Without getting into all of the technical legal stuff do celebrities have less privacy rights than non-celebs? If you were shot into the spotlight and have become a celebrity yourself, what privacy rights would you expect from the public? If you are having dinner with your spouse, is it okay if people come over to your table and ask for autographs? If you are going shopping for some clothing, is it okay if you are mobbed by crazed fans and photographers? If you throw out your garbage, should people have the right to go though it? No, I am not a celebrity, but I would be pretty pissed if I could not go out for a quck bite to eat without being hassled. But, maybe that is just the price of being famous, because being famous has its many perks as well including going to exclusive clubs that us common folk are unable to enter (or afford), living in gated houses so no-one can enter, attending social events that most people would not recieve an invitation to, etc. So, the good and the bad go hand-in-hand.
Now, as a celebrity, how much information should the general public know about you? What is off-limits and what is okay to disseminate in print and on the web? For instance, we include a lot of information about celebrities on our site, www.PopStarsPlus.com, and some of the info includes facts about their personal lives. Sometimes we have excluded information that we found out because we thought it was too personal - in fact, we still have an ongoing discussion about printing the names and birthdates of the children of the celebrities, unless the celebrity makes it into a media event themselves (e.g., Britney Spears & son Sean Preston). Speaking of Britney, is it even proper for us to be printing stories about her relationship with Mr. Federline (the poor guy's been through too much already for me to call him Mr. Spears like everyone else). In their case, the public wants to know and I think that they like the media attention, so some of the drama was played out for the media instead of keeping it to themselves.
But back to Sean Preston. Beyond what his mother does to bring him into the public eye, should the fans and the press try to obtain any more information? He is just an infant. What if he does get a little older and goes into the entertainment business, does he then become open season for the press, fans and the papparazzi? Sean's aunt, Jamie Lynn Spears has made a name for herself as a teen/pre-teen star at the ripe old age of almost 15. On our site we include a whole lot of information about her, including the fact that she has mild asthma and her favorite food is crawfish. Is all of this information necessary, are we crossing any line because she is just a kid? The answer is no. If this information is readily available to the general public on a source such as the Internet, then it is generally okay to publish. However, there are just some things that you may want to stay away from if you have a child on your celebrity site -- if they are dating someone, that is cute to mention -- if they are having pre-marital sex, don't mention it unless it is front page news and part of a huge scandal. Of course, do not have any pictures of them naked or even have links to them being naked -- that's just wrong (and illegal). Try to stay away from any personal issues they may have outside of their professional life. Finally, although it may be had to do, let's not publish any rumors about kid celebs -- only print the facts. If you see them on the street, unless you are a pre-teen, let them go their own way.
Until next time . . .
I.R.
