Pixilated Paparazzi
Posted by Peter Himler on March 31st, 2006
Some of you may have heard about Gawker Stalker, the real-time posting of celebrity sightings in and around town. The New York Post’s inimitable “Page Six” today reports on A-lister George Clooney’s remedy for the stalking and gawking set: flood the popular blog with fictitious sightings.
I love this idea. Apparently the clever ploy arrived yesterday in journalists’ e-mail boxes via Mr. Clooney’s publicist Stan Rosenfield, the quintessential Hollywood PR person. Stan’s also an astute practitioner and genuine nice guy. (I worked with him quite a bit during my early days in the biz as a New York entertainment publicist.)
Mr. Clooney’s privacy notwithstanding, one must admit that the stalker idea also is quite ingenious. Minimally, the pixel proficient paparazzi must be grateful!
April 1st, 2006 at 1:48 am
Peter:
I like Clooney’s idea. We’ve moved from simple interest in celebrities to pure obsession with everything they do. Aside from what this says about us, there should be a line we don’t cross. I’ve seen celebrities walk down the streets of New York and didn’t stop to ask them for an autograph or to chit-chat. If they weren’t at a promotional event, I figured they had every right to be left alone. Maybe that’s odd.
April 1st, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Ike let us know that it’s your 1 year anniversary. Congratulations!
April 1st, 2006 at 1:48 pm
That Ike! (At least I don’t own a dog.) Thanks, Andrea.
I don’t know if you’re a New Yorker, but with regard to your comment on the Clooney item, this is a city where A-listers have always walked the streets without the worry of getting mauled by fans. Does it happen? Sure. Just stand outside MTV’s windows in Times Square. But you’re right. There’s something in the city’s DNA that lets celebs go about their business relatively unencumbered by the celebrity yoke.