Jennifer Garner & Halle Berry crack down on paparazzi, testify before Congress

[BuckyBoyd]

Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner to urge crackdown on paparazzi


SACRAMENTO -- Actress Halle Berry is coming back to Sacramento on Tuesday morning, and she’s bringing some additional Hollywood firepower with her.
Joined by actress Jennifer Garner, the Academy Award winner is expected to make another appearance before a legislative committee, testifying in favor of proposed legislation that wouldlimit the paparazzi's ability to photograph the children of celebrities.
The bill, Senate Bill 606 by Sen. Kevin DeLeon (D-Los Angeles), would change the legal definition of harassment to include photographing or recording a child without the permission of a legal guardian.
Newspaper publishers are among those opposing the bill, raising concerns that it would infringe on journalists’ ability to do their jobs.
The bill is expected to be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner to urge crackdown on paparazzi - latimes.com

Here are some pictures posted on twitter of them while testifying:

[Mel1973]

i can't STAND halle's BITCHFACE!

[tulip]

i can't STAND halle's BITCHFACE!

Jen has a serious, concerned mother/citizen look and Halle's screams "I'm gonna cut someone if I don't get my way!"

[CornFlakegrl]

I hope this passes.

[PeaPrincess]

Is it just me, or is Halle becoming increasingly fug? I used to think she was pretty, but now...not so much...

[witchcurlgirl]

I hope this passes.

me too. i really think it's wrong.

[darksithbunny]

I'm for the kids not being photographed and all. They were born into it and are innocent, but the bitches who call the paps and then complain can fuck right off.

[BuckyBoyd]

Senator Kevin DeLeon has tweeted that the bill passed the Assembly Judiciary with a vote of 10-0.

https://twitter.com/SenatorDeLeon/st...78441126944768

[CornFlakegrl]

I've got to give Garner some credit here. Without her kiddos in the shot, I'm not sure anyone will want to take her picture at all. yet she still pushed this.

[rockstar]

These fake ass bitches who have paps on speed dial acting like they are above using the paps to convey perfect mum image(Garner) and I am the better parent (Berry).

[Trixie]

I'm glad this passed, but Halle looks pretty deranged in those pics, and what is up with the bang flip?

[BuckyBoyd]

I'm glad this passed

Well the bill itself hasn't passed, there are still several steps of voting is has to go through before it gets to the CA Governor's desk but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

I really am curious if Halle and Jennifer tried recruiting any other celebrity parents to help them with this. I can see someone like Sandra Bullock wanting to help them testify.

[BuckyBoyd]

Jennifer Garner got emotional on Tuesday, Aug. 13, while speaking before a California State Assembly committee about paparazzi harassment and her experience with a mentally ill stalker who she says threatened to harm her unborn child while she was pregnant several years ago.
Garner spoke after Halle Berry, a pregnant mother of one, who talked about her own experiences and stance about the paparazzi in a bid to push legislation that would make it more difficult for photographers to approach children without their parents' permission. Critics say harsher penalties could infringe against free speech and also disrupt news gathering.
The 41-year-old actress shares two daughters aged 7 and 4 and a 17-month-old son with husband and actor Ben Affleck. She referenced their ages during her speech.

"There are violent, mentally ill stalkers, who can now get close to my kids by simply following mobs of photographers and blending in," Garner read from a printed speech in front of the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee.
"Like the very man who threatened to cut the babies out of my belly, who was arrested, waiting behind our daughter's preschool, standing among the throng of paparazzi," she said, her voice wavering. "That man is still in prison but I have no doubt there are others like him still out there and I don't want to make it any easier for them to find and reach my children."

Garner did not name the person. In December 2009, a man was arrested near her and Affleck's oldest daughter's preschool in Los Angeles. Garner had obtained a restraining order against him in 2008, saying in her filing that she was pregnant and feared for the safety of her unborn second child, according toPeople. The man was found not guilty of charges of felony stalking by reason of insanity and was locked up in a mental institution.
Garner told the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee that she "chose a public life" and understand this meant "sacrifices in terms of privacy" for her job. She said there are typically as many as "15 cars of photographers" outside her and Affleck's home.
"My 17-month-old baby is terrified and cries," she said. "My 4-year-old says, 'Why do these men never smile? Why do they never go away? Why are they always with us?'"
Halle Berry: Paparazzi 'forced me to crash my car into the Four Seasons'
Speaking without reading anything, Berry, who has spoken about the anti-paparazzi bill at the state Capitol before, recalled accidents she suffered that she blamed on the paparazzi.
"When I was pregnant with my daughter, they forced me to crash my car into the Four Seasons Hotel," she said. "They forced me to fall down a flight of stairs at the mall. Jennifer and I are here to say, we aren't just whiny celebrities that many times, people think we are. We're moms, here who are just trying to protect our children. It's not about me -- take my picture. I get it."
Berry, a mother to a 5-year-old daughter, Nahla, is currently expecting her first child with husband Olivier Martinez. She testified that about 15 to 20 paparazzi cars follow her and her child on a daily basis, adding: "At any moment, I feel like a crash could happen and end her life, my life, other innocent passengers driving in their vehicles."
Berry, 46, referenced her 2012 custody battle over Nahla with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry. The actress had tried and failed to obtain legal permission to move with her daughter and Martinez to France, where privacy laws are tighter.
"The paparazzi would say things to her, like, 'Oh, so how do you feel, Nahla? You might not see your father again? How do you feel about that?" Berry said.
After she and Garner spoke, the committee approved an amendment to the bill in question. It dictates that people found guilty of harassing a child because of their parent's employment would receive a maximum sentence of a year in jail -- up from six months -- and specifies that photographing a kid without a parent's permission constitutes harassment. The bill was sent to the Appropriations Committee.

Jennifer Garner gets emotional, talks stalker scare, paparazzi (Photo) - 08/13/2013 | Entertainment News from OnTheRedCarpet.com

[lizzybabe]

I am in favor of this bill because I think the kids should be off limits. There are videos of paps saying awful things to the kids, one even calling Suri Cruise a "bitch."

The stars are fair game, the kids should definitely be off limits.

[BuckyBoyd]

I am in favor of this bill because I think the kids should be off limits. There are videos of paps saying awful things to the kids, one even calling Suri Cruise a "bitch."

The stars are fair game, the kids should definitely be off limits.

The Suri incident was in NYC right? If this law passes, it will only apply to California. I wonder if that will then prompt celebrities to do the same thing that live in New York because then NYC will become the hub for the paparazzi just like LA is now.