Tequila Wins Restraining Order Against Kidnap Claim Photographer

Reality TV star TILA TEQUILA has won a restraining order against the photographer who accused her of kidnapping his girlfriend.

Garry Sun hit the headlines this week (ends29Oct10) when he alleged the model and four armed men abducted Shyla Jennings from her Texas home, flew her to Los Angeles and threatened to kill her if she alerted the police to her ordeal.

Tequila hit back, insisting the snapper was nothing more than a disgruntled former employee she had fired after he made "sexual advances" towards her.

In a post on her official website, the star, real name Tila Nguyen, wrote, "Garry Sun is a crazed paparazzi who won't leave me alone! I remember calling the police on him finally because after I fired him, he went crazy and threatened to kill me... He's just a crazed paparazzi who had a dangerous fatal attraction with me and is still angry that I fired him."

She has now convinced a judge at Los Angeles Superior Court to order Sun to keep his distance, and she is planning to file a lawsuit against him for "making such crazy allegations about me", reports TMZ.com.

NYCLU Settlement Ends Restriction on Photography Outside Federal Courthouses

In settling a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the federal government today recognized the public’s right to take photographs and record videos in public spaces outside federal courthouses throughout the nation.

The settlement comes after the NYCLU sued the federal government in April on behalf of a Libertarian activist who was unlawfully arrested by federal officers after exercising his First Amendment right to record digital video outside of a federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

“This settlement secures the public’s First Amendment right to use cameras in public spaces without being harassed,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “While we understand the need for heightened security near federal buildings, any rule that results in the arrest of people for exercising their First Amendment rights is clearly unconstitutional. We’re pleased the federal government finally recognizes this fact.”

Plaintiff Antonio Musumeci was arrested on Nov. 9, 2009 after using a hand-held camera to record a protestor in a public plaza outside the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse in Manhattan.

During the arrest, federal officers forced Musumeci to the pavement and confiscated video from his camera. Musumeci, a software developer for an investment bank, was detained for about 20 minutes and issued a ticket for violating a federal regulation. That charge was later dismissed.

On two subsequent occasions, federal officers threatened Musumeci with arrest after trying to record protests at the courthouse.

“The courthouse plaza is public property paid for by taxpayers, and the public should not be prohibited from using video cameras there. Now people now can freely express their First Amendment right there without being harassed and arrested by federal officers,” said Musumeci, a resident of Edgewater, N.J.

In the settlement approved today by a federal judge in Manhattan, the federal government acknowledges that there are no federal laws or regulations that prohibit photography outside federal courthouses. It agreed to provide federal officers written instructions emphasizing the public’s right to photograph and record outside federal courthouses. The settlement has even broader implications, though.

“Not only will this settlement end harassment of photographers outside federal courthouses, it will free people to photograph and film outside of all federal buildings,” said NYCLU Associate Legal Director Christopher Dunn, lead counsel in the case. “The regulation at issue in this case applies to all federal buildings, not only courthouses, so this settlement should extend to photography near all federal buildings nationwide.

Mike Tyson Sued for $25 Million by Paparazzi Photographer

A paparazzi photographer filed a $25 million lawsuit against Mike Tyson on Monday stemming from a scuffle with the boxer at LAX airport last year, RadarOnline.com reports. The incident took place on November 11, 2009.

The photographer, Antonia Echevarria, filed his lawsuit at Los Angeles Superior Court. He claims he sustained several injuries and that the boxer told him, "I will kill you." Echevarria alleges Tyson went after him at LAX which resulted in injuries to his face, brain, spine, neck and other parts of his body.

Tyson was traveling through LAX on his way to Las Vegas with his wife, mother-in-law, assistant and 10-month-old baby daughter when the incident occurred.

At the time of the fight, Tyson and Echevarria placed each other under citizen's arrest and made complaints of misdemeanor battery. Tyson was taken into custody while Echevarria went to a local hospital for treatment of a minor cut on his forehead.

The ex-boxer's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, released a statement saying Tyson was aggressively followed by Echevarria who bumped into the stroller of Tyson's baby and disobeyed orders by airport personnel to leave the boxer alone.

"Mr. Tyson and his family were without security and attempting to make a connecting flight when they were aggressively approached by a paparazzo intent on provoking and harassing them. The paparazzo repeatedly refused to comply with the orders and directives of airport personnel to leave the family alone and continued to aggressively pursue the Tyson family--at one point colliding with the baby's stroller," part of Holley's statement said. 

"Mr. Tyson remains confident that this matter will be appropriately addressed as the witnesses are interviewed and the facts borne out," she concluded.

LaBeouf throws coffee on paparazzi

Adding another tale to his run-ins with the paparazzi, Shia LaBeouf threw a coffee at a photographer in Washington, D.C. The star continuously comes across some hardships when dealing with the paparazzi. He was caught on tape snatching a photog's camera equipment in June and last year he was snapped showing the paps everyone's favourite finger.

In the latest incident, LaBeouf, on a break from filming Transformers 3 in Washington D.C., was reading a book at an outdoor café Tuesday when he apparently decided to teach one prying paparazzo a lesson.

Donned in jeans, a red t-shirt and black sunglasses, the Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps star packed up his things, picked up his cup and briskly walked towards an older, male photographer, who started to run, reports the New York Daily News.
 
However, the young star ran fast enough to getting close to douse the back of the guy's shirt following it with stiff high-tailing him down the street.

Miley Cyrus' Fight With Paparazzi

Teen superstar MILEY CYRUS was embroiled in an argument with a female videographer on Tuesday (12Oct10) after confronting the paparazzo about following her during an outing in Los Angeles.

The singer/actress had just had breakfast with her mother Tish and sister Noah at a restaurant in Toluca Lake when she became annoyed by the filmmaker's presence and approached her to turn off the camcorder.

In photographs obtained by WENN, a clearly-distressed Cyrus can be seen walking up to the female and having a heated conversation with her, before the videographer agrees to stop filming.

Nicole Richie Lashes Out At ‘Creepy, Repulsive’ Paparazzi

Nicole Richie has a major bone to pick with the paparazzi – and pap agency X17 in particular.

Richie – who has two young kids with fiance Joel Madden – has blasted the agency for publishing a video taken outside her daughter Harlow’s school as Madden dropped her off.

“THANK YOU so much for posting the video of your employees sitting outside of my daughter’s school, because now the entire world can see how creepy and disgusting you are,” Richie wrote on her official blog.

“You do not get to spend 200 dollars on a camera, and think that gives you a free pass to shadow my child. These are strangers, grown men, stalking young children. You think that’s ok?”

The video clip published by X17 showed Madden approaching the cameramen with his own camera, warning them, “You guys better hope you’re alright sitting outside of a school, [because] I’m gonna have all your tags run and everything.”

Richie added: “Here’s a better visual: Pulling up to school and seeing grown men slouched in black windowed cars outside of a preschool, all day. I’m not even there, so you cannot say you are following me as you always do. You are stalking the children. Now how do you feel?

“I PROMISE YOU that I am going to do a background check on each and every person that I see there. For the safety of my children and others. Because the last time I did a check on your staff, I found they had no license. Remember that day? The day that ended with a car accident and me in a hospital?” she wrote.

“These are young children and you should know better. X17, you are irresponsible and repulsive. Consider this a warning.

“YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES. These are young children and you should know better. X17, you are irresponsible and repulsive. Consider this a warning. Nicole Richie.”

There’s been no comment from X17, but it looks like they’ve yanked the video in question from their website.

Russell Brand off the hook for defending Katy Perry from paparazzi

Russell Brand is free to marry girlfriend Katy Perry after escaping further punishment for his recent arrest.
The ‘Tempest’ star was arrested in Los Angeles airport recently for attacking a member of the paparazzi who allegedly tried to take a picture up his fiancé’s skirt.

But it seems the arrest won’t get in the way of the couple’s Indian wedding plans as the 35-year-old will reportedly be let off the hook, according to E! Online.

Although he will only be let off if he and the photographer involved attend a hearing to be told they are officially free and receive a lecture from a judge in the letter of law.

Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office spokesman Frank Mateljan told the entertainment site: “This is the only action as of now. Based on the info, it has been determined that this is the most appropriate action at this time.”