Halle Berry is flaming mad, and by most accounts sure has reason to be. It turns out those grainy pictures of Halle holding her her 4-month-old daughter Nahla weren’t taken at a resort or “out and about” as written. They were taken from a telephoto lens while Halle was in her backyard – and some while she was in her house. It’s a clear and ridiculous violation of privacy, and pretty damn upsetting. Halle isn’t taking it lying down, and is going after the paparazzi responsible.

… the pics, one of which shows a foliage-covered slope and a patio table in the background while others include glimpses of Berry’s mother, were taken when the X-Men star was in her backyard, constituting a “very blatant and invasive trespass. The paparazzi have gone too far. [Gabriel] and I have always remained that we would never sell baby photos or otherwise exploit her in any way,” Berry said in a statement obtained by E! News.

“I will do everything I can for the sake of her safety and well-being to keep her out of the public eye…I intend to do everything I can to make sure the photographer who illegally intruded into my home is criminally prosecuted.”

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said that no complaint has been received and that this may solely be a matter for the L.A. Police Department at this time.

[From E! News]

Life & Style and In Touch Weekly magazines went to press with the photographs before they could be removed, but the photo agency removed the images from their website. They did point out that photos are taken of Britney Spears in her backyard quite often, and no one says anything. Which is a good point… except that what it really means is that those photos aren’t appropriate either. Several years ago Jennifer Aniston successfully sued over topless photos taken of her in her backyard.

People should definitely have the right to privacy in their yards and especially inside their homes. It seems completely unfair that if a celebrity parent refuses to sell photos of their new baby – or give them away for free – that the paparazzi will do whatever it takes to get a shot.

The extreme lengths they’ll go to are absolutely appalling – like the paps who called in a fake fire to Maggie Gyllenhaal’s building so she’d run out with her 5-day-old baby at five in the morning. Halle has kept her baby unusually hidden, but that’s certainly her right, and it’s good that she won’t be pressured into releasing photos.

Note by Celebitchy: The owner of the photo agency who took the pictures has issued a very good response to this and owns up to their error, saying “It was a poor decision to put those pictures out in the first place because they were taken on private property. I think she’s completely in the right to protect her child.”

We do business with the agency, Fame pictures, and they’re a very good company to deal with, especially when compared to some of the other photo agencies. Of course I’m biased in how I view this, but how many times have you viewed photos that should have been private? Think of how much money these photos are worth, and how often Britney is photographed in her backyard, and you can see how there will be people camped out trying to get pictures. In their celebrity-skewed view of the world, this seems like a decent idea with a good payoff. We can vilify the paparazzi all we want, but we’re the ones keeping them in business and egging them on. These are not the same guys in camo fighting with Brangelina’s security and it would be unfair to lump them all together.

We had yet to subscribe to Fame when these Halle Berry photos came out, but these photos along with other exclusives prompted me to contact them and I definitely would have published them at the time without questioning their origin. It would be hypocritical of me to act like I wouldn’t.

Maybe this incident, coupled with the paparazzi problems Brad and Angelina are having, will deter photographers from taking photos of celebrities on private property. There’s definitely a demand for it, but the celebrities aren’t taking it lying down and are working to secure their hard-earned privacy.

Here’s Halle Berry leaving a dentist’s office in Los Angeles on July 14th. Images thanks to WENN.