Gossipcop: California Passes Bill that Targets Reckless Paparazzi Filed under ( california, Gossip Cop, paparazzi )

The paparazzi situation has long been out of control.

On Tuesday, the California Assembly took action.

Legislators overwhelmingly approved a bill that will hit reckless photographers with harsh penalties including possible imprisonment.

According to the legislation, photographers who break traffic laws or interfere with the operation of a celebrity’s car can receive a maximum $5,000 fine and one year imprisonment.

After making its way through the Assembly and Senate this summer, a modified version passed Tuesday’s reconfirmation vote 43-13.

Now the state’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger – himself a victim of paparazzo pests — must sign the act into law.

“We feel this new law will improve public safety in general and hopefully prevent anyone else from getting hurt,” said Paparazzi Reform Initiative founder Sean Burke.

Celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon have supported the measure, and with good reason considering recent events.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart had to flee paparazzi who weaved through Los Angeles traffic, endangering the stars and other motorists.

Lindsay Lohan’s first tweet after rehab took on photographers who hounded her as she drove.

Paparazzi badgered January Jones into a minor accident, provoked Alexander Skarsgard and took invasive shots of Tori Spelling’s toddler, among other offenses. In general, photographers indifferent to decency have far more entitled than the celebs they accuse of bad behavior.

Gossip Cop is thrilled to see California take steps toward curbing the paparazzi menace.

Tuesday is the 13th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death in an accident blamed on swarming photographers. Hopefully, stronger legislation and harsher penalties against paparazzi will help to ensure that an often dangerous tabloid culture doesn’t claim more victims.

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GossipCop: Rob and Kristen Leave Not-So-Private “Love Nest” Filed under ( Gossip Cop, Robsten )

There is a report today that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have moved out of their purported “love nest.”

Supposedly, the couple stayed there every now and then when their respective filming schedules permitted.

A real estate agent for the property claims Pattinson and Stewart “are no longer renting the home,” according to E! Online, which also cites a source who says, “It wasn’t as private as they hoped.”

And that’s the real story here.

Whether or not Pattinson and Stewart have left the residence, whether or not they stayed there in the first place, it was not the media’s business to share specifics or photographs.

Gossip Cop made the point last month, when tabloids like Life & Style and outlets like HollywoodLife stooped to revealing pictures of the site even while acknowledging the couple’s well-documented desire for privacy.

Kudos to E! Online for admitting that its own (past) contribution to the feeding frenzy was a mistake and declining to divulge any new information it’s learned about Pattinson and Stewart’s private spots.

If only Life & Style, HollywoodLife and similarly invasive outlets would follow that example

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Calling Off Robert Pattinson “Marriage Proposal” Cover Filed under ( Gossip Cop, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Robsten )

(OK!)
While we admire OK! magazine for being so romantic, this week’s “exclusive” about ”Rob’s Marriage Proposal” is just laughable.

Oh, didn’t you hear? Robert Pattinson popped the question to Kristen Stewart on the Eclipse set!

At least that’s what OK!’s cover wants us to believe.

According to the tab, it all started after Stewart launched into a “screaming tirade” when Pattinson, busy partying in London, “missed his flight and showed up on set a day late.” An OK! source explains that Stewart was “really upset because she felt he was acting like a single guy.”

Fascinating.

Except for the fact the rumored late flight fight never happened. Gossip Cop busted it already. Pattinson arrived in Vancouver two days before he was scheduled to be on set on April 30.

As Gossip Cop reported at the time, there’s even photographic proof that Pattinson had been back in Vancouver for two days. Wouldn’t he have seen Stewart in that time?

But in OK!’s warped reality, after their quarrel Pattinson “calmed” Stewart “with a surprise that moved her to tears.”

“Rob told Kristen he wants to spend the rest of his life with her — period,” claims a source for the mag. “He’s proposed they’ll get married one day. He knows Kristen will make a perfect wife and can’t imagine being with anyone else.”

Notice the careful wording.
On the wrong side of the facts, OK! can’t quite bring itself to say outright that Pattinson proposed marriage, even though that’s exactly what the cover and headline infer. Instead, Pattinson (supposedly) “proposed” the subject of marriage without formally asking Stewart to marry him.

How convenient!

So Pattinson and Stewart resolved a fight that never happened with a “proposal” that included no proposal (or engagement ring, or any other evidence). It’s the old “clean up one fake story with a second fake story” routine!



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