by Lisa Fagan

Created on: December 27, 2008   Last Updated: October 06, 2009

Absolutely! There's no doubt about it. These tabloids will not get their stories from the celebrities themselves. They may perhaps talk to neighbors, hotel, restaurant, nightclub, supermarket, and airline employees; any Tom, Dick, and Harry that they can talk to. And yet, in their stories, they will refer to them (not the celebrities) as "a source", "a friend", or "a pal". When they try to talk to the celebrities themselves, their representatives will either deny it or not even return their phone calls.

Over the last several years, the National Enquirer has had over a dozen lawsuits. They've been sued by Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Prior, Shirley Jones and Marty Ingels, and of course, by Carol Burnett. I strongly believe that Carol Burnett fought them tooth and nail when they said that she was drunk in a Washington restaurant, got into a fight with Henry Kissinger, and spilled a drink on him. It took her five years to bring her case to court. She didn't care how much money she wanted; she wanted to prove that they libeled her. Of course, she did win the case, and then later on, the judge reduced her award amount.

I also strongly believe that the media killed Princess Diana. After all, here was a young woman who got married at such a very young age and was immediately thrust into the public spotlight. She had to deal with an unfaithful husband (Prince Charles), a loveless and crumbling marriage, had the paparazzi following her wherever she went to (even to the gym where she worked out), was eventually separated and divorced from Prince Charles, finally found happiness with Dodi al Fayed, and then ended up being killed in a Paris car crash by a drunk driver, Henri Paul; with the media and paparazzi chasing after her. All she ever wanted was a normal life and a good husband, and now she's been gone for the last 11 years; dead as a result of a Paris car crash and the paparazzi chasing after her. At the time that she died, I remember hearing Tom Cruise saying that he and Nicole Kidman were chased by photographers through that same tunnel.

When Elizabeth Taylor got married to Larry Fortensky at Michael Jackson's ranch, only People Magazine took very clear pictures of the wedding. The tabloids only took poor aerial shots because of the heavy security there. Ditto for Eddie Murphy's first wedding to Nicole Mitchell.

I also believe that the wedding between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck was cancelled because their wedding location in Santa Barbara was leaked to the press, and they wanted to keep it private.

In 1994, Hard Copy did a story on the paparazzi, and Cher really gave it to them. She said, "I'm not in blanking Hollywood now: this is where I live!"

How many times have you ever seen on TV the paparazzi chasing after these celebrities outside of nightclubs, on vacation, where they live, and so forth? They have the right to their privacy just as much as everybody else does. That's the reason why they buy these mansions in the Hollywood Hills. But of course, that just goes with the territory. When you're a celebrity, you have no privacy. You're subject to every single move you make. And of course, the tabloids will be following your every move.

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