Paparazzi Photog Quits Agency to Protest "Out of Control" Britney Spears Pursuits

One paparazzo fears that the relentless hounding of Britney Spears may one day lead to tragedy, especially since throngs of photographers often dangerously chase the beleaguered pop star in hopes of getting a picture during her ongoing meltdown. Nick Stern, a former photographer for celebrity picture agency Splash, says that it's not uncommon for paparazzi to "have twenty or thirty cars pursuing her at any one time. It's become acceptable to drive at 80 mph down the wrong side of the street into oncoming traffic." This tabloid carnival drove Stern to quit his agency. Even yesterday, when the LAPD employed a Desert Storm-like siege of Spears' mansion to covertly transfer Brit to a mental health facility, the paparazzi formed a football-field-long line of vehicles in pursuit of the emergency transport. Conflicts between the paparazzi are intense as well, as fights often break out, pursuing vehicles crash into one another and tires are slashed in an effort to impede the competition. Stern fears Britney might share a similar fate as Princess Diana if the paparazzi continue to hound the singer with such ruthless tactics.

Related Stories:
• Britney Spears Hospitalized Again on Doctor's Orders
• Britney Goes to Court (Sort of), Prays at Church, Eats Empanadas, Loses Visitation Rights
• Britney Spears Hospitalized After "Hostage Brituation" Involving Her Two Kids; Released Next Day

• 
  MUSIC Exclusive Live Chat With Linkin Park and Incubus
• 
  MOVIES & TV Peter Travers: 'The Avengers' Has it All
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Jon Corzine Is the Original Zimmerman
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive Premiere: Tenacious D's 'Tinnitus'

Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter