There was a time when there was an air of mystique around a celebrity. We had little to no access to their personal lives, tabloids telling us only a day later that a celebrity had shown up at a particular establishment, bedecked in a designer outfit. Many years later, we are at a place where social media and paparazzi is all pervasive. Now, we know every moment of the celebrity’s day, where they went, what they wore, who they met. And while there may be some sort of voyeuristic satisfaction in knowing, it seems to be crossing a line at this point. In an attempt to get the star and the views on their social media, the demands by the paparazzi are teetering on the brink of harassment. Especially when it comes to women. “Show your leg”, “smile more”, “turn around!” are common refrains, as the camera person proceeds to zoom into the female celebrity’s backside. Any sort of retort is seen as a slight to the paps, who proceed to abandon all rules of decency to get their next viral video.
From Alia Bhatt to Hanah Waddingham, the tales of misogynistic comments and constant stalking by the paparazzi haven’t changed much over the years. Here are 7 celebrities who clapped back at the paps for their misconduct.
Hannah Waddingham
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Hannah Waddingham debunked the paparazzi during Oliver Awards outside the Royal Albert Hall. The pap, though not audible, demands Hannah to show her legs through her semi-sheer skirt. After taking notice of the comment, Hannah rebukes the photographer by saying “Oh my god, you’d never say that to a man, my friend”.
She further reprimands the paparazzi publicly by stating that she will take herself out of the frame if he says to “show a little leg” again. The bystanders cheered for the actress and stood in support of her after the incident.
Camila Cabello
Camila Cabello slammed the paps for invading her privacy and thereby making her conscious of her body on the beach. In the tweet, she goes on to describe how she held her core so “tight” that her “abs hurt”.
She added to the post how “vulnerable” and “unprepared” she felt in a bikini as she was burdened by the idea of looking ideal in respect to the perception of a woman’s body.
The Senorita singer further goes on to let the readers know how she escaped the paps by going to the pool area but was yet skeptic of them hiding in the bushes.
Alia Bhatt
Alia Bhatt is no exception to incidents of privacy invasion by the paparazzi. It’s sad to witness that women are required constantly to be under microscopic lens in order to sustain their fame.
Disappointed and furious, Alia took to the gram lashing out two men who were lingering around a neighbour’s terrace in order to capture the actress at her home. Alia shared how she was having a “perfectly normal afternoon” when she “felt something watching” her, it wasn’t long before she realised that paps were pointing the camera right at her with the goal of taking a snap of the actress unaware.
She even tagged the Mumbai police on the post, making sure the authorities take action against the misbehave.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry took a stand against the Australian press who harassed her while she was on the beach. The singer took to her social media handles how she was “stalked by grown men” while she was taking a “quiet walk to the beach”.
She was infuriated when the photographers tried making a “deal” with the singer where she was to agree upon posing in her bathing suit in order for them to leave her alone. Katy labelled this behaviour as “perverted” and “disgusting” that should not be tolerated by anyone.
Blake Lively
Blake Lively questioned the morality of the tabloid culture after the frightening incident of the paps stalking her children. A pap image of Blake and her children walking down the street in New York surfed through the internet where the actress was seen smiling and waving to the camera. It wasn’t long before Blake took it to the comments of the image letting everyone know about the misleading image.
She mentioned in the comments, “My children were being stalked by a man all day, jumping out and hiding.” Blake explained the reason behind her smile in the image by writing, “I was able to agree to smile and wave and let them take my picture away from my children, if they would leave my children alone.”
Miley Cyrus
Back in 2011, Miley Cyrus has been through her share of distressing paparazzi experience. The singer snarled at the paps who crossed the line and got too close to Miley’s mom. She said, “You just hit my mom with your camera. Don’t you ever do that again. You just almost hurt my mom.” Later on she took to Twitter to let out her frustration.
Kajol
Kajol opened up about her helplessness of not being able to raise objection on ever-chasing paparazzi in a public domain as she is a celebrity. The actress’ car was recently followed by paparazzi in Mumbai when she headed out casually.
Kajol spoke about how celebrities cannot feel “threatened” by such incidents because they are in the public eye and are meant to be chased. The actress also shared how the pap culture has never let her guard down.
