Should The Tabloids Lay Off A Mentally Ill Celebrity?

Portfolio:

Writing in the Los Angeles Times last week, Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and People contributor, argued that the time has come for organizations with any pretensions to responsibility must stop chasing Spears, who is widely reported to be suffering from serious mental illness.

"By exploiting Spears' moment of vulnerability, media companies have crossed the line of basic moral decency," wrote Nomani, whose brother was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. "Enough. Time Warner Inc. (parent of CNN, People, AOL and Entertainment Weekly), News Corp. (the Rupert Murdoch firm that owns Fox News and papers around the globe) and others should halt all coverage of Spears until she is healthy. Let's leave Britney and her family alone."

I emailed the editors of several celebrity magazines to see what they thought of Nomani's argument and whether they'd ever consider abiding by a moratorium on covering Spears as long as she remains ill. Larry Hackett, managing editor of People, was willing to discuss it, saying the question of how to approach the story has been a major topic of discussion at his magazine recently. (The editors of Us Weekly and Star haven't responded.)

"The degree to which the media is woven into this saga is something I've never seen before," he says. "You have to be extra sensitive, because the fact is the media is in this extraordinary role in the middle of her life. This is something out of The Day of the Locust."

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Comments

[LastDaysCafe]

More Important - Should the Tabloids lay off catering to the rabid tastes of a mentally ill public?

[ElJuanRhubarb]

Yes... Please leave Tom Cruise and Kirsty Allen alone alone.

[PeteBogs]

what does "mentally three" mean?

[ohiomark]

Of course they should leave a "mentally ill" person alone, but we all know they won't.

[DasBoot]

Britney Spears has apparently lost all judgment as to what's good for her. I therefore find those statements saying she should simply stay out of the limelight to be rather disingenuous and self-serving.

Yes, leave her alone for crying out loud.

[GeorgeKaplan]

Should The Tabloids Lay Off A Mentally Ill Celebrity?

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[johnnyjust]

It is easy for any "celebrity" to stay out of the limelight.

Stay home.

And after the third week no one will come looking for you.

[ObamaEdwards]

When a celebrity gets this much heat, this much mania, from photographers every time she moves--it is an indication that someone close to her, in her entourage, is TELLING photographers where she will be. The tabloids are not the problem. And it isn't their job to determine who is and isn't mentally ill. You can say Britney Spears is sick. I can say Paris Hilton is insane. Yada yada. They both have enough money to buy their way out of almost anything, so don't expect much sympathy.

[dromens]

I love that HuffPost posts this kind of story while simultaneously engaging in the same behavior. WTF.

[LeftVetPatriot]

Please don't leave and never come back!

[JaseAllen]

The only people who care about celebrity gossip are those who have NO life of their own. If those people would get interesting lives of their own, they'd stop buying the tabloid papers. The tabloids would eventually go out of business. With no one to report on Hilton or Spears, they'd go away as well. Or at least we wouldn't have to hear about them.

[HowardRoarke]

She's running for office, so she deserves the scrutiny. Besides, Narcissistic Personality Disorder isn't THAT bad.

Oh, this is about Britney. Nevermind.

[GalaxieGal]

Nah, sometimes it's nice to take a break from the endless primary season.

If she wanted the press to leave her alone, she could stay home more.