California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill to help protect celebrities from the intrusive paparazzi.

The bill aims to protect celebrities and their families when they are involved in “personal or familial activity.” It also includes an amendment that allows litigation against those media outlets who choose to purchase and publish photos that they know were shot illegally. Schwarzenegger himself was a victim to aggressive paparazzi in 1998 after being boxed in by two of their vehicles while picking his children up from school. So yeah, he gets it.

The bill takes effect in January, 2010. Photographers who choose to break this law will face fines up to $50,000.

So it looks like we are going to see the celebrities fight back next year! It will be interesting to see how many paparazzi will actually be sued, or media outlets for that matter. Blogs even? Who knows. It has gotten quite out of hand. These guys cram their cameras up skirts, they climb trees and sometimes they even cause accidents – just to get a picture. So yeah, I think it’s a good idea, but will it really work?

Do you recognize these stars as they were in 1977?

“Stop the Madness!” a 1985 anti-drug music video starring members of New Edition, LaToya Jackson, a young and fresh Whitney Houston, Nancy Reagan, David Hasselhoff, Kim Fields, Herb Alpert, Casey Kasem, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others. The music video was all part of Nancy Reagan’s ‘Just Say No’ campaign.

It was obviously quite effective as only half of the people featured in the video didn’t turn into substance abusers. Heh.

Afternoon Briefs - Your afternoon quickie

Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent surgery today on his broken leg, which he suffered while skiing in Sun Valley Idaho.
The surgery lasted 90-minutes. Cables and screws were used to wire the broken bone back together.
“Following the surgery, the governor was awake, alert and talking in the recovery room,” said Dr. Kevin Ehrhart, who performed the operation at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.

James Brown’s personal manager, Charles Bobbit, was at his bedside when the performer passed. “The most difficult thing is for me to stand here without him. We were a team.” Bobbit said that Brown told him, “I’m going away tonight.” Then he took three long, quiet breaths, and closed his eyes. Frank Copsidas, Brown’s agent, said that, “It appears what happened is that he did die of a heart attack as a result of his pneumonia.”

Carl Blaze, the 30-year old New York DJ who had been shot 13 times earlier this month died Saturday. Blaze was a DJ for hip-hop and R&B radio station Power 105.1 FM. The perpetrator also ripped his $20,000 necklace from his neck. Blaze is survived by his two children, 1 and 7, with his wife, Yvonne.

Spicy
Sources: CNN, ABC, Staten Island Live

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Jessica Simpson issued the following statement to TMZ, “I did not fire Rob Shuter, he is a great publicist and a great friend.” She is denying reports that she fired her publicist Rob Shuter due to the John Mayer fiasco. However, no word from Rob as to if the rumors are true or not.

Denise Richards and Richie Sambora are not engaged. This according to Richards’ attorney Neal Hersh. “There is no truth to any rumors that Denise and Richie are engaged. They are not.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized today for a remark that he made about Puerto Ricans. The remark was made on a six minute tape during a speech writing session that was supposedly off the record. Arnold is heard saying that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty people with hot temperaments. “I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot, they have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it.”

A 63 year old priest has confessed to phoning in a fake bomb threat at one of Madonna’s concerts in Amsterdam last week. He was hoping to stop the crucifixion scene that has had many up in arms. The priest was caught right away as he used his home phone to make the call and he called EMS which traces your number automatically. Prosecutors say they will most likely seek community service.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt getting married? Here’s what Brad has to say about that..”Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able.”

Rapper 50 Cent, or real name Curtis Jackson, was cited for making an unsafe lane change, driving with an expired permit, driving without insurance and driving without a vehicle registration, a police spokesman said. 50 was in his silver Lamborghini in Manhattan when it happened. A crowd formed and cheered the rapper as well as jeered the police. The officers had to take 50 to the station, in order to get away from the chaos.

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