Scarlett Johansson is fed up with the paparazzi.
After appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this Monday, Johansson ended up at a police station because five cars wouldn’t stop trailing her on the way home.
In a statement obtained by “Entertainment Tonight,” she said the cars were driving recklessly “and putting other drivers and pedestrians at risk so they could follow me to find out where I was staying and subsequently stalk me and my young daughter for the duration of my stay.”
Overzealous photographers harass celebrities all the time, and it often goes too far. The most famous instance of this is the death of Princess Diana, whose apparently intoxicated driver was evading photographers before their fatal car crash.
“Until paparazzi are considered by the law for the criminal stalkers they are, it’s just a waiting game before another person gets seriously injured or killed, like Princess Diana,” Johansson said. “Women across the US are stalked, harassed and frightened and a universal law to address stalking must be at the forefront of law enforcement conversations.”
Johansson has a point. Just because photographers get paid by tabloids to constantly harass celebrities, that doesn’t mean they should have complete impunity.
Princess Diana’s death didn’t change any laws to protect paparazzi targets, Johansson said, but the U.S. can prevent a similar tragedy. Yes, photographers have First Amendment rights. But If photographers harass a public figure to the point of endangering their target or anyone else in the public, their activity isn’t just obnoxious — it’s criminal.
If that’s too much accountability to demand of someone whose livelihood is taking creepy photos of private citizens, maybe they should get another job.
