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Inside Man
Inside Man: Paparazzi
Aired July 14, 2014 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to back up.
MORGAN SPURLOCK, CNN HOST: We're at the airport. Kim Kardashian is flying from Paris. You can see a big gaggle of paparazzi here. People are crowding around the door, jockeying for position. I'm going to bust in and try to get the best shot I can.
That sucks. I'm the worst pap ever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love celebrity magazine because they're easy to read, they're fun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like looking through their personal lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the juicy gossip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like reading about someone whose life is a little more glamorous than mine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want a little less drama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My favorite train wreck was Lindsay Lohan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, I was rooting for her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Miley Cyrus is like --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like that Kanye West guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything with Ryan Gosling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Kim Kardashian chick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's definitely a guilty pressure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guilty pleasure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guilty pleasure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I still watch it and buy it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Little juicy gossip never hurt anybody.
SPURLOCK: In fact, these days, celebrity gossip is an industry unto itself. And it's one worth about $3 billion. Today, consumers want more juicy gossip than ever. We want access to every part of celebrities' life, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and that's where these guys come in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we talk to you Kanye?
SPURLOCK: The paparazzi. The Paps will do almost anything to get that one in a million shot. They've been blamed for everything from high-speed chases to aggravated assault and even death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Princess Diana was killed when photographers were pursuing her car.
SPURLOCK: They keep the great gossip machine running. So this week, I'm going inside the machine and becoming a paparazzo.
I'm actually my way to meet a guy named Jiles Harrison, a paparazzi who's been making a living chasing celebrities around Los Angeles for decades.
Jiles?
JILES HARRISON, PAPARAZZI: Hey.
SPURLOCK: Hey, man. I'm Morgan.
HARRISON: Hey, nice to meet you. How are you doing?
SPURLOCK: How are you? Nice to meet you.
HARRISON: You want to hop in? Because I don't want to draw a bunch of attention to myself.
SPURLOCK: Yes, yes.
Over his 17-year career, Jiles has had his pictures appear in magazines, newspapers and websites. He's known as one of the best, if not the best celebrity spotter in the business. And he's going to teach me the ins and the outs of the business of celebrity.
So, what are you doing today?
HARRISON: I specialize in more the candid celebrity quote-unquote paparazzi shots. These are the types of things I take, OK? I'm not work on big expo fugue expose stories, but stuff that is going to fill a page, you know, the stars are like us section of the magazine.
SPURLOCK: Section is amazing.
HARRISON: I drive around L.A. I'm just looking for different celebrities all day. I'm looking out for celebrities in, quote, unquote, "disguise." So i.e., baseball cap and sun glasses. One of the other things I'm looking for is expensive cars.
SPURLOCK: OK. And you just have your camera ready to go.
HARRISON: My camera is sitting right here at the ready, locked and loaded.
SPURLOCK: So, what does a paparazzi make per week?
HARRISON: I mean, I make a lot of money. The minimum I make per photo I shoot is $100. If I shoot 3,000 pictures in a year, that's $300,000.
SPURLOCK: That's a lot of money.
HARRISON: Yes. But I've been doing this almost 20 years.
SPURLOCK: So, if I was just starting out like a rookie, what would I make home?
HARRISON: I would say about $750 to $1,000 a week. That's your average paparazzi.
SPURLOCK: I mean, it doesn't seem that difficult. I think I can make some pretty box in a week.
HARRISON: It's not as easy as it looks.
SPURLOCK: Yes. It looks pretty easy.
HARRISON: Maybe you would make nothing. You can go, you can go -- I mean, I have done weeks and not seen a thing.
SPURLOCK: That's me and my goal, it is me and my mission this week, I'm going to make $750 this week.
HARRISON: Good. Everybody's got to dream, right?
(LAUGHTER)
SPURLOCK: Who is it?
HARRISON: Ashley Tisdale.
SPURLOCK: That's Ashley Tisdale's Mercedes.
HARRISON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: And how do you know that's her car?
HARRISON: I was following her car the other day and I took a picture of her license plate.
SPURLOCK: That is creepy.
HARRISON: But it's also a bit like investigative work.
SPURLOCK: Do you ever feel creepy?
HARRISON: Yes, sometimes. I mean, to sit there and wait for somebody to come out of a building. Unfortunately, it does have an element of stalkerism to it.
SPURLOCK: Yes. For us two creepy guys and (INAUDIBLE). Yes. So if we get this picture, coming out of why and extra here, what are
you going to get for that?
HARRISON: Probably make between $500 and a thousand bucks, depending on what she's wearing.
SPURLOCK: You know what celebrities need? Burkas (ph). Paparazzi prove Burkas (ph).
HARRISON: Yes, is that burkas (ph). Here we go.
SPURLOCK: Here we go.
Thank you, Ashley.
HARRISON: Done.
SPURLOCK: Nice. She looked right at you at the end. She was not happy.
HARRISON: No, she wasn't. But here is the thing, I wasn't intrusive. I wasn't in her face.
SPURLOCK: No, good job. Let's get some lunch.
How many days a week do you shoot?
HARRISON: As the regular, nine to five is a job, I do it pretty much five days a week but there's never a moment my camera isn't in my car.
SPURLOCK: Yes. When did you start doing this?
HARRISON: A friend of mine owned a photo agency. And I was between jobs. I had just gotten a divorce, and it just kind of snow snowballed from there.
SPURLOCK: Who is it?
HARRISON: Sugar Ray Leonard.
SPURLOCK: Sugar Ray Leonard? Was he walking or driving?
HARRISON: He is drinking. He's sitting right there.
SPURLOCK: How much would Sugar Ray Leonard getting a manicure or a pedicure be worth?
HARRISON: Couple hundred bucks a bag. There we go.
How you doing, Mr. Leonard? Looking good, bro.
That was easy.
SPURLOCK: That was pretty good, right?
HARRISON: Yes. SPURLOCK: Looking right at you coming out of the nail shop. Nice.
What do people think about you?
HARRISON: Most people think we're a bunch of degenerates.
SPURLOCK: And are you?
The thing is, it's a job. We are journalists. And just because you don't like the subject matter you can't blame the paparazzi for capitalizing on it.
HARRISON: For capitalizing on it.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
HARRISON: I understand the inherent annoyance that comes from celebrities towards us. But then unfortunately, you know, that's kind of the price you pay.
SPURLOCK: So once you become famous, privacy is gone.
HARRISON: Kind of, yes.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
HARRISON: You know, it comes with the territory.
SPURLOCK: OK.
HARRISON: One of the things they claim to get upset about is the stories. But here's the thing, we're not the ones who write the stories. We take the photos. But it's the magazine that bought it. You can't blame us for taking them.
SPURLOCK: So, what's really the celebrity gossip now. The magazine might say it is the celebrities themselves. After all, a celebrity you don't know about won't be a celebrity for long. They crave the publicity, and magazines are in the business of giving it to them. So when a paparazzi spots a celebrity doing anything, and practically anything, he takes a picture of it and uploads it to a Web site where magazine editors can sift through the thousands of shots and pay anywhere from $40 to $500,000 a snap. But big paydays are few and far between. So to be successful like Jiles, you have to be ready to shoot all day, every day.
Talk to me, what's up.
HARRISON: Khloe Kardashian is at Stanleys with her mom.
SPURLOCK: I'm on my way.
He just got word from one of his scouts that Khloe Kardashian is at a restaurant with her mom. So what is the story of Khloe and Lamar?
HARRISON: Allegedly Lamar Odom has an addiction and Khloe is on the verge of leaving him. Whether it's true or not, we don't know for sure. But every magazine there's a story of Khloe Kardashian. So, it is a big one to get.
SPURLOCK: Should I try to get back or just sit in the car?
HARRISON: Draw too much attention to yourself. So it's better to just sit in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The backdoor? Backdoor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm new to this thing. You try to hit me in my head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a (bleep) citizen, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Idiot.
SPURLOCK: First day on the beat and our cam ma ran is getting harassed by the bodyguards. Turns out they don't make the distinction between paparazzo and a documentary cameraman. This week it could have been Harry.
HARRISON: I got something.
SPURLOCK: You got something.
HARRISON: Nothing special. See, I should have been in a different position. But I ended up run into the back of the court.
SPURLOCK: But it works.
HARRISON: It will work.
I made about $ 500 or $600 a day at least. So I'm not complaining.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
All right, Jiles, thank you today.
HARRISON: You are welcome, my friend.
SPURLOCK: Tomorrow, first official day.
HARRISON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: Me as a paparazzi.
HARRISON: Do you think you can handle it?
SPURLOCK: I'm going to be like an ambush predator. I'm going to kill it.
See you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SPURLOCK: Day two in Los Angeles, and as you can see, I'm locked and loaded. Today it's going to be me making the magic and the money with Mr. Jiles.
I'm ready to rock.
HARRISON: What are you doing? Lion taming?
SPURLOCK: I thought to be prepared.
HARRISON: You have way too much on. Well, not the best. You can use this one, just this. This is pretty much all you're going to need. So just that.
SPURLOCK: Just is that?
HARRISON: Just that.
SPURLOCK: OK, I'm ready.
HARRISON: All right, let's do it.
SPURLOCK: Rock n roll.
HARRISON: So Morgan, you stay on one side of the street and I stay on the other. So then that way we can kind of our eyes above places.
SPURLOCK: Tag team it.
HARRISON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: OK.
Anybody, anybody, anybody? I see a guy in glasses. Nope. I thought he might be some kind of an old rock star. Who's that? Nope. Just somebody who looks like somebody.
HARRISON: Robin Wright?
SPURLOCK: No. Is that somebody?
HARRISON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: I take it that's nobody.
HARRISON: That's the problem with this town. Everybody looks like they could be somebody. And that's why they're all here.
SPURLOCK: Yes. Ever see a celebrity on a celebrity tour?
HARRISON: No. We're going to check out Gold's Gym just in case we see somebody walking in.
SPURLOCK: I should just be ready, right?
HARRISON: Well, still you don't want to lift the camera until you have to. Then they see you immediately and you're doomed.
SPURLOCK: Then I lost it? See anybody?
HARRISON: That looks like Ray Liotta.
SPURLOCK: That is Ray Liotta.
HARRISON: Ray Liotta working out.
There's people right there. They'll probably see me.
I'm just going to be really stealthy and really quick.
SPURLOCK: Just do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, man. (bleep.
HARRISON: You got it.
SPURLOCK: Ray Liotta not too happy.
Come on, man, I'm just trying to (bleep) work out.
HARRISON: Bu I goat enough. But I got some pictures so we got the shot.
Straight through the fence but it's clean.
SPURLOCK: Yes, that's great.
HARRISON: Yes, it will work.
SPURLOCK: Come on, man. He looks good. He's sweaty.
HARRISON: We got it.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
So a picture like that, what do you think you'll get for those?
HARRISON: Probably $200 a pop. So maybe about a grand.
SPURLOCK: For these photos.
HARRISON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: That's amazing. Who thought Ray Liotta sweating would be worth so much.
HARRISON: Like -- I mean, like I said, there are some people want to see them in normal circumstances.
SPURLOCK: Just like us.
HARRISON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: They sweat just like me and you. Nice. Let's go make some more money.
Let's go.
I didn't have my camera ready to go. So those Ray Liotta are Jiles' score not mine. But I'll be ready for the next one.
HARRISON: Ready to go?
SPURLOCK: Ready to go. What's the best day you've ever had? Most people you've taken pictures of.
HARRISON: The most I ever done is 19 in one day.
SPURLOCK: That's 19 just driving around like this?
HARRISON: Yes.
SPURLOCK: That's a big day.
Sorry, who was it?
HARRISON: Affleck.
SPURLOCK: Ben Affleck?
HARRISON: Yes.
I'm 99.9 percent positive. I just have to keep up with him. Come on.
SPURLOCK: It might not be him.
HARRISON: No, it's not.
SPURLOCK: It's not?
HARRISON: Well, better to check and be wrong than not check and be right.
SPURLOCK: Why do you think it's that we've become so obsessed with celebrity and fame.
HARRISON: It brings something to our lives that might not necessarily be there?
SPURLOCK: Like what? Glamour?
HARRISON: Well, you know, if all your life is is kids, work or at home, you want something -- you want some form of escapism. Because people, you know, they like the train wreck of other people's lives. Or at some cases. These people have a life better than mine and it gives you some kind of, I don't know aspirations, fantasies. It is always been the ways. But now, it is the digital shift changed it. Because now the internet is so accessible. All these images are come barded at us every single day.
Jamie Lee Curtis. SPURLOCK: Where was she?
HARRISON: In the Tesla.
SPURLOCK: You got it?
HARRISON: I'm pretty sure it's her.
SPURLOCK: It is impressive that you could like see that in the other side of the highway. That is amazing. Yes, that's totally her. That's absolutely her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing Ms. Curtis? Have a nice day.
SPURLOCK: This is my first paparazzi photos ever. I did not get great shots.
So where are we headed to now?
HARRISON: We are going to check the Santa Monica steps. So, we're going to see if anybody is working out.
All right, Morgan, get your camera ready.
I think I saw (INAUDIBLE), the actor from "Amistad."
SPURLOCK: When he comes to the top of the stairs, we'll have him.
HARRISON: Here he comes.
SPURLOCK: His bodyguard is going right over to him.
HARRISON: He doesn't have a choice. Because eventually he has to get back to the car. Here he comes now. There you go. Lean out. Just lean out.
SPURLOCK: Cool. So how was that?
HARRISON: Pretty good.
SPURLOCK: Tell me how these are. Here we go. I mean, these are the best ones right here.
HARRISON: Yes, those are good.
SPURLOCK: That one, this one. That's the best.
HARRISON: Yes, that's great.
SPURLOCK: Great, nice job.
HARRISON: Way to go, man.
SPURLOCK: It looks like I may have actually gotten some usable shots. Next up, Jiles will show me how to sell my photos to an agency. HARRISON: So Morgan, I think you did very well today. So, what I'm
going to is I'm going to pick a selection of -- another ones you think are best.
Jamie Lee Curtis. I mean, it's a little bit soft. But that's the frame I would use. You've got your full lens. You've got the context of what he's doing. He is working out. You've got the fashion shots so even if you say he wears Adidas --
SPURLOCK: Or carry five-toe shoes. That's a pretty decent set.
HARRISON: So if you had to guesstimate, very fashionably from head to toe in x, y, z, here.
SPURLOCK: So if you have to guesstimate, like we put these out on the wire tonight.
HARRISON: So, it's not going to make a lot, a lot of money. It's not like it's Brad Pitt. If it was Brad Pitt working out and you had 15 prints, you would make $10,000, $20,000, especially if he had his shirt off, you would make any more. You'll make a couple hundred bucks if you're lucky.
SPURLOCK: So, if we put this on, how long we will know? How long will it take time though who pick them up?
HARRISON: Generally, most magazines around the world come out once a week.
SPURLOCK: OK. On my first official day as a paparazzo, I got a few solid shots in two celebs but there is only four days left before the magazine close their issues for the week. To make some real money, tomorrow I'm going after much bigger fish.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: So we're on our way to meet Frank Griffin. He is a former paparazzi, really well-known here in L.A. who went on to start his own agency called the Power Griffin Agency and I'm going there, hoping that he can kind of give us some info on what the kind of big shot of the week is, the one that could be the big picture of the week.
FRANK GRIFFIN, POWER GRIFFIN AGENCY: Hi there.
SPURLOCK: I'm Morgan.
GRIFFIN: HI. Nice to meet you.
SPURLOCK: Thank you very much.
GRIFFIN: I'm just show you around the place a bit.
These are a couple of our famous pictures of Jennifer Aniston is always big news. So we have a couple that made covers on that. It is a very long know one, Barack Obama in Hawaii after he was elected but before he was inaugurated. SPURLOCK: Yes.
Power Griffin is responsible for some of the most famous celebrity images of the last decade. And Frank's been shooting the rich and famous for years. Frank knows better than anyone what sells and today he's going to help me figure out how to shoot it.
So the question is what decides kind of the value that's put on people's heads. Like what makes somebody more valuable than somebody else?
GRIFFIN: The demand. Simply economics. There's a quite ton handful of maybe a dozen than will always sell. The absolute demand is for Brad and Angelina, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner and her kid and the biggest star in the world, actually, is Kate Middleton. But the Kardashians have some more money manufactured themselves into that position. She's on every damn cover. Look, look, dumped. Kanye ditches her, leaving her all alone with the baby. Don't you just want to read that?
SPURLOCK: So now I'm ready for an assignment. Where can I go?
GRIFFIN: I'm going to send you to LAX to the airport because Kim Kardashian is coming in airlines from Paris. You're going to meet with one of our best photographers and you are going follow up on the lead.
SPURLOCK: OK. Great. Thank you very much.
Morgan. Good to see you, man. So what are we in for today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to shoot Kim Kardashian.
SPURLOCK: She's flying in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SPURLOCK: And how do you know that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little birds told me.
SPURLOCK: So there are people that let you know when people are on flights?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And sometimes these are folks on the flights.
SPURLOCK: No way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SPURLOCK: So they let the paparazzis know themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes.
SPURLOCK: I'm coming into town on this flight. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes.
Yes, she has an account with paparazzi.
SPURLOCK: What does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That mean whence somebody shoots her, she gets paid.
SPURLOCK: No way. So like she splits it whoever that agency is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she gets a percentage.
SPURLOCK: That's ridiculous. That's amazing.
Do you like what you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do. I love it.
SPURLOCK: That's pretty great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people are stuck in dead-end jobs in Walmart. This economy, it's really hard.
SPURLOCK: Yes. So why do paps get such a bad rap?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody takes this view where it's like oh, they killed Princess Diana, you know, and they did all this stuff. And they never really look at things. And think about what's really going on here. I'm here sometimes because the celebrity told me to be here. You know? They want that publicity and that's what people don't understand.
Of course, there are some who absolutely do not need that publicity.
SPURLOCK: Yes. But does somebody like Kim Kardashian still need it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she does. This is her job, too. What is she in every week? The tabloids. You know?
SPURLOCK: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't act, she doesn't sing, she has a reality show, but what's she in every single week? The tabloids.
SPURLOCK: That's her job. Her job is getting in the tabloids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
SPURLOCK: The minute she's not in the tabloids, she's irrelevant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Yes. That's a lot of it.
SPURLOCK: How many do you think will be there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe 30. That's what happens when you tip out people, you know?
SPURLOCK: I love that you guys have all this inside information. You're like the CIA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see, there's already people here.
SPURLOCK: Do you ever feel guilty for what you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not at LAX. This is, in many ways, like the red carpet.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you are --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be very aggressive. Very aggressive. You might get pushed.
SPURLOCK: That's all right, I push back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SPURLOCK: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I just spotted her.
SPURLOCK: Really? She's already down stairs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing going on, what the hell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back. Get back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, get back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give room, give room. Let her out, let her out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get it?
SPURLOCK: I think I got a couple.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're papping all the paps. There we go.
SPURLOCK: Now we got to sell these pictures.
GRIFFIN: All right. Let's have a look at it. Who is this? This, I think, should have been Kim Kardashian.
SPURLOCK: It is, Kim Kardashian.
GRIFFIN: Is it? How can you tell?
SPURLOCK: Because she was there. GRIFFIN: You could sell that photo. I could play with that all day
long. But it's crap, really, isn't it? Nobody would buy that.
SPURLOCK: I was not very good position.
GRIFFIN: So that's your fault. What are we going to do with this one? This is just disastrous.
SPURLOCK: So nobody would buy that ever?
GRIFFIN: No. Not for a mag. Not in a million years. Because he's in focus. But she isn't.
SPURLOCK: No. That's my style, soft focus.
GRIFFIN: They're absolutely dreadful. You need to learn how to use a flash. You need to learn how to calculate the balance.
SPURLOCK: Yes. I had no idea how to use the flash. I didn't think about it. That one is not terrible.
GRIFFIN: What's good about it?
SPURLOCK: You see her coming out. You can see that she's arriving.
GRIFFIN: No, it is because she is hiding and there's nothing there. She's out of focus. This is (bleep) and that's the best one.
SPURLOCK: My best one is just (bleep). The rest are worse than that.
GRIFFIN: So if you had been relying on this to pay your rent, you would be homeless, right?
SPURLOCK: I would be homeless.
GRIFFIN: There you go, that's what I wanted. I would have rather have had that.
SPURLOCK: That's great.
GRIFFIN: It's not going to work because it's not enough of her, but it's a great one of the bodyguard. I think you should have stood back and got the wide. Now I'm looking at a story.
SPURLOCK: Right. Then how much money are my pictures going to be?
GRIFFIN: Yours are going to make nothing. You owe us money, I think, for wasting our time.
SPURLOCK: So I took some pictures today that were completely overexposed and many of them out of focus. So if I'm going to make $750 this week, it's just not going to be possible with pictures like that. Like what I did today is not going to help this cause. And I'm going to have to do infinitely better from here on out if I'm going to try to make that happen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: I've been on the paparazzi beat for the last few days. But I'm taking a break from the hassle to learn more about the flip side of this celebrity business. So I'm headed to meet Chris Herzog, former bodyguard to dozens of high profiles stars like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Alba. He's seen his fair share of paparazzi, all from the celeb point of view.
SPURLOCK: Chris?
CHRIS HERZOG, FORMER BODYGUARD: That's me.
SPURLOCK: Hi. I'm Morgan.
HERZOG: Nice to meet you.
SPURLOCK: Nice to meet you.
HERZOG: Come on in.
SPURLOCK: Yes, thanks man.
HERZOG: Well, the bodyguard in Beverly Hills was founded in 1967 by my father and friends of his who created in Vietnam, they were veterans, who wanted a job replacement service for elite U.S. veterans returning from combat.
SPURLOCK: So what is the hardest part of your guys' job?
HERZOG: The hardest part in our 47-year history is the paparazzi. They are a stalker that picks up a camera. And now he is protected by the freedom of the press. Very simply, they ruin people's lives for the sole purpose of making a buck in entertainment.
SPURLOCK: What makes them dangerous? From your point of view?
HERZOG: Paparazzi try to evoke a violent reaction because they want you to turn around and hit them on camera. If they can get this on camera, they'll sue you, they will press charges.
SPURLOCK: Right.
HERZOG: It's got much, much, much more aggressive because we've become less aggressive. And the paparazzi act as camouflage for any potential real assailants. Because all are actually assailant and I have heard many a-list celebrities say this. On actual assailant before they show up with something like this, all they have to do is show up with something like this.
SPURLOCK: That's crazy.
HERZOG: Yes, it is.
SPURLOCK: So what should change? What should be done/ What should be different? SPURLOCK: All the celebrities out there need to grow a pair of balls
and say we're not leaving until you pass a constitutional amendment that says freedom of the press does not apply to paparazzi. It only applies to people not breaking the law, harassment is breaking the law, not trespassing on private property and not interfering in the private lives of public people. That's what will change it, period.
SPURLOCK: So, is legislation the answer? Celebrities like Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner have been pushing for anti-paparazzi laws for year.
HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: They cause chaos. They cause fear.
JENNIFER GARNER, ACTRESS: I don't want a game of shouting, arguing, law breaking photographers who camp out everywhere we are, all day every day, to continue traumatizing my kids.
SPURLOCK: September 2013, they won a small victory when California passed a law outlawing harassment of celebrity children. But more comprehensive laws have all been quashed in the name of freedom of speech. So some celebs have taken the law into their owned hands.
The battle is ongoing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have to be so aggressive. I'm with a little kid.
SPURLOCK: But for the next two days, at least, I've got to make my living on team paparazzi.
So I'm not where near my goal of making $750 and time is running out. I'm going to need to score a big photo to make up for it.
So we're actually on a Lamar Odom hunt. This is the big picture of the week. This picture is thousands of dollars. It's huge. And this is what everybody is chasing.
Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian have been prime tabloid fodder for over a month now. It's been widely speculated in the media that Lamar has a drug problem. Who know if these allegations are even true. And Lamar has been staying out of sight. So photos of him have been going for top dollar.
After talking to Chris, the bodyguard group about this stuff, I don't really feel great about doing this. But if I'm going to make that money, it's what I've got to do.
OK. We're going to hole up here for a second. Outside of the gates that go to Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom's house. It's like we're on stakeout.
We've been here three-plus hours and have seen absolutely nothing. But I think the car behind me has a paparazzi in it. So I'm going to go and talk to him right now.
So how long have you been out here? Here on this job? Ever since the Khloe Kardashian and Lamar story
broke. About a month maybe.
SPURLOCK: A month? Where is Lamar right now, do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not sure.
SPURLOCK: Do you ever feel bad for doing what you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. If I felt bad for what I did, I wouldn't do it. I try to do it in a respectful fashion. When you get a picture that everyone wants to see, you get paid. You know, some hefty money. Whatever it is. And that's why, you know, guys do this.
SPURLOCK: So when you look at celebrities, do you see dollar signs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all it is, man. It is a photo. Photo is worth money to me. That's all it is.
SPURLOCK: Yes. No emotion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not my fantasy or like I grow up as a kid and say I want to be a paparazzi. Just kind of feeling my life and I win with it, so.
SPURLOCK: Yes. So to you, this is a job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all a job.
SPURLOCK: The people who are really to blame are the magazines?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't think anyone should be to blame. It's always a circus. No one is the good guy, no one is the bad guy. We're just a big part of mayhem.
SPURLOCK: Yes. Of the machine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not going to stop. It's not going to stop.
SPURLOCK: I've been out hunting for Lamar for about four hours now. He wasn't at his house, so I'm headed to a Montreal hotel where he was supposedly holed up for a bit.
Can I ask you a question? Has Lamar Odom been around?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who?
SPURLOCK: Lamar Odom? Basketball player?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.
SPURLOCK: You don't know? Haven't seen him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
SPURLOCK: No. Do you know if he's been here in the past -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't tell you even if he was.
SPURLOCK: You wouldn't b tell me even if he was.
All right, thanks, man.
So been here now for about two hours. Nothing's happened. I think the thing now is to move on to the last location and see if we can see anything there.
I'm on my way to the last location, which is the house where Lamar was supposedly getting drugs from. He's right there. I've been sitting here now for hours and I feel gross. The idea of, you know, to me taking pictures of people buying coffee or shopping, it's like who cares? But chasing people at their absolute lowest point just to get that moment where they break, I mean, I just can't help but think that this is all continuing to pour gas on the fire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: It's my last day as a paparazzo. This week my goal was to make $750.
I started trying to find any pictures. None of my pictures were on the internet were anywhere. None of my Jamie Lee Curtis pictures got picked up anywhere. Looks like day one with (INAUDIBLE) and Jamie Lee Curtis was a wash. I haven't had one picture get picked up. Here you go. Kim Kardashian at the airport. Look at that, tool bag. That's it.
Kim Kardashian at airport, and there is a picture of me taking a picture of Kim Kardashian at the airport. It not only that I take bad picture, now the only story that has come out this and the only pictures are pictures with me in it. Of which I don't get a penny. Because right now I got to try and figure out some ways to up my game because as of now I've made, hold on, let me calculate this, zero dollars.
Today, is the last day to get pictures for the magazines before they close the issues. So I'm doing everything I can to try to just get a few more pictures that might actually making me some money. And I just got a tip from Jiles that Reese Witherspoon is in a house in Rickwood. So we're booking over there right now.
Another very exciting day, as you can see. Hanging out with 15 of my closest friends, waiting for Reese Witherspoon to come out o f that house. We know she's in there because some of that --
That guy drove by and said you guys go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, somebody is coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here she comes. .
SPURLOCK: So she's driving away. All these guys are following her to get more pictures of her. They've already gotten in their cars. They're all going to trail her to the next place. I got some pictures, probably the best picture I've gotten the whole week right there. But it's one of those pictures that's not going to be worth a lot because there were, you know, 10 other guys here.
Let's look at the pictures I took of Reese today. These aren't bad.
HARRISON: No, great.
SPURLOCK: Do you think I'll be able to sell these?
HARRISON: Yes, definitely. That one she's yelling back. She's yelling get out of the street.
You wouldn't make a lot because there's a lot of paparazzi there. But either way, you'll make a few hundred bucks easy.
SPURLOCK: Right. So a couple hundred bucks right there.
HARRISON: Yes, definitely.
SPURLOCK: Considering that's probably all I would have made all week.
HARRISON: And then you're a third of your way to 750, right?
SPURLOCK: A third of a way there.
HARRISON: Certainly better than the first day.
SPURLOCK: That's not saying much, though.
HARRISON: So how was your week?
SPURLOCK: It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.
HARRISON: How?
SPURLOCK: For me, I just feel like -- I started to feel like I'm part of the problem, you know, when you're sitting in the car just waiting and kind of chasing around this elusive thing. You know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I try to have respect for myself, which is why I pick them off as they're doing their daily things.
SPURLOCK: But it seems to me to be where you have to disconnect yourself emotionally. Otherwise you can't look at it like that. Like you have to just look at people for what they are, which is dollar signs.
HARRISON: I think if you come at wit a healthy dose of respect for the people you're shooting, then you can find a simple amount of balance.
SPURLOCK: Yes, find the balance.
HARRISON: Find the balance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: It's been three weeks since my paparazzo experience in L.A. Plenty of time for my photos to get picked up, if anybody did pick them up.
So Jiles called me and told me that I actually sold some photographs, which is pretty amazing. So we're going online to see exactly what I sold and how much money I made. This is the photo that I sold right there, this photo of Kim coming into the airport. Pretty exciting. And here's how much money I made. $30.19. As if it doesn't getting any better than that. So they ran it again. They ran it a second time and I got paid a second time for that. Boom. $6 64 big ones. That's 64 cents. So in total, I cleaned up about $3.83 worth.
So take that, Frank. You said I wasn't going to sell anything. So look at that. Official paparazzi right here. It on the magazine. It is all right. It doesn't matter. It didn't get picked up in a magazine. You know where it did go, boom. Right on the worldwide internet. I took that picture, thank you, Kim Kardashian.
OK, so maybe I'm not going to maybe a career about being a paparazzo, but the job isn't going anywhere. Because whether or not we like the way they work or not, we all keep buying what they're selling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Miley Cyrus, she is too much, honey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Justin Bieber is working his way down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Waging at a butt. That's a bit much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was like American sweetheart and then she --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is still cute and she is very talented.
