Last week, when Jamie Lynn Spears flew from Louisiana to Los Angeles to visit her sister Britney and attend the birthday party of her two nephews, Sean Preston and Jayden, LAX Airport police helped the young mom avoid the paparazzi crush by setting up a decoy operation. Apparently, another passenger on the plane bore a resemblance to Jamie Lynn, and she volunteered to pose as her at LAX, distracting the growing crowd of photogs assembling inside the terminal. Meanwhile, the real Jamie Lynn, along with her infant daughter Maddie and her mom, were escorted by cops off the tarmac, avoiding throngs of photographers. Well, the airport police who helped her now face an internal investigation by their superiors.
“It is not the policy or practice for Airport Police to provide a celebrity decoy,” LAX spokesman Albert Rodriguez tells E! News. “Airport Police has opened an internal investigation of the incident and will take appropriate administrative action if warranted.
“Los Angeles World Airports policy prohibits special courtesies to be provided to celebrities, unless extenuating circumstances such threat of danger to the individual or the safety of the general public are involved.”
Things got started when Spears, her new daughter, Maddie, and mother Lynne were escorted by officers directly off their Delta flight without even entering the airport terminal.
“Jamie Lynn left the airport via the tarmac because of the baby. It would never ever have happened if she didn’t have the baby,” a police source tells E! News.
While the family was safely whisked away, paparazzi in turn focused their attention on another young woman accompanined by several police officers. The police walked the camera-hounded girl out of the terminal, imploring shutterbugs to back both up and off, fueling the photographers’ belief that the escortee was a V.I.P.
“Unless extenuating circumstances such threat of danger to the individual or the safety of the general public are involved.” I would call a 17-year-old with a tiny baby, about to get stampeded by paparazzi, and “extenuating circumstance.” But maybe that’s an everyday occurrence in Los Angeles. It sounds to me like the airport police don’t feel they did anything wrong, and I tend to agree. If anything, the airport should change its policy regarding allowing large crowds of photographers inside the terminal. If they aren’t there on airport business, wouldn’t they be considered trespassers?
Note by Celebitchy: Here’s a link to the video of the fake Jamie Lynn on TMZ. You can hear a photographer say “Are you worried your boyfriend is going to leave you? Is that why you’re here?” I agree with MSat – the police were pretty justified in faking them out. Header image thanks to TMZ.
With all the rotten things going on, a kind, thoughtful gesture towards a young girl who’s been through the mill, results in likely negative consequences for the airport police concerned?
Mixed up, f*ked up, muddled up world. 🙄
Shouldn’t this be some sort of “homeland security” issue? I mean, there’s a list three miles long of what I can’t have in my carry-on and I have to prove my cell phone isn’t a bomb, but a pack of paps with cameras just roams the terminal? âť“
Ridiculous. If they haven’t passed anti-pap laws, this gal doesn’t deserve special decoy police protection at taxpayers’ expense. Let her hire bodyguards with all that money she saves by shopping at Wal-Mart.
It does seem rather unfair that after doing something great for a kid with a baby that is about to be trampled should be met with an internal investigation!
I agree that the papparazzi should not be allowed into the airport terminal if they don’t have business there, and by business I don’t mean stampeding the celebrities.
Watching the video on TMZ, I saw there was another one about Salma Hayek having “only 2 cops to escort her today”. So it seems like there is an habit that LAX’s cops escort celebrities… so what’s the difference with pushing the mission a bit further like today ?
Is anyone that shocked? We live in a culture that worships celebrity. This is standard practice, ‘y’all’.
I think it was completely justified. I don’t understand why those huge swarms of paps are allowed in the terminals at all.
I agree, Enn. This is an unfortunate 17 yo with an infant that certainly doesn’t have a mother to protect her. What’s so terrible about helping a kid get through the airport safely, when there is an obvious horde of paps trying to get to her? Those guys should be rewarded, not punished.
Yeah, justified. I think it should always be justified when traveling with children.
WTF?!?!,
Are airport police supported by tax payers dollars or are they hired by the individual airports? Further more I have to agree with Nina, if people are not there on airport buisness then they should be considered tresspassing. Especially when you consider all the extra airport security going on now.
After 9/11 I’m surprised they allow anybody who’s not authorized or booked on a flight to be inside the airport terminal.
I mean, if 20 paparazzi started swarming somebody in a mall or something, they’d have security all over them. But at the airport, there’s nothing done?
why didn’t she just hire a body guard is she was so concerned about her safety? she’s used them before. the airport police are supposed to be keeping the airport secure for everyone, not just some dumb hick with a baby.
Paps are scum.