Kanye West has blogged in that incredibly convincing all-caps overly emotional style of his that it’s all the paparazzi’s fault that he smacked a photographer with his camera. He starts by invoking Princess Diana’s death and then goes on to say that there needs to be laws protecting people from being photographed in public. He may be right, but he’s not one to give advice on the matter. West was arrested in Newcastle, England for assaulting a paparazzo outside a club late Thursday night. It was his second abusive incident involving a photographer in just over two months:
WHO’S WINNING, ME OR THE MEDIA?
REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH LIGHT I PUT OUT, THERE ARE PEOPLE WORKING JUST AS HARD TO ONLY DELIVER DARKNESS. IF YOU LISTEN TO MY MUSIC, HOW COULD I DELIVER SO MANY POSITIVE UPLIFTING MESSAGES AND BE THE MONSTER THAT THE MEDIA PAINTS. PAPARAZZI GIVE REAL PHOTOGRAPHERS A BAD NAME. A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, THEIRS ARE WORTH A THOUSAND DOLLARS…LET US NOT FORGET THE PAPS KILLED PRINCESS DIANA. WHEN WILL THERE BE A LAW PASSED THAT SIMPLY ENFORCES THAT SOMEONE HAS TO ASK TO TAKE A PHOTOGRAPH OF YOU. THAT WOULD SEEM LIKE COMMON COURTESY. RIGHT NOW THE PAPS ARE ABOVE THE LAW AND THE PEOPLE THEY SHOOT ARE BELOW IT. WHAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL IS PICTURES TAKEN WITH THE INTENT TO SELL….LIKE DRUGS WITH THE INTENT TO SELL… OR CROSSING CUSTOMS WITH ENOUGH MERCHANDISE TO HAVE THE INTENT TO SELL. THE EXPLOITATION OF MY IMAGE IS THE PROBLEM. IT PRODUCES A “BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY” BEHAVIOR THAT CAUSE THE PAPS TO DRIVE RECKLESSLY ON FREEWAYS, JUMP OVER FENCES AND INVADE PRIVACY ALL IN AN EFFORT TO GET THAT “MONEY SHOT.” YOU SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO SELL A PICTURE OF ME WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. AFTER THIS LAW IS PASSED, WHEN YOU ENTER A PUBLIC PLACE LIKE A BASKETBALL ARENA ETC., THERE WILL BE A SIGN THAT READS…”ALL PHOTOS TAKEN HERE ARE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND CAN BE USED AT THE PHOTOGRAPHERS DISCRETION.” OBVIOUSLY RED CARPET EVENTS WHERE PEOPLE SHOW UP TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED WILL ALSO APPLY. THE PERSONAL PROBLEM I HAVE WITH THE PAPS IS WHEN THEY TRY TO CATCH YOU BEING A REGULAR PERSON. I AM NOT A CELEBRITY. I’M A NORMAL PERSON THAT’S JUST FAMOUS. I REFUSE TO SNEAK IN AND OUT OF BACK DOORS AND KITCHENS OF HOTELS ETC….
I AM PROTECTING MY PERSONAL SPACE SINCE THERE ARE NO LAWS TO PROTECT THAT FOR ME.
I PUT MY HAND UP TO THE CAMERA IN SELF DEFENSE!
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED…WHEN I LEFT THE CLUB, I WAS ENCOUNTERED BY A THIRSTY PAPARAZZI AS USUAL. HE FELT HE HAD MORE RIGHTS TO MY SPACE THAN ME, SO I PUT MY HAND UP TO PREVENT HIM FROM TAKING MY IMAGE. I DIDN’T ASSAULT HIM BUT MERELY PUTTING MY HAND UP TO COVER HIS LENS. MY SECURITY YELLED, “GET THE CAMERA OFF HIM.” I GUESS IN ALL THE COMMOTION THE CAMERA SCRAPED HIS NOSE.
Kanye goes on to scream that the cops were semi-apologetic and told him it was “obviously a publicity stunt by the photographer but they still had to go through the motions.” (I converted all that to lower case obviously. It’s not like Kanye all of a sudden decided to turn off the caps lock for the second part of his rant.)
In September after an incident at the airport in which Kanye and his assistant broke two cameras, Kanye explained it away with a two line blog entry: “I’m cool with the paparazzi. This guy wasn’t cool. I gotta work now… I’ll rant later!”
He never did rant or really explain what caused him to go off and it looks like he waited until it happened again to blame external circumstances instead of taking responsibility for his actions.
Yes there need to be more laws protecting celebrities from the paparazzi, but abusive self-centered jerks like Kanye make it seem like the paparazzi need some protection from retaliation too. West still faces misdemeanor charges for that September altercation, but managed to get off scot free in the UK for this latest incident. Kanye has refused to apologize in writing to the photographer he admits hurting due to “legal litigation,” according to Newcastle police.
Kanye West is shown playing basketball on 11/16/08 in Glasgow, Scotland. The photographer he harmed is shown on 11/14/08. Credit: Bauergriffinonline. Header image is of Kanye at the opening of Bapestore in West Hollywood on 4/23/08. Credit: PRPhotos
If i was cranky an some pushy pap pushed a camera in my face, i’d give him more than just a scrape on the nose… That’s for sure.
Glad i’m not a celeb. 😀
This man embodies so many stereotypes.
1. Not a big fan of Kanye. Like you say CB, self centered jerk.
2. The photographer has hardly a ding on his schnoz. Big deal.
If you are going to be a paparazzi, you better be ready for those kinds of reactions.
Weee! All caps are back! What a douche.
As they say down south, “He sure thinks a lot of himself, doesn’t he?”
He is the most abrasive personality out there…and that is a BIG turn off. Once tuned out, people aren’t too quick to tune back in.
ps
even though his personality grates, I do agree that it must be scary to have people lunging at you with cameras, or who knows what. A knife? Acid? There are too many violent people in the world who would do harm. Celebrity does put the focus on these high visibility people. In trying to put myself in their shoes, I agree that there should be a circumference of safety for them which would especially impede the for profit photographers.
Have a great day!
Actually, he’s right. Celebrities are marketable, their images obviously are, i.e. they should have some say in the business. He makes another point in that whether he is running errands or promoting new material, leaving his fornt door makes him vulnerable. And the final nail in this current ‘any picture by any means possible’ mentality is the obvious endangerment and obstruction of the public.
There should be more laws protecting celebrities from paps that are dangerous, etc.
But the only time I ever read about Kanye is when he’s abused a pap. It’s not like they’re breaking into his home or documenting his every move.
Kanye’s a whiny little bitch.
I didn’t read it. I have a headache already and I don’t think reading all those caps would help.
Anyways, he’s a whiny bitch. Hopefully he grows up some day.
🙄 It would have been a better story if the pap took the camera and swung it at Kanye’s big head.
Codzilla- I didn’t see that you called him a whiny bitch too lol. 😀
he IS very self-centered… sometimes i think it borders on grandeur. but I do have to agree with what he says! The papz are so forceful. and tell me this: If some man (or a bunch of men) came up to YOU in the street while u were on ur way to work, and started taking ur picture, wouldn’t you call the cops?? Or if you were getting out of a car & a man puts his camera up ur dress? U’d call the cops right?? So why should it be different for celebs… ?? I know some are just attention whores… but what about the real thespians… the singers… if i had a good voice i’d wanna have a crack at the big-time too. but not the paparazzi!
Most abusers do this, I wonder what his dad was like ?
Relax Kanye. The paps just wanted to get a photo of the’voice of this generation’.
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