Paparazzo shopped Heather Locklear
p2pnet news view | TV:- In the celebrity jungle, paparazzi relentlessly track their prey, hoping to snap up a morsel they can then sell, often for eye-popping fees.
Recently, an apparently public-spirited citizen concerned about the erratic movements of a vehicle called the police.
The driver, as it turned out, was TV actress Heather Locklear.
She was arrested, booked and breathalysed but was found to be alcohol free. She’d been suffering from depression, said various reports, the implication being she was woozy because she’d over-medicated.
Well done the public spirited citizen, right?
However, the person who reported the incident was none other than paparazzo Jill Ishkanian (bottom right).
Nor was that all she did, says Hollywood Today. She also took a few pix and was able to, “sell them anonymously to gossip Web site TMZ for $27,500,” says the story.
Lawyer Nicholas Tepper, acting for Ishkanian, “said in a written statement Wednesday that her phone call to authorities was motivated by ‘civic duty’ and a concern for Locklear’s safety,” says the Associated Press, going on to quote him as stating:
“The fact she witnessed Ms. Locklear’s erratic driving and reported it to the police did not mean she was disqualified from reporting the story, which she in fact did.”
Tepper said when Ishkanian “spotted Locklear’s car driving erratically,” she called 911 and was, “advised by a CHP dispatcher to stop following the car,” says AP.
But, the story has TMZ head Harvey Levin saying, some of the pictures appeared to be taken well before Locklear’s arrest, “and questioned Tepper’s contention that Ishkanian just happened to run into her acting erratically at a market”.
Hollywood Today – Paparazzo Turned Heather Locklear in to Police, October 2, 2008
Associated Press - Attorney: Paparazzi called in tip on Locklear, October 1, 2008
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October 2nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
If Heather was driving erratically under the influence of any kind of drugs, then she was a danger to others and herself. Furthermore, when she decided to drive in that condition, she lost her right to privacy. I don’t blame the paparazzo for calling the police, or for taking pictures of the incident.
Would people have preferred that she NOT call police and then have Heather hit someone with her car? Or should she have refrained from doing her job just because she was the one that made the call? If I see smoke coming out of a building and I call the fire department, am I then NOT supposed to take pictures of the event, or tell others about it?
In my opinion, what she did would only be wrong is she actually caused the incident herself in order to take photos of it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I don’t disagree with you, rekrul. However, I will point out that we only have Ms. Ishkanian’s testimony that Ms. Locklear was ‘driving erratically’. The story does not say that police also witnessed erratic driving, if they did, than Ms. Ishkanian did her civic duty. Since she made money from the incident, I consider Ms. Ishkanian’s testimony to be suspect. Anyone can say that you were driving erratically whether you were or not.
All I did was expand on your last sentence, rekrul.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Love the opening sentence