Stalkerazzi and Their Prey

In Britain, there already are calls for a boycott of tabloid newspapers carrying paparazzi photographs of the crash; the bitter comment by Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, that he always thought his sister would be killed by the press has added fuel to an increasing demand for curbs on the aggressive new breed of photographers sometimes known as stalkerazzi.

Of all the paparazzi prey, Princess Diana was the most hunted. Even while exercising at her gym, she was spied on by a hidden camera concealed in the ceiling. Recent word that a European photographer made $3 million for the worldwide sale of his fuzzy but exclusive pictures of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed embracing on his father’s yacht in the Mediterranean only intensified the feeding frenzy.

Now, stalkerazzi are facing worldwide condemnation. It is an issue that has been simmering in Hollywood, as celebrities find themselves increasingly under siege. Two British paparazzi are awaiting trial in Santa Monica on charges that they ambushed Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, and forced their car to stop while they snapped pictures of the actor, who was recuperating from heart surgery. And actor Alec Baldwin won a notable victory by being acquitted of battery charges by a jury that accepted that he was acting in self-defense when he struck a photographer who was trying to videotape his wife, Kim Basinger, and their newborn child.

Fayed was a relative newcomer to the pressures of the paparazzi, but only two weeks ago, on a quick visit to California, he was involved in a scuffle with a photographer outside his lawyer’s office in Century City.

Because it is the home of so many celebrities, Los Angeles also is the headquarters for several photographic agencies specializing in the sale of candid shots of the famous at play or in intimate moments. The heads of these agencies insist that the photographers who work for them remain within the law and do not unnecessarily harass their quarry. But as long as editors are prepared to pay lottery-winning sums for exclusive pictures and as long as readers buy their publications, there always will be those who will go to mindless lengths to get the picture. Sometimes with catastrophic consequences.