Saturday, April 12, 2003

I don't know about you but when it comes to celebrity and celebrities I am drawn and repulsed in equal measure, I like the idea of celebrity but generally dislike celebrities and the factory of mediocrity that makes them. It was then with the fascination you have as you pass an accident on the motorway that I have followed the case of the Zeta-Joneses vs 'Hello' magazine, a case of biting the hand that feeds if ever there was one. The final outcome of which was a 'victory' depending on which side of the the camera you sit. As the one paper commented, "It is hard to feel any great sympathy for a fabulously rich Hollywood couple who never sought to disguise the fact that they had sought to control - for money - the images of their fashionable New York wedding in December 2000 and were miffed that a rival magazine managed a spoiler." The Zeta-Joneses claimed their privacy was violated but the Judge disagreed probably on the assumption that if you seek publicity the way Catherine and Micheal do you shouldn't be too surprised if it bites you now and again. It is for no small reason that the collective noun for the press is 'pack'. He did find for them regards the arrangement they made with 'Hello' rival 'OK' magazine ruling that the actions of 'Hello' were illegal under data protection laws and commercial confidence. The truth is both sides have emerged from this looking rather ridiculous as they need each other to survive. The Zeta-Joneses need the oxygen of publicity provided by the media of which glossy celebrity fodder magazines are now an integral part, 'Hello' needs complicit celebes to fill it's pages. One day they'll learn.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home