back to article Bjork lays into NZ snapper

Elfin Icelandic chanteuse Bjork has sealed her reputation for laying into the press by attacking a New Zealand Herald snapper at Auckland International Airport yesterday. The battling warbler set about the Herald's Glenn Jeffrey when he photographed her arriving at 7.50am. The shaken lensman recounted: "I took a couple of …

COMMENTS

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  1. Mark Johnson

    Mad

    That girl's mental. No wonder's Goldie's got no teeth left.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Got off lightly

    She should have ripped the Chav-Happy-snapper-PapaRATzi (sic) a new ass, instead...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Heart

    A title is required.

    I've heard that Bjork once went after a photographer for trying to take pictures of her kid. That I can understand... not sure what's up with the 'welcome to bangkok' thing though!

    Then again, it makes sense to steer clear. She lives on a mountain - and what's more, likes to throw little things off. Or so I hear. Pretty loopy!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Glenn Jeffrey: Pwned by a Girl

    'nuff said.

  5. Steve Browne

    Bjork: 1 Papparazzi: 0

    Well done Bjork.

    Why do photographers think it is perfectly acceptable to run up to someone push a camera in their face, fire off a blinding flash gun and get away with it. It is as close to a physical assault you can get.

    Nice to see the whining git get his come uppance.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Got off lightly

    There is a big difference between paparazzi and the press photographer for the largest newspaper in nz. You can't just attack people 'cause you're feeling grumpy...

  7. David
    Thumb Up

    Go, Bjork!

    It's rude to take people's pictures if they don't want you to. Being a photographer just means you don't care about being rude, and therefore should get thumped regularly.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    AGAIN???

    Björk IS Iceland... ice and fire together. Whoa! And here we thought it was a once-off in Bangkok. Evidently not. Good for her.

    The pap even admits that she was escorted by someone who asked him NOT to take photos. What does he do? Take 'just a couple of' photos. Idiot. 25 years of photo experience didn't mean much there, did it?

  9. Hayden Clark Silver badge

    Not surprised at the Bangkok incident...

    ... you step off a plane after too many hours, there's plonkers waving mobile phones in your face. You're tired, and the kids are probably whiney. Then some **** journalist tries to interview you. Snap!

    What The Reg didn't mention was that one of her "people" asked the guy not to take photographs, and he did anyway. So, tough on him.

  10. Robert Long
    IT Angle

    Welcome to Bangkok?! I'll give you "Welcome to Bangkok", my lad.

    Perhaps it means something really insulting in Icelandic. Or whatever language it is that the little people in Bjork's head speak.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    Hmmmmm.... Bjork!

    I have a soft spot for Bjork but have to admit, she is as mad as a box of frogs. This kind of behaviour seems to go against the love for nature she has but as has already been said, she was probably knackered and wouldn't have appreciated some fella sticking his lense up her nose.

  12. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    It's all quite confusing

    Reading just the comments here it seems that the same guy who took the pics is sometimes a "journalist" and sometimes a "papparazzi".

    Now I despise paparazzi as much as any other human being that is not a celebrity does, but hey, if he's a journo then it's not the same thing. I give much more credit to journos than to papzs (actually, I give journos some, papzs none), so I really would like to know. Was the photographer a journo from a respectable journal doing his job in a professional manner ? Or was he a piece of slime out for some celeb shot ? Or was he some piece of slime trying to pass off as a journalist ?

    I think that a real journalist does not take pictures if he is asked not to. So that would make the guy a papz. If so, I'm not really sorry for him.

    But still, I think events like this are going to be fewer are far between as the word gets around in the photographic circles : Björk is a no-no ! Wherever she is, whatever she is doing !

    What will be funny is the day she actually wants her picture taken (like for PR-related business, album launch, whatever) and, in protest, nobody takes one.

  13. Bad Beaver
    Go

    Well, seems he met an army of her...

    In my book, Björk can pretty much get away with anything. She's Björk, after all. Just because many celebrities are total cam-whores it does not mean paparazzi can treat everyone the same way and get away with it. Even more so if the "target" travels with kids, and especially when asked to cut it.

    Go get 'em girl!

  14. Stu
    Alien

    Hmmmm

    Ripped his shirt all the way down the back eh?

    She must have been quite surprised not to find lizard scales on his back as evidence of our Lizardy overlords!

    Or perhaps the zipper for his human skin.

    Could she really be that deluded? Yep!

  15. Sacha TF Padovani
    Happy

    "And if you complain once more

    ..you'll meet an army of me.."

  16. Bill Coleman

    Go Bjork!

    You crazy, crazy lady! While I'm inclined to let her away with anything because she is such a genius, I bet the guy actually did have it coming. So many people just accept it when the paps get up in their face - or try to run away - or worse still, complain about it while secretly loving it and invite it back in their lives when their celebrity has gone off the boil (I'm looking at you Heather Mills). Not our Bjork. She'll just launch a crazy ass attack on them like a demented flailing cat. Not exactly Crouching Tiger kung foo - but I pity the fool who gets in front of that! "Declare independence" indeed!

  17. Not That Andrew
    Alien

    RE: Journo Vs. Paparazzi

    If the guy was a real journalist he would have respected her expressed wish not to be photographed. That said, she really is as madder than a box of frogs.

  18. John Browne

    Expectation of privacy is zero

    If you're in any public place you have zero expectation of privacy. (Except perhaps a nudie beach.)

    Anyone is perfectly entitled to take a picture of anyone if they are out and about, if you take exception to this and do something about it you are guilty of Assault.

    If you think about it every shop etc are taking images of you continuously in the shop and even on the street outside and theres feck all you can do about it.

    I hope he sues her, or at least got a good photo of her.

  19. Steen Hive
    IT Angle

    No wrong

    Björk can do no wrong. I worship her very footsteps.

  20. Paul
    Gates Horns

    It's all quite confusing

    "What will be funny is the day she actually wants her picture taken (like for PR-related business, album launch, whatever) and, in protest, nobody takes one."

    I think you are asuming she would accualy care. I get the feeling she wouldent mind at all. And as for Papz, I think entering your personal space in that way should count as assault.

    I would love to know if this guy was a Pap, of a jurno taking photos in a profesional way, but being at an airport at that time on his own I am asuming the first untill proven otherwise.

  21. Frank Bough
    Happy

    Go Björk!

    That'll learn 'em. Welcome to Bangkok indeed - she was asking for it.

    And I do love a catfight...

  22. Richard Scratcher
    Coat

    She's oh so quiet until....

    She starts another big riot

    She blows a fuse...zing boom!

    The devil cuts loose...zing boom!

    So what's the use....wow bam!

    Of following her around?

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Disappointed

    I thought I was going to read about how much she enjoyed an exotic lunch, there probably more cod than snapper fished in Iceland, red or otherwise.

    As for the Bangkok incident, when you are teaching english as a foreign language, the first thing to do is explain how not to ask for a Coke.

  24. ImaGnuber

    RE: Journo Vs. Paparazzi

    "If the guy was a real journalist he would have respected her expressed wish not to be photographed."

    Exactly. As an ex-professional photographer I agree completely. If this was a newsworthy moment (as in 'Need to Know' as opposed to the whiny, slimy justification 'Right to Know' we get from the tabloids) then it would be a different matter.

    Good for Bjork!

    -Ima

  25. ImaGnuber
    Paris Hilton

    RE:Expectation of privacy is zero

    So what? That doesn't mean some git-for-profit MUST invade your privacy. Perhaps if a few more idiots got Bjorked they'd back off.

    Anybody noticed how legalese ('expectation of privacy') has crept into everyday speech and thought?

    The PH icon because I can.

    -Ima

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Heart

    @Richard Scratcher

    Bloody fantastic song that. If you've got a good system you can crank it to high heaven and it still sounds great, too; production level is unbelievable. What that woman can do with her voice is scarcely believable.

  27. andy rock
    Happy

    RE: Re: Got off lightly

    "There is a big difference between paparazzi and the press photographer for the largest newspaper in nz. You can't just attack people 'cause you're feeling grumpy..."

    i agree but she's got form. the one person you want to actually ask (politely) 'do you mind if i take your picture?' is her. he must've been hiding under a rock not to have known she flips like this.

  28. ImaGnuber
    Thumb Up

    I for One...

    Anti-tabloid/papz sentiments notwithstanding - I for one welcome our beer-swilling, fat-arsed, upskirt-snapping but engagingly-disheveled ElReg-tabloid-journo Overlords.

    Hat, coat, home for the day.

    -Ima

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    What if?

    The thing is, while it's all very big and clever to grab/hit some pap scum, there's always the 'what if' scenario.

    Like what if the person you attack retaliates?

    And what if they're rather more successful & skilled in their attack than you were?

    After all, you probably know nothing about them, what their background is, what kind of person they are, how bad a day they've had etc. etc.

    And you've just made the first move, and put yourself in easy reach with your security probably not in a position to do anything immediate to help.

    A crushed larynx wouldn't exactly help a singing career.

    (Not that I would ever advocate anything like this, but it's always possible and a risk people just don't seem to consider)

  30. Rich
    Flame

    Hitting people is wrong

    Whatever they've done to annoy you. There are too many people around (quite a few on here, I notice) who think violence is acceptable if they sympathise with the perpetrator.

    The photographer's made a complaint, so the cops are obliged to take some action. I hope she gets busted.

  31. Jeremy

    NZ Herald photographer

    NZ Herald is a major mainstream paper - not saying that its any good mind you ;). The photographer is a journalist, rather than paparazzi.

  32. Jon Minhinnick
    Paris Hilton

    Poor girl...

    ...being compelled to be a world-famous rock superstar. Obviously an intolerable job, and those photographers who forced Björk toward her superstardom by greasing the wheels of her publicity machine must have it coming to them.

  33. Michael
    Stop

    FIle Charges!

    A photo being taken in a public place, against your wishes, does NOT give you the right to assault someone. Full stop.

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: FIle Charges!

    "A photo being taken in a public place, against your wishes, does NOT give you the right to assault someone. Full stop."

    No, it doesn't. But I can see where having thousands of pictures taken might put someone on edge.

    And think of it this way: Celebrities images are worth something. Do they get a cut from these clowns or their employers? I don't think so. So maybe this could be regarded as a form of theft and the celebs are defending their property?

    Oh wait. They're rich and successful so they should just have to put up with this crap. And they should be grateful for the attention no matter how annoying it is because they wouldn't be successful without allowing others to profit from their success. Huh? What? They wouldn't be getting the attention unless they were already successful.

    Funny what unsuccessful people think successful (and rich) people should have to put up with.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @AC

    > Funny what unsuccessful people think successful (and rich) people should have to put up with.

    How is success/income relevant? If someone took photos of me while I walked down the street (even if they took lots of photos) I wouldn't be allowed to attack them.

    I might be able to take out a restraining order but I can't just go over and punch them in the face. Would that change if I was rich?

  36. Paul Murray
    Thumb Down

    An odd idea of morality

    "I don't see being assaulted as I'm working as a press photographer as an acceptable thing"

    IOW: "But it's my job!". So let's see: any sort of behaviour (harassing people in public, chasing people through tunnels, chopping down pristine old-growth forests, harpooning whales, persuading people to accept dodgy home loans) is ok as long as someone is paying you to do it.

  37. skeptical i
    Paris Hilton

    Money buys solutions, yes?

    If I know I'm gonna pop some camera- wanger in the lens cap after a long flight, why wouldn't I spare myself (and my kids, fer crineouts) the hassle and make arrangements for some kinda VIP incognito/ secret- exit escape from the airport? In an ideal world, sure, no one would be taking pictures without permission but sadly, this is not an ideal world, and whether Bjork likes it or not, she qualifies as "news". OTOH, if this is all a gimmick to boost ticket sales ("there is no such thing as bad publicity"), have at it. Paris icon for celebs behaving badly.

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Rich. Violence is always the answer.

    "Whatever they've done to annoy you. There are too many people around (quite a few on here, I notice) who think violence is acceptable if they sympathise with the perpetrator."

    While the rest of the world goes ever more pansy, whinging and whining about how violence is always wrong, I would like draw attention to the fact that this was a tiny little girl giving a fully grown man a slap for doing the very thing he had been asked not to. What was she supposed to do after he had ignored her request, ask again and again while he continued to take photos?

    Violence in this situation was the simplest and most direct method of reacting. The fact that the photo guy has got the gall to lay a complaint and that the police are even considering it is crying shame.

  39. Andy Worth

    RE:Expectation of privacy is zero

    Yes, that's just the sort of attitude the governments are begging people to take....it'd make it much easier for them to convince everyone that their lives are better when permanently monitored.

    Besides which, Bjork is as mad as a box of smashed crabs, so if the pap was surprised then he's not exactly well informed is he? In fact, if he's real paparazzi then he might well have done the whole thing to try and make her react, knowing her prior reputation.

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    LOL

    LOL the woman who got attacked said she was taking pictures when she clearly was holding a microphone in her hand.

    Cracks me up.

  41. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @LOL

    LOL at you. The article referred to a past incident in Thailand where a reporter (yes the lady with the microphone) was attacked... The photographer was a different person at a different time in a different place. Please try to keep up.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    photographers who invade others space and steal their image ..

    should be arrested for aggression/provocation/even theft of privacy

    unless the person who is being photographed WANTS IT, then they should NOT have the automatic right to do it!!

    where did this idea that paparazzi, and their uncouth abuse of their 'subjects' is ok?

    it is not

    if i am out clubbing and a photographer starts photographing me, i give him a hard time!!!

    and i AM a photographer (who believes that paps and their 'fuck you' attitude, have forever harmed my profession)

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Re: AGAIN???

    "Björk IS Iceland... ice and fire together. "

    So she's like luke-warm water?

  44. Jim Lewis
    Heart

    No, wanton destruction, (flooding), on a scale unseen elsewhere on Earth

    http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i3/iceland.asp

    Gotta live the little pixie.

  45. J Thompson
    Thumb Up

    loitering

    Shouldn't there be some sort of legal barrier to prevent people loitering about outside airports? I won't argue that the guy wasn't assaulted, but I would say that it was provoked. It's not exactly photojournalism to snap someone walking out of an airport is it? That screams of cheopo-pap-tactics to me.

    Anyway, I'll always side with Bjork because she is the only person I would ever consider idolising.

  46. Ben Mathews

    Fair play to her.

    It still makes me laugh that the same people who were outraged by the paperatzi chase that resulted in Dianas death were the same as those who couldn't get enough of the pictures taken by the same photographers and published in the same "news" papers those would have been destined for.

    If I was that famous, I'd get some sort of super powerful flash device made so I could blind all the photographers.

  47. Dave Nordquist
    Coat

    Skivvy?

    In the U.S., a man's skivvy is his underwear. I was thinking that Bjork was really getting "personal" with her latest attack. I was glad to see it was his shirt.

  48. Peter Mellor

    Re: No, wanton destruction, (flooding), on a scale unseen elsewhere on Earth

    > By Jim Lewis

    > Posted Tuesday 15th January 2008 12:00 GMT

    >

    > http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i3/iceland.asp

    Well, well ... the creationists even manage to get in their three-ha'p'th on an item about Bjorg ripping a photographer's shirt!

    Sorry, Jim, although the "1996 volcanically induced glacial mega-flood in Iceland" (the subject of your URL) was a pretty impressive geological event, it ...

    a) wasn't nearly enough to wipe out all life on the Earth's surface, and

    b) wasn't God's vengeance on Iceland for one of their singers hitting a journalist.

    It has no relevance to the behaviour of Bjork, nor to the myth of Noah.

  49. oldfartuk
    Thumb Up

    lol

    ofc Bjork is batshit insane, thats why her music is so good.

  50. Nano nano

    Maybe ...

    .. you can get very annoyed if people can never pronounce or spell your name correctly, despite being a celeb.

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