Agree that the paps were uncalled for, but not sure I understand what legally enforceable right to privacy a pubic figure has to not have their photo taken while in public. If the paps were violating any traffic or other laws, I would fully support them being prosecuted.
So, even if we are talking about “right to privacy” in non-legal terms, the question is, how does a reasonable person respond to such invasions? The way these 2 responded does not impress me as reasonable, or likely to contribute to any result they desired (unless the desired result was to be mentioned in the press.)
So anybody you think has an over the top reaction to this story, no matter what their reaction is, makes them one and the same with people who blow up crates of Bud Light?
Yes, in the sense that it is being done to put on a show. It’s also like people who loudly announce how much they don’t care about something and then proceed to whine about it on end.
If all the paparazzi were known for doing was just following people home as they drove down the street maybe we could leave it at that, but they are also known for camping out at peoples’ homes, on their lawns, on the street in front of their homes, looking into and taking pictures through windows, and so forth. I think that’s the real issue here for the Sussexes.
I’ve been told all my life that if I feel I’m being followed to NOT go home, to instead go to a police station. Which is exactly what Megan and Harry did. Shouldn’t the same standard apply to all parties here?
I’m not going to say there was anything wrong with them going to the police station - but you being followed by an unknown person is not the same situation as them being followed by photographers. The reason you are told to go to the police station is because presumably the person following you is up to no good and is planning to rob/assault/abduct you - no one will tell you to go to the police station if you know it’s your neighbor driving behind you when you leave the mall to go home.
Did Harry and Meghan know any of the people in the cars that were following? Doubtful. They knew what they were, likely, but that’s not the same as someone you know, particularly in a huge city like NY.
Being followed by people you don’t know is scary.
(And in some circs, scary if you know who they are.)
Sure. But they also knew that they had a police escort, and were being driven by a professional in “a private security vehicle.”
Somehow or another the cops were unable to get a single license # from a single pap’s vehicle, take a photo of one of them to identify later, or otherwise take steps to dissuade such activity?
Anyone know the economics of paps? How many of these idiots have to sell how many photos to earn what kinda coin? (On edit - nevermind.)
And if I’m rich enough to host these 2, well, either I choose to host them knowing it might cause some inconvenience, or I choose not to. In any event, I’m living in a security building, able to afford all manner of security and privacy. And I would be shocked if - once the dynamic duo leaves to flop on someone else’s couch - the paps camp out to catch a shot of me strolling to Zabar’s.
What if your neighbor has been threatening you? What if it’s not your neighbor but a crazy co-worker who has been harassing you?
It has nothing to do with whether the following party is known or not known. It’s whether or not their action falls under harassment or threat.
I don’t know enough about this particular incident to know either way if the people following Harry and Megan were a problem or not.
And you know this… how? Because if the cops had gotten license #'s, had photos/body cam, or any of the rest of it they are not obligated to make that knowledge public.
I had the pleasure sharing a pint with the esteemed Prince in the Spring of 2005, when I was working in London for a short stint.
A few of my bankers and myself were in a bar near Picadilly Square when we noticed a large group of young men celebrating. We inquired what they were celebrating and they informed us that they were all leaving the next day for officer training school somewhere in England and then would be deployed to the Middle East. It was then that I noticed that one of the guys was Prince Harry. We bought them a round and toasted to their success.
My understanding is that the couple weren’t afraid for their well being, they were staying at a friends house on the upper east side and didn’t want to reveal to the paparazzi the location of their friends’ home, to preserve their anonymity in traveling to and from the location while they were there.
If it’s a crazy neighbor /coworker who is threatening/harassing you , yes , you will be told to go the police station rather than home. But when you said
I assumed you were talking about the usual advice which is to go to the police station when someone is following you - not when someone who has threatened you is following you , not when someone crazy is following you. Just when someone is following you. And that advice is not meant for the neighbor who you know is likely to take the same route home from the mall as you do.
Same as with being asked for an autograph. Some reasonable celebrities like it, and some don’t. If they don’t like it, and they ask for it to be stopped, that should be respected.
Googling this, I’m seeing that some of the photographers do avoid taking pictures of those they know don’t like it. And it is well known that these two don’t like it.
OK - why would the paparazzi take the same route home from the gala as Harry and Megan? Did they ALL live on the same block? It was all just a big coincidence?
This is key. If they really want privacy, then check into the Essex House or the Pierre, and tolerate the paparazzi as you walk in and out. Problem solved.
But they want to go in and out of a friend’s house anonymously.
After re-reading the reports, I am willing to cut them some slack for what occured after the gala. I beleive it took them 2 hours to get home and involved a car and a taxi, a stop at the police station, and that they were followed and felt threatened, but it was not a high speed “chase”. Whomever dramatized it as “potentially catastrophic” is resposible for the brouhaha, and it seems like it was not Harry or Megan who said that. Using those terms really helped put this in the news cycle much more than I think it otherwise would, and probably triggered a lot of people’s bullshit meter.
Again, I reiterate my distaste for paparazzi. But if anyone ought to know about the existence and behaviors of paps, these 2 ought to be expert. Heck, paps was one of the reasons they de-royalled. And it is hard to imagine anyone who is close enough friends to host them who would not anticipate that there might be some photographers hanging around.
This will come close to victim blaming - but do we know whether the “dangerous” situation would have developed if, instead of trying to lose the paps, the security “convoy” had simply driven to their destination in a safe manner? Hell, they coulda even given media the damn address to avoid any stress/potential danger in transit.
Sure, celebs ought to be given some privacy. But if they act in ways that seem to almost INCREASE the invasions, that is when they lose any sympathy I might have afforded them. Again, they are well aware of paps’ behavior. They were very able to arrange for whatever security and/or conveniences they wished. Where is the criticism for their security team for letting this get out of control?
That came from their hired mouthpiece. I can understand statement to the press from a representative might have an exaggerated description of such events. So… have the couple followed up on this since the incident? Did they find someone else to speak for them in the future?
It triggers my bullshit meter whenever people who say they want to be left alone have PR agents in their employ.