Paparazzi Wars

Things are not well in the world of the paparazzi.

 We've had Kayne West being arrested over an alleged assault an LA snapper while Russell Brand and Mike Tyson have both had their collars felt over scuffles with snappers . 30Rock star Alex Baldwin is renowned for his biffo bouts with New York photographers while and our National Treasure, actress Nicole Kidman was recently bowled over by an excited pap on a push bike in New York.

Now come a tale of a bust up in Kings Cross between Kidman's bête noire, the paparazzo Jamie Fawcett and another snapper named Max.  Apparently Fawcett was also placed under a  citizen's arrest by a former business partner Ben McDonald and there are claims of broken car mirrors and snaps appeared of Fawcett sporting a black eye before the local constabulary intervened. Fawcett has been the subject of attempted AVO orders in the past from Kidman and Mel B.  Nicole also appeared in court as a witness against him in a libel case against Fairfax Media which Fawcett won but was ordered to pay costs of $1M.

Now a new law has been enacted in California  that prohibits photographers from shooting pics of children without their parents permission. It's mainly aimed at the children of celebrities as swarms of snappers were hanging around school gates to get pics of celebs arriving to pick up their kids. Will such laws spread here?
Sadly gone are the days when the Shuttle and the late gentleman photographer Dave Morgan would be stopped by Tom Cruise , then living in Sydney with Kidman, who would politely ask us if we could leave him alone for a few days. Naturally being very well mannered, we obliged . Once we were rewarded with an invitation to join Tom for lunch and at a game of pool in the local pub.
Meanwhile former high flyer and now bust agency boss Darryn Lyons was last scene riding in a polo event at the Warwick Farm Polo two weeks ago. Rumours that he is reluctant to return to the UK because of the Leveson Inquiry are of course, malicious.