Abstract
The nature of contemporary celebrity demands the negotiation of publicness and privacy. Given the increasingly intrusive presence of the paparazzi, entertainment media, and fans (from obsessed 'stalkers' to well-wishers), celebrities need to regulate but also publicise their 'front stage' public persona. While this is usually achieved with a degree of comfort, at certain times their space is threatened. Through a case study of the 2003 court case concerning unsolicited photographs of the wedding of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, published in Hello! magazine, this paper examines the policing, staging and legislative defence of celebrity privacy. It is suggested that celebrities' role in public is compromised by their extreme recognisability.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 9-23 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Social and Cultural Geography |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Douglas, Michael, 1944-
- Zeta-Jones, Catherine, 1969-
- celebrities
- celebrity weddings
- mass media and publicity
- paparazzi
- privacy
- privacy, right of
- publicity