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When Paris Hilton began her quest for fame, she knew what she was doing. Using the prestige of her family name and her outrageous behavior (leaking her own sex tape, "accidentally" flashing her unclad nethers while getting out of a car), she deliberately courted press attention. Now that she's reached some level of celebrity (the very thing she was courting), does she have any grounds to expect privacy?

Not unless she changed course and deliberately pursued a private life.

When Ozzie Osborne became a rock star, he knew what was involved. When he made his solo comeback, there is no way he could claim he didn't know he'd be scrutinized in every way. When he chose to do the TV show "The Osbournes", he willingly put not only himself but his family on public display. If Ozzie suddenly wanted privacy, would he deserve it?

Nope. Not unless he decided to withdraw and become a private person.

DELIBERATE CHOICE

Celebrities have chosen a path that keeps them in the public eye. Often they court the media with unusual behavior that keeps the cameras flashing. Others choose political activism or charitable work but the result is the same, it keeps them in the camera's eye. This is a choice they make, to do things that maintain their high profiles.

Very rarely does a celebrity choose to enforce his or her privacy. The writer J.D. Salinger and the musician John Lennon (during his hiatus between The Beatles and his solo career) come to mind. But these are the few who say "ENOUGH!" and pursue a low-key life.

And then there are those who accept the media attention and conduct their lives in ways that don't encourage the press to haunt them. The lead singer from The Who, Roger Daltrey, comes to mind. While his fellow Who-mates Keith Moon and John Entwistle engaged in antics like public partying and hotel-trashing, Daltrey chose to retire to his room with "a girl and some cucumber sandwiches" if I remember the quote correctly from the Keith Moon bio "Full Moon".

You never saw Roger Daltrey in the news but you saw Keith Moon there a lot, right up to his death in 1978 from ironically an overdose of a medication that was supposed help him quit drinking.

Another example that comes to mind is Clint Eastwood. He has always been a highly visible actor/director/producer/politi cian, but has never conducted himself in a way that invited the invasive tabloid coverage that some public people rail against.

WHAT ABOUT DI?

Princess Diana's death in a crashing limo pursued by paparazzi seems to be a clear

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