Photo: National Photo Group
Photos of Axl Rose (sporting his flowing reddish locks from the Nineties rather than his angry braids of the ’00s) popping a photographer in the face at a Los Angeles airport has captivated the Web today. Rockers may love the Lady Gaga song “Paparazzi” but they sure don’t always have love for the swarm of photographers who track their every move when they’re out on the town or landing at JFK. Here’s a rundown of five of the most famous clashes between musicians and paps:
Britney Spears
A recently head-shaved Spears grabbed a green umbrella and attached the SUV belonging to a photographer who had been tailing her in February 2007, creating an image of pop-star meltdown that will live in infamy.
Björk
The Icelandic singer has not one but two airport slugfests under her belt. In 1996, she decked a photographer in Bangkok after he got near her son. And in January 2008, she was at it again, tearing the shirt of a photographer in New Zealand after he snapped a few unwanted photos.
Kanye West
In September 2008, West and a bodyguard were arrested and accused of smashing a paparazzo’s camera during a scuffle at a Los Angeles airport. In October 2009, the charges were dropped after West proved he completed anger-management classes.
Justin Timberlake
Timberlake snatched a camera who took a few shots of him and then-girlfriend Cameron Diaz in 2004, then got into a second scrape over the same issue two years later.
Chris Martin
The Coldplay frontman also has a duo of pap attacks on his resumé: In 2003 he was busted in Australia for attacking a photog’s car, and in January 2008 he shoved a photographer to the ground outside a New York hospital and yelled at him to “show some fucking respect.”
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily