By Denise Martin, Special to The Times, and Patrick Day, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles has tried to establish tougher controls on paparazzi, who City Councilman Dennis Zine described during a July hearing as having become increasingly aggressive. “They act like a pack of wolves, stalking their prey,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is prevent a tragedy from happening.”
But there are those celebrities who have been fighting back against the invasive lenses for years. Here’s a look at some the strange (Avril Lavigne spits!), expensive (Kanye West smashes cameras!) and violent ways (Scarlett Johansson runs them over!) stars have gotten even.
At left, paparazzi magnet Lindsay Lohan.(James Devaney WireImage.com)
Kanye West
On Sept. 11, 2008, West and his bodyguard smashed the cameras of photographers trying to take pictures of the rapper while he was awaiting a flight at LAX. (TMZ caught the incident on tape, for your viewing pleasure.)
After being temporarily denied access to her kids while on leave from rehab, Britney Spears took out her frustration on an X17 photographer’s car near the Tarzana home of her estranged husband Kevin Federline. She grabbed an umbrella and beat the Ford Explorer of the unlucky photographer. X17online.com posted an “apology” allegedly sent by Spears on its website shortly after the incident. It read: “I was preparing a character for a possible movie role where the husband doesn’t play his part so they swap places. Unfortunately I didn’t get the part. I’m sorry I got all carried away with my role!” (X17online)
Avril Lavigne
She spits, she scores! Avril Lavigne’s choice method of dealing with pesky photographers is to hawk loogies at them. Her aim is good: She hit the lens of a TMZ camera one night. A few days later, after celebrating her 22nd birthday at Hollywood nightclub Hyde, the singer’s saliva smacked another member of the paparazzi square in the face. (Ballesteros EPA)
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon took several photographers to court in 2005 for “false imprisonment,” alleging that they had followed her from her Westside gym and blocked in her car outside a gated community. She lost. Before that, she was confronted by aggressive paparazzi trying to photograph the actress and her children during at trip to Disney’s California Adventure theme park. The photographer allegedly assaulted two park employees, prompting security to call the police. (Kiyoshi Ota / Getty Images)
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey was surfing in Malibu’s Paradise Cove when a group of paparazzi arrived to snap his picture. A group of nearby surfers jumped to the actor’s defense -- attacking the paparazzi, breaking one photog’s nose and dumping his camera in the ocean. When video of the attack appeared on the photo website X17, comments between surfers and photographers resulted in a less-violent rematch confrontation at the beach the following weekend (shown here). (Annie Wells Los Angeles Times)
Scarlett Johansson
In the summer of 2005, Scarlett Johansson tried to evade a caravan of four SUVs filled with paparazzi by entering the Disneyland parking lot. Her efforts to lose the photographers resulted in the actress sideswiping a car containing a mother and her two children. When Johansson got out of the car to call 911, the paparazzi took the opportunity to snap a few more shots. (Max Nash Associated Press)
Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz
The former couple got into a tussle with photographers Saul Lazo and Joe Gonazales, who filed a complaint with the LAPD accusing the pair of battery and grand theft. The incident occurred outside of the Chateau Marmont in 2004. Lazo told US Weekly that after he took some pictures, “Cameron just ran at me. She tried to take me down. Then she took my camera.’' Gonzales, meanwhile, said he dealt with Timberlake, who “jumped in front of me to block the shots so there would be no evidence.” (Andrew D. Bernstein NBAE)
Alec Baldwin
While bringing their newborn daughter home from the hospital in 1996, Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin were confronted by a paparazzi trying to get a shot of their baby. Baldwin and the photographer got into a scuffle, which led to the actor being arrested. He was later cleared of the charge of misdemeanor battery. (Associated Press)
Lindsay Lohan
The troubled young actress was involved in a car crash in May 2005 caused when a pursuing paparazzo accidentally struck her car. The incident led to a statewide law reining in the intrusive photographers. But Lohan encountered more trouble later that year, when she struck a parking van on Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills. She claimed that she was being pursued by a pack of paparazzi, but police later released a statement clearing paparazzi from being a factor in the crash. (Michael Buckner Getty Images)
