Gigi Hadid lashes out at paparazzi for 'legally stalking' celebrities after photographer threatens to sue her
Kendall Jenner isn’t the only supermodel with a bone to pick with the paparazzi.
Just hours after Jenner — whose home was reportedly accessed by an alleged stalker — slammed the gossip website TMZ for putting her at risk by publishing photos and details about where she lives, her close friend and fellow catwalker Gigi Hadid has posted her own rant.
According to Hadid, 23, a paparazzo threatened Wednesday to sue her for posting a photo of herself on Instagram without crediting the photographer. Hadid removed the pic in question, but the legal threat set her off and inspired her to lash out against “people [making] money off us every day, legally stalking us day in and day out.”
A post shared by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Oct 18, 2018 at 4:56pm PDT
Hadid’s two-page note pointed out the “absurd” irony of the paparazzi taking legal action while “putting the general public in danger in pursuit of a photo,” including driving “dangerously close and recklessly.”
She acknowledged that celebrity photographers have a job to do and that being photographed in public is part of being famous but insisted that “there is a line.”
“We are human beings,” Hadid wrote, noting the “mental/emotional toll” of being pursued by the paparazzi.
Her message got tons of support from fellow celebrities, including Kylie Jenner, who commented, “We’re ‘public figures’ and it’s legal for them to invade our privacy. It’s pretty disappointing. We gotta change this.”
But while the likes of Khloé Kardashian, Emily Ratajkowski, and Gisele Bündchen had her back, some unsympathetic followers accused Hadid of making a big deal out of nothing.
“Oh yawn. Cry me a river,” one commenter said.
Another defended the paparazzi as trying to make a living and insisted that Hadid was wrong in not crediting the photo as she supposedly benefits from having her photos online. The commenter added that “99 percent of the time it is your PR agency that actually calls paps to keep you and your boyfriend [Zayn Malik] relevant in the industry.
The model was quick to fire back.
“You are terribly uninformed,” she wrote to the commenter. “1. I don’t get paid to be in magazines. 2. A photographer that shoots me for a job can use that image for that job only, it is illegal for that photo or any photo I do not consent to to be reused anywhere outside that publication by the photographer, both parties have rights. It should be the same here. And your final comment shows you know absolutely nothing, what you see is what you see … me leaving my house, me entering my boyfriend’s building. …
“I’ve never called a pap. Am I just not supposed to go anywhere ever again??? Lol. If you can figure out a way for them to leave my house I will pay you! But for all the days I’ve stayed inside hoping they’ll leave that doesn’t always happen. … We do our best to not lock ourselves inside and sneak out when possible, but that’s no way to live life. Even if I were to hire one pap and give pics to fans like you’re saying, it doesn’t stop other paps from showing up, suing fan accounts, etc. so doesn’t really help the issue.”
Hadid’s paparazzi drama comes just months after Ariel Winter faced a similar copyright complaint from a celebrity photographer when she posted a photo of herself on social media.
“They violated my space so I should at least be able to post it when I want to or just not be f***ing photographed,” the Modern Family star responded.
Read More from Yahoo Lifestyle:
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First deaf, transgender model is signed to the same agency as Gigi Hadid and Gisele Bündchen
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