Kristen Bell has had enough of the paparazzi.
While never a particular fan of photographers, the cheerful, even-tempered actress hadn’t ever made a point of fighting them, either. It was only after the birth of her first child, Lincoln, that Bell took to Twitter and eventually major media outlets to oppose the paparazzi’s obsession with celebrity photos, particularly those of celebrity children.
“Please boycott magazines that run pics of ‘celebrity children’,” Bell asked her followers, calling the practice “disengaged vouyerism” and pointing an accusatory finger at everyone from People to US Weekly .
“[The kids] shouldn’t be punished for who their parents are,” Bell said, later declaring, “I wont do interviews 4 entities that pay photogs to take pics of my baby anymore. I care more about my integrity & my values than my career.”
After her remarks drew some controversy on the social media site, Bell sat down with NBC News to clarify her position and offer a more in-depth explanation for her sudden vehemence against celebrity baby photos.
“[My husband and I] always had an agreement that when this little thing came into the world, all bets were off, no pictures would happen,” Bell told her hosts. “We now have a duty as parents to protect this little one.”
Bell also pointed out the dangers associated with pushy photographers all clamoring for a shot. Children can be injured, upset and even traumatized by bright lights and screaming crowds that they’re too young to understand. In addition, they face unsettling observation by paparazzi hanging around their schools.
“Children shouldn’t be stalked,” Bell declared.
Once again, she urged her fans to boycott the magazines making a profit on unauthorized photos, pointing out that “nothing will change” until the market itself does.
“If the consumer says, ‘No, we don’t want this anymore,’ the publications don’t pay for the pictures. The paparazzi aren’t getting paid, they stop taking pictures of the kids. That’s the mathematics.”
Bell and her husband, Dax Shepard, welcomed their baby girl in March of 2013. But they are not the first Hollywood couple to have a problem with the paparazzi snapping front-page pics of their offspring: Last September, Jennifer Garner and Halle Berry both supported a California bill that would make it illegal to take, sell or publish pictures of celebrity children without their parents consent.
“It’s all how the child is affected,” Bell explained. “That’s the bottom line.”
