable and was hoping for a reply that would get him clicks.
Even though, as Elizabeth Olsen stated, the Olsen twins were watched and scrutinized their whole careers, this photographer indicates that he still expects them to be “nice” when they are hounded and photographed without their consent. This kind of behavior and presence in the public eye is what has led the twins to live such private lives today.
Celebrities are often expected to give so much of themselves no matter their moods or current circumstances, but this statement from Elizabeth Olsen reminds us all that they owe us nothing and deserve the same level of privacy as everyone else.
Paparazzi photos strip celebrities of the option to keep their lives private
When paparazzi are constantly following celebrities, some things are made public that the stars had planned to keep private. Tom Holland and Zendaya’s relationship is a perfect example of this.
The Spider-Man: No Way Home co-stars have been rumored to be dating for quite a while now. Paparazzi photos taken back in July 2021 seemingly confirmed this rumor. Pictures and a video depicted the pair in Tom Holland’s car and the paparazzi caught the 2 kissing. The photos and videos were quickly circulated through the press and social media.
This brought some evidence of truth behind the dating rumors, but neither Tom Holland nor Zendaya acknowledged the paparazzi photos or the headlines they were making. It wasn’t until Zendaya’s birthday that Tom somewhat confirmed that the 2 were an item in his post to celebrate the actress.
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Tom Holland finally opened up about his relationship with Zendaya and the dating rumors while doing press for Spider-Man: No Way Home. In his GQ cover story, Tom expressed the disappointment that came with knowing that this private moment he and Zendaya shared together was then shared with the rest of the world without their consent.
Tom Holland said that this lack of control when it comes to his privacy is definitely a downside to fame. “I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway… We sort of felt robbed of our privacy,” Tom said of the paparazzi photo.
When the interviewer asked Tom if he and Zendaya just weren’t ready to talk about their relationship, Tom responded, “I don’t think it’s about not being ready. It’s just that we didn’t want to.” Zendaya commented on the situation, saying that it was “strange and weird and confusing and invasive.”
Had the paparazzi not photographed Tom and Zendaya kissing that day, they might have chosen to continue keeping their relationship private and there wouldn’t be as much public discourse surrounding their love lives.
Celebrities’ kids should not be subjected to the public eye
While every celebrity’s privacy should be respected, we should especially respect the privacy of celebrities’ children. Just because a child’s parent or guardian has made a name for themselves and lives a public life doesn’t mean that their children desire the same thing for themselves.
The privacy of minors should never be violated, as they are at a vulnerable age and can’t give proper consent to be photographed or recorded. After George Clooney saw photos of Billie Lourd’s 1-year-old child published in The Daily Mail, the actor wrote an open letter to the UK tabloid and other publications to stop publishing photos of celebrity children.
The letter read: “I am a public figure and accept the oftentimes intrusive photos as part of the price to pay for doing my job. Our children have made no such commitment… We cannot protect our children if any publication puts their faces on their cover. We have never sold a picture of our kids, we are not on social media and never post pictures because to do so would put their lives in jeopardy.”
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Other actors have also publicly spoken against their children being photographed by paparazzi. In November 2021, Tori Spelling took to Instagram to share her disdain for The Daily Mail after the tabloid published photos of her that were taken at her son’s preschool.
Tori Spelling’s Instagram caption read: “Just because you cropped him out of the photo walking in front of me doesn’t give you the right to drive up the private driveway and violate the privacy of this amazing family owned pre school, the kids there, and their parents. If you insist on following us adult humans everywhere then please know the boundaries of privacy that these kiddos deserve! Think about your own kids? This is a violation that shouldn’t be tolerated!”
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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds do not share photos of their children, but when an Instagram account posted family photos of the couple and their 3 daughters, Blake quickly took to her own Instagram account to express her disappointment and requested that the photos be deleted.
Blake Lively commented on the original post, “This is so disturbing. I’ve personally shared with you that these men stalk and harass my children. And you are still posting. You said you would stop. You personally promised me. This is not casual appreciation. This is YOU also exploiting very young children. Please. Delete. Please.”
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