Berry testifies at the California Capitol to support a bill, which will limit paparazzi's ability to take photos of celebrities' children without the parents' consent.
- Jun 26, 2013
AceShowbiz - Halle Berry has been vocal in her anti-paparazzi stand. On Tuesday, June 25, she appeared before the Assembly Committee on Public Safety at the California Capitol to support a bill, which will limit paparazzi from taking photographs of public figures' children.
At the hearing, Berry told the committee about her 5-year-old daughter Nahla who apparently got scared of the paparazzi's consistent presence around her. "My daughter doesn't want to go to school because she knows 'the men' are watching for her. They jump out of the bushes and from behind cars and who knows where else, besieging these children just to get a photo," the "X-Men: Days of Future Past" actress said, as quoted by Associated Press (via CBS News).
The pregnant Berry also shared a story of a paparazzi encounter at LAX in April, in which she blasted the photographers for getting too close to her family. "They were trying to start a fight with my fiance because if they get a photo of that it's more money," Berry said, adding that her daughter was terrified of the incident.
"She asked 'Mommy, are they going to kill us?' She didn't get to sleep until 3 A.M. because she can't get this out of her mind and she doesn't understand what just happened to her," the expectant mother continued.
The Assembly Committee on Public Safety later voted in favor of the bill. The bill would include taking children's photos without the legal guardian's consent by following their activities or lying in wait in the definition of harassment. People who are convicted will spend between 10 days and a year in jail. Filing civil lawsuits is also possible.
The bill's author would clarify language of the anti-harassment bill to protect reporters and photographers after receiving opposing opinion from journalism advocates. They are worried about the bill interfering journalists' job to gather news.
