There is a price that comes with fame that many celebrities have had to experience. They choose to live their lives in the spotlight, and with that comes a lot of sacrifices because they are never able to do what they want, without someone commenting on their every move. And it’s not just tabloid headlines about their actions, they are constantly followed by photographers.
Over the years, celebrities have been photographed doing a range of things: Some as simple as taking a walk or going to the store, while others have been caught in compromising positions or seen making out with people they shouldn't have (*ahem* Kristen Stewart and Rupert Sanders). It’s not surprising that at times some celebrities completely lose their cool with those who are sneaking around to snap a photo.
We can’t imagine how awful it must be to have your every move watched and documented, and of course, that must get incredibly frustrating, but most celebs manage to deal with the paparazzi in a sophisticated way. On the other hand, some of them pack a serious punch. Below are 15 people who have gotten way too aggressive with the paparazzi, resulting in expensive lawsuits, countless headlines, about their awful behavior, and complete PR disasters.
15 Lily Allen Went Punching and Kicking
Lily Allen is no fan of the paparazzi and has previously discussed how she feels about her every move being watched and photographed. She even went so far as to tell The Independent that she feels like a “caged animal.” It’s no secret that Allen has had a tough time adjusting to this dark side of fame, and being constantly followed by photographers has made her seek help from the courts: she has a harassment order against paparazzi who stand outside her home.
But on more than one occasion, the paparazzi has become too much for Allen, and she's reacted by getting emotional and angry. She has been reported as having multiple run-ins with paps, but the most memorable was when she reached boiling point and punched and kicked a photographer who reportedly drove into the back of her car.
14 Adam Lambert Had A Miami Beach Spat
In 2010, former American Idol star Adam Lambert made headlines for his clash with a photographer on Miami Beach. He was reportedly enjoying some downtime with his friends when he was hounded by paparazzi. At some point, he obviously grew tired of being constantly watched and lunged at a photographer, and the man behind the camera claimed in a police report that the singer had tried to grab his backpack and his camera.
Headlines also reported how Lambert had wrestled the photographer to the ground, but according to New York Daily News, Lambert was quick to weigh in on the spat and took to Twitter to defend his actions. He said, "Battery? Nope. I attempted to grab a camera, no punches were thrown and no one was on the ground ... It was literally harmless. If embarrassment is a crime - that's all I'm guilty of.”
13 Lamar Odom's Assault And Damages Incident
In 2013, Lamar Odom did not want to answer questions about allegedly cheating on his wife, Khloe Kardashian -- this was before the couple divorced for this very reason -- and according to Daily Mail, Odom initially told the photographer, “I would never cheat on my wife, that's why I wear my wedding ring.”
But when the photographer persisted with his line of questioning, Odom flew into a fit of rage. He allegedly began destroying photographer Stefan Saad’s equipment. Saad later filed a police report and revealed that it was the questions about Kardashian which had set Odom off. He filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles Police Department seeking damages which totaled more than half a million dollars -- for equipment, loss of earnings, attorney fees, and emotional distress.
12 Justin Bieber Knocked Pap With Car
This may seem like the biggest case of aggressive behavior on this list, but Justin Bieber’s encounter with a photographer was down to carelessness rather than a deliberate attempt to harm. The incident happened in 2017 when Bieber was leaving a church service in Beverly Hills and accidentally ran over the paparazzo.
Bieber did the right thing though: He got out of his car, called an ambulance, and according to TMZ, he stayed with the man until paramedics arrived on the scene. And unlike the other cases on this list, this one has a happy ending, because the paparazzo even made a video a few hours later, saying that Bieber was “compassionate” and a “good kid.” I guess accidents with the paparazzi do happen.
11 Kendall Jenner’s Fist Allegedly Met A Pap’s Face
In 2016, Kendall Jenner made headlines for allegedly punching a Parisian photographer who would not leave her and Gigi Hadid alone as they were exiting one of the cities nightclubs.
A photo emerged of Jenner and Hadid, which looked as though they were shouting at photographers, and according to New York Daily News, it also appears as though Jenner was being pulled away by her bodyguard. And Us Weekly reports that Jenner’s manager and bodyguard stopped the fight from escalating and reportedly held back the photographer who had gotten too close to the models.
However, no physical altercation has been confirmed, so we can’t say with certainty if Jenner’s fist did actually meet with a photographer’s face, or if they just had a war of words. One thing that is certain is that she was definitely angry!
10 Alec Baldwin’s New York Scuffle
Alec Baldwin is beloved by many for his comedic roles, and maybe this is why he doesn’t get enough criticism for his actions. Baldwin has had more than a few scuffles with the paparazzi over the years, with some of the most notable ones including when he shoved a photographer outside of his apartment building in New York City in 2013. And that same year he also got into a scuffle with a photographer, and the two men were seen pushing each other -- but surprisingly declined to press charges.
Then three years later, Baldwin caused controversy again when he got into an argument with a photographer after the man was taking photos of his wife, Hilaria Baldwin. Alec got right up in the pap's face and could be heard screaming at him that he is a “piece of trash” and that he should “stay away” from his wife.
9 Jude Law Pushed A Pap
Is it ever OK to punch someone? The answer to this question is going to be extremely varied, but here are the circumstances which led up to Jude Law reportedly lunging at a photographer. In 2009, the actor was leaving a celebrity dinner party hosted by director Christopher Nolan in London, when he was approached by a female photographer who began taking photos of him.
He is reported as losing his cool, and according to Daily Mail, the photographer claimed that the attack on her was “unprovoked.” She also claims that Law hit her “full on the face” and that his actions were deliberate. However, according to Metro, a spokesperson for Law claimed that it had been an “accident.” She added, "Jude was blinded by the camera flashes when he left the restaurant, raised his hand to shield himself and inadvertently struck somebody standing very close. He apologized and left. Pictures of this sort can often be misleading.”
8 Sam Worthington Face-Punched A Photographer
Sam Worthington made headlines in 2014 for punching photographer Sheng Li on the streets of New York City. Apparently, the incident happened after the photographer tripped Worthington’s wife, model Lara Bingle.
During the altercation, video footage was taken, and according to Daily Mail, Worthington could be heard shouting at the photographer, and claiming that he had “kicked” his wife -- according to People magazine, Li reportedly kicked Bingle in the shin. The incident was pretty nasty and saw both Worthington and Li get arrested, Worthington on an assault charge, and Li for charges of reckless endangerment, assault, and harassment.
The fight ended up being costly, and the actor was facing civil charges of $5.3 million, however, in 2015, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Worthington had agreed to an out-of-court settlement, where he paid Li, an undisclosed amount.
7 Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz’s 2004 Paparazzi Lawsuit
Remember the days when Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz were a couple? It was more than a decade ago, and so was their incident with a photographer in Hollywood. In 2004, the couple made headlines after they had a scuffle with two male photographers, who then filed a police report accusing Timberlake and Diaz of battery and grand theft.
Then in 2006, the pair were involved in another incident with a photographer. This time Diaz reportedly filed a police report, and according to People magazine, the actress’ report claimed that a photographed had jumped out the bushes and started taking photos of her and Timberlake when they were leaving their friend's house. Both she and Timberlake reportedly chased him a short distance, after which “The photographer then got into his car and drove toward both (of) them, causing Diaz to jump out of the car’s way. She felt the driver was trying to hit both of them, and so she filed the report. She’s alleging assault with a deadly weapon, with a vehicle.”
6 Shia LaBeouf Threw Coffee
In 2010, Shia LaBeouf was enraged and decided to dump his coffee on a photographer. LaBeouf’s actions were caught on camera, and he appears to have been reading a book in a cafe when he got annoyed that his actions were being watched. He then picks up his coffee and runs after the male photographer, and eventually hurls his coffee on his back -- LaBeouf then ran away.
While the media reported that the coffee had been hot, the photographer later spoke out about the incident and revealed that the coffee had, in fact, been cold. He also added that he thought LaBeouf was a “jerk” and that he was glad that he had left his city -- the actor had been in Washington D.C. filming Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
5 Kanye West's LAX Brawl
Kanye West really doesn’t like his privacy to be constantly invaded, and in 2013, things got really ugly between the rapper and photographer Daniel Ramos. The altercation happened outside of Los Angeles International Airport where West was met by a number of photographers. According to reports, he appeared to get into an argument with Ramos, which resulted in West putting him in a headlock, before wrestling him to the ground.
West got in trouble for his actions, and was charged with criminal battery and attempted grand theft. However, he reportedly avoided any jail time by agreeing to a plea deal which, according to TMZ, required him to agree to 24 months (two years, for those that don’t feel like doing the math) informal probation, and 250 hours of community service.
4 Kristen Stewart Verbally Abused Paparazzi
Kristen Stewart didn’t physically attack a photographer or attempt to destroy their property, but she did have some incredibly harsh things to say to a paparazzi when she encountered them outside of a Los Angeles building in 2013. Stewart was clearly having a bad day because she launched into a vicious verbal attack, which was caught on camera.
According to The Mirror, she told the X17 photographer, “You’re a piece of s***. You don’t deserve to breathe the same air I do.” And continued to call them a number of expletive-filled insults.
While it’s not clear what happened in the lead up to her rant, and she could well have been provoked, but the world was shocked to hear the nasty things coming out of Stewart’s mouth.
3 Britney Spears Destroyed A Photographer's Car
And then we are back to another celebrity losing their s*** with a paparazzo! This time it was Britney Spears who in 2007 was going through a really rough time. When she found herself surrounded by photographers, she flipped into a fit of rage and started destroying a photographer’s car with an umbrella. She reportedly also yelled “f*** you.”
The most interesting thing about this case is that ten years later, in 2017, it’s back in the media. This time because the paparazzo has decided to auction off the umbrella which Spears used in the altercation. According to Us Weekly, photographer, Daniel Ramos, told Broadly that he will sell the green umbrella to the highest bidder, and plans to give half of the earnings to a charity of Spears’ choice.
2 Gary Dourdan's Los Angeles Smackdown
Gary Dourdan has had some trouble in his past, but since this list is about his treatment of the paparazzi, we will focus only on that. In 2007, Dourdan made headlines after he violently attacked a TMZ photographer in Hyde, who he reportedly thought was someone else.
According to TMZ (via MTV News), Dourdan appeared at a nightclub and was enraged to see the photographer there, telling him, "get that f**king camera out of my face!" Apparently, the photographer did as he was told, and made his camera face the ground (but did not stop recording, just in case). Dourdan was not satisfied and started to attack the photographer by slamming him onto the pavement and bashing his head on the concrete.
The whole thing had been recorded on camera by the photographer, who was still rolling.
1 Russell Brand's Unpleasant Encounter
In 2010, Russell Brand had a very unpleasant encounter with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport. The footage from the incident was uploaded by TMZ and shows how Brand was angered by a male photographer.
According to reports, he was placed under citizens arrest by paparazzi, before the airport police stepped in. He was then taken into police custody, but according to TMZ, he paid $20,000 and was released on bail.
Daily Mail reported that a Los Angeles Airport Police spokesman made a statement about the incident, saying, “About 1:50 pm today, Los Angeles Airport Police responded to Terminal 5 to a report of a battery involving a celebrity and a commercial photographer.”
Katy Perry, who was engaged to Brand at the time and had been traveling with him, defended his actions and claimed that a photographer had gotten too close to her and tried to take photos up her dress. She insisted that her fiancé had been protecting her.
