Nicole Richie has issued a very stern warning to the paparazzi who wait for her to drop off and pick up her daughter outside of preschool. She wrote a letter on her website to paparazzi agency X17 telling them that she’ll do background checks on all of them and turn in anyone who doesn’t have a license or (presumably) is in the country illegally. Richie also refers to an October, 2009 accident in which one of X17’s photographers rear-ended her car while chasing her for pictures. Nicole was hospitalized briefly following the accident, and was lucky to be in the car alone without her children. There was speculation that it was set up to cause a disturbance and create more valuable photos. Nicole was subsequently granted a three year restraining order against the two paparazzi involved. Here’s her letter:
Dear X17,
THANK YOU so much for posting the video of your employees sitting outside of my daughter’s school, because now the entire world can see how creepy and disgusting you are.
You do not get to spend 200 dollars on a camera, and think that gives you a free pass to shadow my child. These are strangers, grown men, stalking young children. You think that’s ok?
Here’s a better visual: Pulling up to school and seeing grown men slouched in black windowed cars outside of a preschool, all day. I’m not even there, so you cannot say you are following me as you always do. You are stalking the children. Now how do you feel?
I PROMISE YOU that I am going to do a background check on each and every person that I see there. For the safety of my children and others. Because the last time I did a check on your staff, I found they had no license. Remember that day? The day that ended with a car accident and me in a hospital? You, x17, better be pretty confident in your actions, and feel really good about what you are doing. If I find out anyone has a suspended, restricted or invalid license, I will have them thrown in jail before they can pick up the phone and call their lawyers.
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES. These are young children and you should know better. X17, you are irresponsible and repulsive. Consider this a warning.
Nicole Richie
[From Nicole Richie’s website]
Nicole should lend a hand to Jennifer Garner too. I know a lot of people (Kaiser) think Garner calls the paps but I think that they hound and stalk her and her family relentlessly. There’s a new California anti-paparazzi law that went into effect in January, 2010 that makes it a crime to “sell unauthorized photos of celebrities in ‘personal or familial activity.'” Richie could call the cops on these creeps if they’re breaking the law. I think threatening to hire a private investigator might be slightly more effective at getting rid of them.
Here’s Nicole promoting her book on 10/6/10. Her hair is so pretty like that! I love the style and color – and her makeup is perfection! I hope she starts a new trend for celebrities to take out the ridiculous extensions. Credit: WENN.com
Wow, she looks great!
Turn their asses into what?
Um, does the pre-school not have the right to call the cops on strange men hanging around outside a pre-school all day?? That’s creepy behaviour. They should all be mistaken for pedos and arrested or at least told they are not to be within a certain distance of the school, or cannot lurk there for over a certain period of time without producing proof they have a child attending that school.
Come to think about it the paps are giving the local pedophiles great cover… a nice posse to disappear into or by. Great.
Oh, please! It looks like someone is eager for a bit of notoriety.
I have a VERY hard time believing the outrage that most celebrities show whenever they make ridiculous displays of sanctimoniousness, by pretending that they have no part in the paparazzi/famous person game. Especially in the case of untalented, unappealing, spoiled, bitchy, good-for-nothing famewhores like Nicole Richie.
I recently saw a television programe in which Perez Hilton told UK presenter Fearne Cotton how many celebrities actually hire paparazzi to follow them around for a week or two, in exchange for up to 50% of the profits derived from the sale of any photos that might interest the gossip press. Or else, many celebrities call the paparazzi themselves and then “pretend” to be horrified by the incessant harassing that they, poor little important ones, have to suffer at the hands of nosy mortals.
This is only a ridiculous and very cynical way of saying “look at me! I’m here and I matter!”.
Sadly, Nicole (and a bunch of others), you wouldn’t have arrived anywhere were it not for nepotism/scandals/opportunism, so shut up already and be grateful that you have opportunities that you don’t deserve. Get a job and let the media exposure for those who actually have some talent.
She looks terrific, what a great mom!
Good for her. I totally agree. Agree 100%. I never understood the sudden interest in celeb children.
Ummmm- has she had a nose-job?? What is different about her face? That can’t be the effect of the newish blonde hair could it? Botox? Something has made her more vanilla/generic looking.
Oh my gosh, I love her hair!
I don’t know lady ballz, but she’s looking a little like Paris Hilton.
I agree with Pont Neuf, especially the last paragraph.
She looks so good right now. Love her hair and she is the perfect weight for her small frame.
@Celebitchy-I totally agree with you about Garner & Affleck. Neither of those two seem like the type that enjoy getting papped with their daughters every time they set a foot out the door.
Ok, I don’t think the paps are nice people. The one who’s leg got ran over a couple of weeks ago should learn how to move out of the way of moving vehicles. However, the celebrities are in on the dangerous game that is being played. They are not innocent.
I think Nicole has every right as a citizen to turn in anyone breaking the law but she can keep the righteous indignation to herself because there is no way this girl is still being hounded by the paps for no reason at all. She hans’t had an album out, a movie, or play and she has only starred in one television show years ago. If the paps are still interested in her it’s because she wants them to be.
I think the letter will get her some press for her book.
Pont neuf it’s a sad day when you are willing to believe Perez Hilton
pont neuf maybe that is true what that fat slob said of some celebrities but I truly believe Nicole Richie isn’t one of them…Lilo and Hilton and others like that are the ones that call eht photo agencies but I’m with this girl on this one…get a life and get another reputable job!!
wow, pont neuf, you sound really angry. i actually believe this about nicole richie, where i wouldn’t other celebrities. she’s really turned her life around since her paris hilton bff days. she’s grown up and settled down. and while i believe a lot of celebs call paparazzi to follow them (and believe it 100% with someone like paris hilton), i don’t feel many would call them to stake out a preschool.
and at least richie is working for her money-her books are bestsellers, she’s an ok actor and she’s actualla really talented singer. unlike paris who just shows up to stuff.
i just don’t understand all the hatred and vitriole that pop up on this site sometimes.
I think her anger is more about paps endangering and scaring her children, not about HER relationship ALONE with the paps. I don’t read this letter as “righteous indignation”, I read it as a mom who is fiercely protecting her children. Can’t say I blame her.
Also, FYI, Richie is sporadically on the TV show “Chuck” (for those that say she’s not doing anything).
If it were just her, I might believe the posts about her deliberately courting the paps. But it isn’t. She is concerned for her children, as any mother should be under the circumstances.
I completely agree that the paps who stalk little children are scum and should be stopped. It’s one thing to snap a pic of a celeb having lunch on the terrace of a restaurant. It’s an entirely different thing to sit outside a preschool for hours trying to get pics of a celebrities’ child.
I think its ok to follow celebs…but not their kids.
Where would Nicole be if not for the Papz? They want the publicity, but then they don’t want it…….a little double-standard, don’t you think!
Wow, I cannot believe some of the comments here.
Can a mother not protect her children? I dont care if I was a celebrity or not, NO ONE would hound and harm my kid either! These are just babies. I dont think its attention seeking behavior at all. She seems like a really good mom and she’s probably tired of seeing the pap’s sitting outside her kids school and looking like pervs. I know I would be for sure!
Good for you Nicole! And.. you look fabulous.
She looks great in those photos and sounds serious. I was not aware of the new law and hope many take advantage of it. I don’t believe Garner calls the paps either.
Pont Neuf, have you ever been in a situation where you felt threatened as an innocent bystander when you got pushed and shoved away just because you happened to be on a sidewalk where a pack of paparazzi was hounding a celeb who walked out of a school building?
Or when you were trying to buy groceries and were harassed because you got in those guys’ way and they thought it was up to them to remind you you had no right to be there, in a public car park?
Have you ever been subjected to their screams, their cat-calls, their insults that were not only aimed at the celeb they were trying to hunt down but at you?
Have you ever witnessed how they open car doors of their prey, how they stand in the way as a pack so their prey can’t move away and nobody else can either? Or how they pull at people’s clothes, be it celeb or innocent bystander – kids, old people included?
They’re like a pack of predators on the prowl, and believe me, they harass people, even risking injuries just by behaving recklessly.
Perez Hilton would a nobody, were it not for paparazzi, so he of all people should shut up.
I don’t think she courts the paps because she doesn’t say anything about them taking pictures of her when she is with her daughter, she’s just talking about how creepy and awful it is that they stake out the preschool to get a picture. I do wish she would have said a little more about the other children at that school and their parents and how it’s affecting them. And even if she had called the paparazzi on the day she got into the accident, that doesn’t give them the right to rear end her or put people’s lives in danger for a freaking picture.
I just wonder, is there really a demand for pictures of Nicole Richie picking her kid up from preschool? Her kids are adorable but I don’t want to see her going to pick up her kid every day. I can’t think of any celebrity that I like so much I’d want to see a picture of them picking their child up from school every day.
I don’t believe a damn thing Perez says, that skeezy scumbucket. As for Nic – she’s looks fantastic but needs to ditch that nude lipstick and go for a brighter color.
I am more of the cynical mindset, along with Pont Neuf.
But more to the point, has she completely changed all of her face? She looks way different than she used to. I know she lost weight but she seems kind of frozen looking. And her eye make-up needs to be blended, it’s distracting.
The line should be drawn at the children. Imagine being 2 feet tall with a barrage of flashes blinding you. I kind of understand why Suri Cruise is almost always in arms. That’s gotta be damn scary and dangerous.
I agree with Nanea. I can’t say much for Paris Hilton, but Nicole Ritchie has been on the straight and narrow path ever since she had kids. If she is not courting the paparazzi while with her children, then she has a right to be able to leave them at a preschool while she does her job or whatever, without them hanging around like jackals. The children are not doing anything to attract attention, but their safety is at risk if there are unauthorized people stalking them. It IS creepy, and I’d react the same way.
“If I find out anyone has a suspended, restricted or invalid license, I will have them thrown in jail before they can pick up the phone and call their lawyers.”
You mean, you’ll have them cited and given a date in traffic court? Because that’s all they do for driving on a suspended or absent license. They only throw you in jail for things like, oh, I don’t know, driving wasted down the wrong side of the freeway.
Those in glass houses, sweetheart.
I totally agree with her!!! And she look great…but what the heck could she possibly write about?
Nicole (& every other celeb with kids) has every right in the world to defend her children. These paps literally stalk these kids & that is flat out sick
What’s with the anger of her statement? She’s not complaining about them stalking HER, she’s complaining about them stalking her CHILDREN who are totally innocent and need to be protected. Some celebrity parents don’t care if the paps hound them and upset their kids because they know they are getting some public attention -so at least she’s being a responsible parent and trying to create buzz about something that definitely needs attention. Shoot, I loose it on the playground if I see ANYONE hanging around who looks like they don’t have a child…and one had a video camera the other day and me and a friend of mine watched him like a hawk until I saw him find his granddaughter…I can’t even imagine what it feels like having so many strangers hanging around -who knows who could be disguised as a pap to get near their kids!??
I don’t follow her, her books, her shows or whatever else she’s doing. I can take or leave her…but she’s definitely earned some respect for wanting to protect her kids.
Until any of us have our children stalked on a daily basis, we really don’t know how she feels.
And yes, risky bizzness believe a fat loser like Hilton. What a bitch he is.
I think the US should make laws like the UK, where a child’s face cannot be published.
I wonder if that’s why Jen Garner never does herself up to take her kids out. Maybe she’s hoping they’ll get sick of her sloppy look and leave her be. Too bad it doesn’t work.
Chase the celebs all you want, but leave the kids alone.
I remember a chubby young girl on the Simple Life SOOOO desperate for fame. Be careful what you ask for. These young dumb celbs dont think hey in 5 yrs Ill have kids and the paps will be following my kids! Duh!
She is one of the slew of new Hollywood “celebs” famous for nothing that repulse me. She would cry if the paps stopped following her because she has no real career except being in tabloids of which is all pap photos.
Why dont we hear REAL celebs like Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, Gewn Stefani, Courtney Cox etc crying foul when their children are photographed? Im sure they hate it just as much as Nicole but realize it comes with the territory she SOOOOOO desperately wanted.
Nanea- I wouldnt CHOSE to be famous if i didnt like paparazzi. Yes they are intrusive but YES they come w the territory and every person who becomes famous in this day in age (it may have been diff in Golden era but has been this way for decades now) KNOWS this. DO NOT come to Hollywood seeking fame if you dont like being followed by paps- its pretty simple! AND there are thousands of celebs but the same few are featured over & over in the tabloids. It ISNT because they are more popular – in fact its more the low lifes famous for famous parents vs a career of their own. Hum I wonder why?? Because they WANT to be photographed by paps & be in those tabloids! 99% of the time they tell them where they are going for a photo op!
She was made famous by having a famous father and by the paparazzi but now she feels they are bothering her child??? plleeaassee!
@ Kim what young girl who is having fun and living life DOES think about what life will be like when they have kids?? Its impossible to even imagine you feeling that kind of love until they show up. While I was in my “roaring 20’s” I was a complete immature party girl who hadn’t a clue about 5-10 years down the road. I guess celebrities are suppose to be psychic now.
@Katja
LOL
Nicole is doing great and she really seems to have learned from her DUI and has put it behind her. Her probation was extended to finish traffic school but she did have 2 kids so it wasn’t like she was going to jail for that.
I don’t get all the hate either. She’s trying to protect her daugther and the other kids in the school – it could even be that the other parents wanted her to write the letter because she has the money to back up her threat of investigating them. And if I remember correctly, she was pregnant when they rear ended her, so I doubt she staged it herself. I really admire her and how she turned around. I always wondered why she didn’t get name dropped more as one of the Hollywood “pretty” girls – to me she is infinitely more stunning than a Meghan Fox. Very unique beauty.
Pont Neuf
I agree with you that celebrities call the paps so they follow and and then they pretend to be upset. I believe that Nicole did this for a while but now she doesn’t want to do it anymore. Only the good actors don’t need the paparazzi, but those ones who are trying constantly to get the job. Many of them would already be forgotten already.
How come Streep, Freeman, Seymor Hoffman, Amy Adams aren’t constantly papped, it is because they don’t call them cause they don’t need them for their career .
And i believe Perez on this one cause he has nothing to lose and it actually makes sense.
I see nothing wrong with her complaining about the paps being outside her daughter’s pre-school. What mother, famous or not, wants strangers in cars snapping pictures of their children in this day and age? Seriously, who on earth would want their children’s lives disrupted by weirdo paps?
Pont Nuef – “Get a job and let the media exposure for those who actually have some talent.” The people who actually have talent usually want to be noticed for their talent not what they wear to pick up coffee at Starbucks. I wouldn’t mind it so much if they didn’t play the sympathy card. Either leave, admit you like it and what the attention gets you, or at the very least stop complaining about it!
No publishing house would be clamoring to have a famous singer’s daughter (who has an associate degree in Art and Media studies and no formal writing experience) to write a nonfiction novel for them. And it would not have sold nearly that many copies or had such heavy promotion if she wasn’t a tabloid star. But at least she is (hopefully) seriously trying to protect her kids rather than use them for press like some of the other – not going to name names.
I do agree she should be able to protect her children.
Feebee- they probably have telephoto lenses and know the exact spot where the school’s private property ends. If the are off school grounds there is not much the school can do.
Stronzilla – either stone, pumpkins, or the police depending on her mood
Love Angelina – your deity along with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes seem to be at the forefront of this. They sell photos of them (even if it goes to charity) and constantly talk about them when they are promoting something. I do think if a celeb opens that door and gives people access to their kids for their own gain know what they are doing and the trade off. But if the parents don’t use the kids for promotion those kids especially should be off limits. Some others just fan the fire and seem to put their business interests above their children’s interests.
About the license thing, I don’t think she is talking about driver’s licenses (although maybe for deportation.) I know CA has been talking about requiring paparazzi to be licensed but I don’t know if it is in effect.
This is the first time I’ve ever noticed it but it REALLY jumped out at me from these photos. She looks *just* like a young Barbara Walters. Seriously. Doesn’t she? Am I nuts?
I don’t get the anger either. I don’t care how much you hate her and think she brought this on herself. She is talking about her PRESCHOOL age daughter being stalked by lurking men.
When I pick up my daughter from school it’s a sweet private time. If I pulled up and saw creeps lurking around staking out her school I would be totally enraged. My daughter would be totally scared by them and the cameras and every day her leaving school would be ruined.
It’s not right and exactly as someone said, why the hell does the school allow grown strange men to lurk outside a preschool…??
oh god, shut up. you’re famous. what’d you expect? put blankets on top of their heads & keep at locked away at home. i hate when celebrities bitch & moan about paparazzi.
She is concerned as any mother in her situation would be. not only for her children but for other peoples children as well.
I believe she doesn’t want her children stalked or involved in an accident.
That’s common sense.
She must’ve had the tip of her nose refined and had lip injections to match with that ‘corpse frost’ shade of lip colour that’s been so popular these last few years. She’s also returned to bleaching the bejezus out of her hair and has stopped eating again.
Keep running, Nic, you’ll be that Dream WASP yet.
There was an incident last year when the cops picked up Jennifer Garners insane stalker close to where her eldest girl goes to school, at the time I wondered if he had figured out the location from paparazzi photos. That is too scary. I think pics of celebrity kids should be a no go – especially where they go to school and where they play on a regular basis. It’s totally irresponsible. Good on Nicole.
Good on her! I love Nicole Richie.
What is wrong with some of you people? “Oh she asks for it,” or “whatever, she’s just a famewhore who probably calls the paps herself?” Maybe when she was a drugged out mess hanging out with Parasite Hilton, but it seems crystal clear to me and anyone with half a brain that she’s pretty different than she was then, and if she is calling agencies, I’m sure the ones she calls aren’t the ones she’s calling out. I hate, hate, hate when people defend the paparazzi. It’s one thing to take a picture, keep your distance and do your job. It’s another thing to hurl obscenity filled insults at people who are with their children (or by themselves for that matter), harass people who are driving (which is extremely dangerous to anyone on the road, not just celebs), and stick their cameras up womens skirts. What. Is. Wrong with you? I don’t care if you “asked for it” by being a celebrity or not. Unless you’re a Lindsay Lohan trying to set up being papped because you’re desperate and cracked out, no one deserves to be violated like that. No one. That kind of victim blaming and shaming is disgusting. Nicole clearly is referring to paps waiting for her child outside daycare (GROSS and reeks of the MO of a child molester) and being reckless in their attempts to get photos of her (the car accident). Like I said, I understand these paps have a job to do, but when did that give them license to act in such obnoxious and gross ways? Anyone who defends stuff like that should be punched in the throat.
@michael – you’re disgusting. You really think celebrities should just throw blankets over their kids heads in order to go through their daily routine? I hope to god you don’t have children and that you never become famous. Your kids will be in therapy for years.
nicole herself shot to “fame” based on a “reality” show and being a tabloid famewhore.
but her children did not.
it’s that simple. the kids are innocent and should be protected.
Cookie, I agree with you. Kids should be off limits. Though I know there are celebs who do tip them off in exchange for the attention and fame, I don’t think it’s true of every single celebrity out there, and if a parent is asking that their child not be followed and photographed, that should be respected no matter who they are.
If this law has supposedly been in effect for almost a year, why do we constantly still see these photos everywhere?
I totally agree with her. This should be outlawed and it should be against the law to call paps for yourself as well. It endangers far too many unwitting passers-by and causes traffic danger, and it’s getting worse and worse as people are more desperate for money and this requires no skills except persistence. It’s BS.
I don’t know why people have this all or nothing idea when it comes to paps. In general celebrities don’t have a problem with the paps. But when they get out of control that’s when they hate them. Is it really necessary for the paps to block a car or entrance/exit of an establishment in order to trap a celebrity? They become intrusive. Everybody, including celebrities, deserves some peace and privacy.
I don’t know about the paparazzi law but it doesn’t seem like it’s being enforced by the celebrities or police.
I don’t think that law is being enforced either. Sigh. If I see photos of the Afflecks kids on other sites I always take the time to comment that it’s not right. That is something we can all do. One site actually named Violet Afflecks school in the photo captioning. There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, it’s up to us to tell these guys when they are out of line maybe over time they will stop buying the pics.
Smack head famous for being an attention whore whines when someone takes her photo. *rolls eyes*
Even if Nicole Richie were to call the paps every single damn day to have them take pictures of her, the kids still have a right to be protected. Those who say otherwise, like many in this thread, are utterly vile.
@Cookie, it’s not the content of your comment that is measured, it’s the fact you made a comment. Not commenting at all would show disinterest and make them less likely to take photos of those little girls. They measure interest by the amount of comments, not be the content of the comments.
Her dad was here in Australia a couple of weeks ago, as part of our Grand Final entertainment, and he was very well received.
*The Grand Final is our footballing equivalent to the Superbowl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFwMvEDsDp4
Wasn’t she endangering the people’s lives when she was driving around drunk and high? She could have killed someone’s beloved family member. Guess she didn’t think about that until she had a family of her own.
Good for her…
Kudos for her.
Myself I have always believed that paprazzi are fine when they are doing the job properly, standing in the street obstructing the lawful right of a car to drive is not correct. And if the Law enforcement got off their asses in those towns and did the jobs they are paid to do in just these situations, I bet their would be less problems.
Yes, yes, yes, I know there are some “stars” that call paps in advance, but that should also be outed by the paps with proof as well. How would that make that star feel that they now have people KNOWING that they are the ones who called in their whereabouts???
Basically If a star is promoting a movie a show, a fashion gig or something they are being paid to do, then Paps are fine. At the grocery store, at the school picking up kids, on their vacation with loved ones? NOT OKAY.