Pop Culture
TV & MoviesCelebrityBest of the InternetAnimalsMusicRewindBooksLGBTQQuizzes
LatestTrendingFoodLoveTriviaQuiz PartyShopping
LatestHomeFashionTechBeauty & Personal CarePetsSports & FitnessBuzzFeed MerchVideo
LatestCocoa ButterNEW!Mom In ProgressWorth ItUnsolved True CrimeUnsolved SupernaturalMultiplayerPero LikeCocoa ButterLifestyle
As/Is: StyleBringMe: TravelGoodful: WellnessNifty: DIYParentsFoodWeddingsSex And LoveNEW!Community
What is Community?Join Community!Featured PostsLeaderboardFrom Our Partners
Countdown to HalloweenOpening Doors to the OutdoorsThis is Latine CultureLGBTQ+ Joy For AllHydrow The CurrentSan Diego, Happiness is CallingScience Will WinIt's Your JourneyAbout
About UsAdvertiseInvestor RelationsJobsNewslettersEditionUSUKAustraliaBrasilCanadaDeutschlandIndiaJapanLatamCalifornia residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data.Do Not Sell My Personal Information © 2022 BuzzFeed, Inc PressRSSPrivacyConsent PreferencesUser TermsAccessibility StatementAd ChoicesHelpContactSitemapBuzzFeed NewsReporting on what you care about. We hold major institutions accountable and expose wrongdoing.BuzzFeed TastySearch, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place!BuzzFeed GoodfulSelf care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life.BuzzFeed Bring MeObsessed with travel? Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me!BuzzFeed As IsSomething for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity.Celebrity·Posted 5 minutes ago14 Celebs Who Opened Up About Becoming A "Recluse" Because Of Media Attention, And 9 Who Reportedly Called The Paparazzi On Themselves
Recently, Chloë Grace Moretz opened up about a paparazzi pic-turned-viral meme that made her so anxious about being photographed that she "basically became a recluse." While she's not alone in that experience, there are also some celebs who embrace that kind of attention and reportedly stage paparazzi pictures.
by Kristen HarrisBuzzFeed Staff
FacebookPinterestTwitterMailLink
Having a career in the public eye means that, when you're out in public, there are going to be eyes on you. While some celebs are okay with being photographed, a lot of them admittedly hate the extra level of scrutiny.
Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF
Nike / Via giphy.com
Others, however, know how to leverage the paparazzi's attention to help boost their celebrity status, so they call the photographers themselves.
Gilbert Carrasquillo / GC Images / Via Getty
Here are 14 celebrities who opened up about hating media attention:
1. In 2016, Chloë Grace Moretz was photographed carrying two pizza boxes to her hotel while wearing shorts. After the picture was edited into a viral meme poking fun at the length of her legs, it was "something very hard for [her] to overcome" and she "basically became a recluse."
Emma Mcintyre / Getty Images
She told Hunger, "It was great because I got away from the photographers, and I was able to be myself, and to have so many experiences that people didn’t photograph, but at the same time, it made me severely anxious when I was photographed. My heart rate would rise, and I would hyperventilate."
Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic / Via Getty
2. After the release of Dark Phoenix in 2019, Jennifer Lawrence took an extended break from public life because she felt that "everybody had gotten sick of [her]" and "it had just gotten to a point where [she] couldn't do anything right."
Amy Sussman / Getty Images
She told Vanity Fair, "I think that I was people-pleasing for the majority of my life. Working made me feel like nobody could be mad at me: 'Okay, I said yes, we’re doing it. Nobody’s mad.' And then, I felt like I reached a point where people were not pleased just by my existence. So, that kind of shook me out of thinking that work or your career can bring any kind of peace to your soul."
Mike Coppola / Getty Images
The constant paparazzi attention has been a source of Jennifer's anxiety for years. At a 2014 press conference, she said, "I knew the paparazzi were going to be a reality in my life, but I didn't know that I would feel anxiety every time I open my front door, or that being chased by 10 men you don't know, or being surrounded, feels invasive and makes me feel scared and gets my adrenaline going every day."
Picture Alliance / picture alliance via Getty Images
3. After Kanye West and Kim Kardashian publicly accused Taylor Swift of lying about giving him permission to use the lyric "I made that bitch famous" about her in his song "Famous," Taylor disappeared from public life for a year.
Terry Wyatt / Getty Images
In her documentary Miss Americana, Taylor said, "Nobody physically saw me for a year. And that was what I thought they wanted."
Amy Sussman / Getty Images
She also said, "When people decided I was wicked and evil and conniving and not a good person...that was the one thing I couldn't really bounce back from, because my whole life was centered around it. The reason why that backlash hurt so much was because that used to be all I had."
4. After Kelly Marie Tran was cast in Star Wars, she faced such intense online harassment that she deleted all of her Instagram posts. She told the Hollywood Reporter, "I left. I said no to a lot of things. It felt like I was just hearing the voice of my agents and my publicity team and all of these people telling me what to say and what to do and how to feel. And I realized, I didn’t know how I felt anymore. And I didn’t remember why I was in this in the first place."
David Livingston / Getty Images
She continued, "Any time that happens, I have to close up shop and go away for a while and really interact in the real world — read books and journal and go on hikes and look at a tree and remind myself that there was a fire that burned inside of me before Star Wars, before any of this. And I needed to find that again."
Roy Rochlin / Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows
5. When Daniel Radcliffe was starring in the stage play Equus, he had to deal with a crowd of paparazzi every night — until he "suddenly realized after [he] had just been lazy and not changed [his] clothes for a few days, that they were not there."
Araya Doheny / Getty Images
He told The Kelly Clarkson Show, "I realized it’s probably because I’m wearing the same thing so it all looks like photos from the same day. So, I was like, 'I’ll just continue wearing this.' And they never came back because it all looks like the same picture in front of the same door."
Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images
"The small victories against the paparazzis is always the ones you have to, like, celebrate," he said.
6. During Jennifer Garner's marriage to Ben Affleck, she "never had a day without" paparazzi following her unless she took extreme measures to avoid them.
Eugene Gologursky / Getty Images for Fast Company
She told the Hollywood Reporter, "If I did, if I made it to a park by hiding in the bottom of the pool man's truck or something, then a nanny would see me there and call a number, and they'd swarm."
Mike Coppola / Getty Images
She also said that the media attention on her family was so intense that her daughter was kicked off a soccer team because of it.
7. Ashley Benson said that paparazzi attention is "the one reason why [she] hate[s] being in this industry." She can't leave her house "without getting photographed," which "almost causes car wrecks."
Steve Granitz / FilmMagic / Via Getty
On Paris Hilton's podcast This Is Paris, she said, "There [are] times [when] I just don’t even want to leave my house or feel like I can go on a hike or do whatever because for whatever reason, they just follow me and want to take my photo."
Steve Granitz / FilmMagic / Via Getty
8. After paparazzi pictures of Zendaya and Tom Holland kissing went viral in July 2021, they "sort of felt robbed of [their] privacy" because they both intended to keep their relationship private.
Emma Mcintyre / Getty Images
Tom told GQ, "I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway. ... I don’t think it’s about not being ready. It’s just that we didn’t want to."
Cindy Ord / Getty Images for SiriusXM
In the same interview, Zendaya said, "It was quite strange and weird and confusing and invasive. The equal sentiment [we both share] is just that when you really love and care about somebody, some moments or things, you wish were your own. ... I think loving someone is a sacred thing and a special thing and something that you want to deal with and go through and experience and enjoy amongst the two people that love each other."
Karwai Tang / WireImage / Via Getty
9. After a paparazzi picture of Billie Eilish wearing a tank top went viral, she explained that she preferred to wear oversized clothes in public because "it kind of gives nobody the opportunity to judge what your body looks like."
Harry Durrant / Getty Images
She told Vogue Australia, "I don’t want to give anyone the excuse of judging. And it’s not like everyone’s going to judge you, but they all do in their head. Like, even if you’re not even trying to. Anything you look at, you judge. That’s just how we all work, that’s how human beings work."
Samir Hussein / Samir Hussein / WireImage / Via Getty
10. Paris Jackson called out paparazzi who yelled at her for refusing to show her face to the cameras. On Twitter, she explained that they don't get paid unless they get her face in the picture. She said they yelled, "Michael [Jackson, her dad] would have never done that!! Ugh!!!" even though "he did…a lot."
David M. Benett / Dave Benett / Getty Images
She continued, "Does no one remember the hundreds of unique disguises he came up with all the time?"
Peter Bischoff / Getty Images
11. When Charli D'Amelio was only 16, she publicly begged paparazzi to "please stop waiting outside [her] house."
Phillip Faraone / Getty Images for Fanatics
On her podcast 2 Chix, she said, "Super weird, super uncomfortable, big invasion of privacy. Home is supposed to be a safe place, not a place where you have people waiting for you."
David Livingston / Getty Images
She also alleged that she'd try to address the issue with the photographers in question directly, but they still followed her the same day.
She said, "I was like, 'Hey, I just want to let you know, I've been able to create a great friendship with you guys. I really do appreciate and I understand that this is your job. But just the waiting outside the house thing just really isn't cool.' They were like, 'Got it.'"
Her sister/cohost Dixie added, "Every time I leave my apartment, they're illegally parked right outside and then follow me all the way to [Charli's] house."
Arturo Holmes / WireImage / Via Getty
12. Grimes trolled the paparazzi by reading The Communist Manifesto while taking a walk after her breakup with Elon Musk.
Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images
The pictures are exclusive to the NY Post, so you can see them here.
On Instagram, she said, "I was really stressed when paparazzi wouldn’t stop following me this [week], but then I realized it was opportunity to troll."
Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic / Via Getty
13. While Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were dating, they combated paparazzi attention by covering their faces with handwritten signs promoting several charities.
Ignat / GC Images / Via Getty
Emma's sign said, "We were eating and saw a group of guys with cameras outside. And so we thought, let's try this again. We don't need the attention, but these wonderful organizations do." Then, Andrew's listed the organizations.
Ignat / GC Images / Via Getty
14. And finally, Lindsay Lohan enjoys running her club in Mykonos because she's "not in America, so no one knows about it, which is nice for [her]" and she gets to "actually focus on the result of things."
James Gourley / Getty Images
She told the New York Times that "[her] past has to stay in the past" and that the public has never really known her. She said, "I think success is the best revenge — and silence, as a presence. When I chose to change my future, my life, I was like, 'Where’s the one place I can find silence?'"
Sam Tabone / WireImage / Via Getty
She eventually moved to Dubai to secure that sense of peace. She told W Magazine, "There’s a certain calmness that I find there. There’s no paparazzi, no cameras; that’s a big deal for me."
Bravo / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal via Getty Images
She continued, "I never considered people taking a picture 'bothering' me, but I don’t want people to misinterpret who I am as a person if they see me sneezing and they say I’m crying. I do really appreciate having the life where I can just go outside and not have to worry."
And now, here are 9 celebs who reportedly call the paparazzi on themselves:
15. Julia Fox purposefully courts the paparazzi's attention when she's sporting one of her bold fashion looks.
@juliafox / Via Instagram: @juliafox
On her Instagram story, she said, "Decided to walk to increase the chances of being papped cuz the world needs this look. You're welcome."
@juliafox / Via Instagram: @juliafox
16. Heidi Pratt has a decade-long track record of cheekily staging paparazzi pictures.
Neil Mockford / FilmMagic / Via Getty
After opening up about her decision to eat raw meat on Instagram, she smiled for paparazzi pictures while eating a raw bison heart.
Snorlax / Snorlax / MEGA
17. Prior to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding in 2018, her father Thomas Markle worked with the tabloids to stage pictures — which sparked his estrangement from his daughter.
Sanc / Dsanchez / BACKGRID
In a clip from her and Harry's interview with Oprah, Meghan said, "The tabloids had apparently known [his location] for a month or so and decided to hold until the Sunday before our wedding because they wanted to create drama. When we were told by the comms team that this was a story, we called my dad, and I asked him [about staging the photos]. He said, 'No, absolutely not.'"
Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum
She continued, "I said, 'The institution has never intervened on anything for us, but they can try to go in and kill this story. But if they do this once, we're not going to be able to use that same leverage to protect our own kids one day.' I said, 'I just need you to tell me, and if you tell me the truth, we can help,' and he wasn't able to do that. And that, for me, has really resonated, especially now as a mother."
18. Katie Holmes reportedly worked with a hair care brand that employed staged paparazzi pictures to subtly promote its products.
James Devaney / FilmMagic / Via Getty
Tyler Williams, the beauty PR firm CEO who worked with that brand, told Bustle, "One of the tactics we would use occasionally — beyond her being our face for advertising, videos, and media interviews — was staging a photo of her shopping at Sephora with our newest product."
James Devaney / FilmMagic / Via Getty
He continued, "The talent gets a fee, we agree to a location and what the photos will look like — if they’re walking down the street or pulling a product out of their bag at lunch."
19. NYC-based photographer Justin Steffman alleged that Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin "worked directly with an infamous paparazzi photographer in New York" when their daughter Apple was born.
Fred Duval / FilmMagic / Via Getty
He told Cosmopolitan, "Together, they staged the first baby photos and made them look like candid pictures, then they sold the shots to a major magazine. The pictures were rumored to sell for upward of a million dollars. The paparazzi got a cut, and they took the rest."
Fred Duval / FilmMagic / Via Getty
20. Justin also alleged that Kim Kardashian "has a personal paparazzi who she texts regularly."
Mega / GC Images / Via Getty
He told Cosmopolitan, "This man flies around the world, going wherever she asks him to be, and they work together to produce the latest fake paparazzi pictures of her. She reviews every image before they start selling them to magazines. If they shoot on a beach, these images are heavily Photoshopped, and she chooses her favorites to sell."
Raymond Hall / GC Images / Via Getty
21. After her time on Love Island ended in 2016, influencer Malin Andersson arranged staged shoots.
GC Images / Via Getty
She told the Guardian, "I openly admit to that. It was so fucking weird. I’d pretend to be on my phone. I felt so awkward doing it. But then, it became a norm."
Ricky Vigil / GC Images / Via Getty
She continued, "Seeing myself in the Mail gave me validation, but it was empty validation. Because the article would drop down in five minutes and you’d want the next one. It becomes a bit of an addiction, and you start chasing it more."
22. Rachel Finni, a 2021 Love Island contestant and influencer, learned about staged paparazzi pictures from a friend who was a minor celebrity.
Ricky Vigil M / GC Images / Via Getty
She told the Guardian, "He said: ‘Honey, paps only come if you call them!' ... Seeing yourself in the papers and magazines every other day is the most incredible feeling."
David M. Benett / Dave Benett / Getty Images for Revolution
However, she's since stopped staging pictures.
She said, "It doesn’t do anything for me, but to remind people I exist. And how does it benefit me to remind people I exist? It’s so empty."
23. And finally, Rihanna announced her pregnancy through a staged paparazzi picture captured by celebrity photographer Miles Diggs.
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
On Instagram, he wrote, "To be blessed with this opportunity is something I never could’ve dreamt of."
Jeremy Moeller / Getty Images
Paparazzo Jesal Parshotam told the Guardian, "He is trusted. She’s worked with him for over 10 years. If we’re in a crowd of 10 photographers, I’ve seen her stop and hug him."
Share This Article
FacebookPinterestTwitterMailLinkBuzzFeed Daily
Keep up with the latest daily buzz with the BuzzFeed Daily newsletter!
Newsletter signup formEmail AddressSign upThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
