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Are We The Paparazzi?
I try to stay in my nice little world of watching and covering television. Sometimes the rare occurrence happens when I get the phone call to go and cover what I would consider a news event in the entertainment world. To me a news event is anything that involves death, drugs, divorce, disappearances... you get it.. in the world of the famous and infamous. By dedicating myself to covering shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol", I'm pretty much assured of keeping out of the slimy side of celebrity.
This morning, I get a call from our assignment desk to travel up to Promises Malibu, the rehab facility that is currently home to Lindsay Lohan. We would be shooting stand-ups for our daily show about Michael Lohan's (Lindsay's dad) alleged claims that she had been using a fair amount of drugs in the time leading up to her accident and subsequent trip to rehab. It's the type of story I personally don't care to cover but the show needed me so I went. Plus, I'd never mind a trip to beautiful Malibu. In fact, the road leading up to the rehab center is a long winding road with breathtaking views of the ocean.
As I arrived, to the road where Promises sits, I expected to see mounds of paparazzo milling about waiting for a shot. Nothing. No one. All was quiet on the Lindsay front. As we get ready to set up atop a hill looking down upon Promises, a woman comes walking up to us... a neighbor inquiring whether or not we were paparazzi. She offered up that Lindsay was no longer at Promises. The night before around 9:30pm she had seen paparazzi, a Sherriff's deputy and guards milling about. This morning they were gone which means Lindsay had left. My producer instincts kick in and I immediately alert the folks via blackberry back at the office that Lindsay had flown the coop. This woman had no idea her information was about to cause a huge stir back at Access Hollywood. The folks here are still trying to figure out, right now as I write this, where Lindsay went and if she ditched rehab altogether.
We shoot our stand-ups and make sure we cover our butts... just in case Lindsay has busted out of rehab after just four days, ala Britney Spears. Needless to say the folks in this Malibu community are not thrilled by all the media attention Promise's famous inhabitants has attracted over the years. As I'm leaving a man in a pickup truck zooms by me, I'm assuming a photographer looking for a shot of Lindsay. I see him get on his walkie talkie, I'm sure to alert people that cars have gathered outside of Promises.
As I drive away slowly, I'm asked by a woman, "Are you the paparazzi?"
I tell her, "No. I'm with Access Hollywood."
She looks straight at me and with an accusatory tone says, "Well, aren't you guys the paparazzi too?"
Are we? Has entertainment news crossed the line into dangerous territory where we too have become stalkers of celebrity prey? Even if we don't follow the stars around, chase them down and snap photos of them.. doesn't buying what they are selling then make us paparazzi by default?
I would never defend someone who makes the choice to become a public figure. I believe certain rights are stripped of someone who is in the fame game. They will do just about anything to get their mugs on a magazine cover. So, they then have no right to complain when the media begins to take notice and that snowballs into full blown celeb obsession. However, what does bother me is how this obsession has spilled over into mainstream media. No longer is it just tabloids and websites, whose main goal is to cut celebrities down to size, that are watching and waiting for someone, anyone to make a misstep. Now, I'm seeing celebrity scandals on "Today," CNN and local news outlets. The day of Rosie and Elisabeth's fight on "The View" became the biggest story for just about every show on television including local news outlets in the Mid-West and the South. When did a cat fight become a lead story?
Does anyone care anymore about what goes on behind the scenes at a TV show or on a film set...Nobody wants to be bored to tears by someone talking about "their craft" but there is a way to get to know the person behind your favorite characters without delving into scandalous territory. Or have we simply learned that it's much more interesting to watch people break down and combust. I for one could use some good light fluffy entertainment news again.
i am one of those people who live in the midwest and, in my opinion, there is no clear cut line anymore between what you do at access hollywood and what i read on the cover of a magazine at the grocery store. i'm not sure you are to blame; it's simply the nature of the beast - supply and demand. but the truth is, think about what you are covering and what your job really entails, even if it is just a behind the scenes look at our favorite tv show or their "craft". the outcome, whether it's a story about why lindsay ended up in rehab or how angelina honed in on mariane pearl's true feelings, is always contrived, a thought or feeling so calculated by the source that it's hard to take seriously. my point is, it's all a bunch of BS because the viewers know the publicists, producers, writers, and celebrities have an agenda - and it comes across on the screen.
while i like to watch access hollywood and i think it's well produced, i still watch it for frivolous entertainment. i never look at it as the "truth" about hollywood, and unfortunately, if i miss the show on a thursday night, i know i can read about the same thing after a trip to my local grocery store.
so yes, i do think your show, and other shows like it, lends itself to the paparrazzi category.
Billy Bush... thanks for your Blog... this is why you are different from the rest. We appreciate the few of you that still exist in a world that has become all about wishing for someones misfortune to be entertained... how sad is that?