Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell are a Hollywood power couple who are not afraid to face life on their own terms and in public; they’ve drawn the line, however, at uninvited publicity for their daughter, Lincoln Bell Shepard. The celebrity parents have launched a campaign to stop the paparazzi from taking and publishing unauthorized photos of all celebrity children. They’re even asking the American public to join the cause by boycotting all magazines and other publications that showcase unauthorized celebrity baby photos.
In a recent televised interview with the NBC show, TODAY, the couple continued the conversation started earlier on Twitter. The first volley came from Shepard, who posted a tweet asking his followers to “Please boycott magazines that run pics of ‘celebrity children.’ They shouldn’t be punished for who their parents are.” Bell soon joined the tweeted conversation.
Bell has gone so far as to say she will not do any more interviews with magazines that pay the paparazzi for unauthorized photos of the children of celebrities. Although the couple publicly shared the news of their pregnancy as it progressed, they agreed that “all bets were off, no pictures would happen” once the baby was born.
Shepard describes some paparazzi tactics as blackmail when they promise to leave a celebrity or celebrity couple alone for the remainder of the day if they’ll just pose for a few photos first. According to Shepard, “I just don’t think that that’s the best option that we have in this world.”
The issue all boils down to consent, according to the couple. And how the public intrusion affects the private lives of the children. “We chose to be the entertainers,” said Bell but they themselves have “posted nothing about her (their daughter) and we don’t plan to.”
The lesson learned by these unauthorized photos of the children of famous people is one of “disengaged voyeurism (sic),” tweeted Bell on January 27. She then asks the consumer how s/he plays “the MOST NECESSARY role in the sad chain of events” and speculates that “things won’t change till the consumer does.”
Apparently, other celebrity parents feel the same way about protecting the privacy of their children. Last September, a legislative bill was signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown. The bill governs the actions of the paparazzi toward children of celebrities and it had the support of many Hollywood parents, including Jennifer Garner and Halle Berry.
Source: Jernigan, Joy. “Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard tell fans: Stop buying magazines that publish photos of celeb kids.” TODAY Moms. TODAY / NBC. Jan 31, 2014. Web. Feb 4, 2014.
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