Surfers Attack Photographer Over Matthew McConaughey

MALIBU, Calif. — A paparazzo trying to photograph Matthew McConaughey at the beach told police he was attacked by a mob of surfers who threw his camera in the ocean.

The 29-year-old photojournalist told sheriff's deputies that a large group of surfers near Paradise Cove in Malibu approached him and other paparazzi about 2 p.m. Saturday and demanded the group stop taking pictures and filming.

"There was apparently a fight, and the photographer gave a statement that he received injuries," Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Sunday. Detectives are investigating, he said.

McConaughey was not involved in the attack, authorities said.

A call to McConaughey's publicist was not immediately returned.

The celebrity Web site TMZ.com posted a video Sunday showing about a dozen young men in swimsuits approaching what appears to be a group of paparazzi and yelling and swearing at them.

A scuffle breaks out after one of the photographers exchanges insults with the group and at first refuses their orders to leave.

"I'll give you a thousand bucks if you leave right now," one of the young men in swimsuits tells the photographers.

Another shoves a photographer filming the scene, and still another says, "We'll draw a line in the beach, and we'll fight for the beach. If you guys win, you can have the beach."

When one member of the group shouts at a photographer, "Get a ... real job," the photographer replies, "This is a real job. What do you do?"

The man replies: "I just drink beer and party."

Comments

[rextrek]

M.M.ist..alright...alright.....M.M.is very sexy, but seems he would smell ie: bad hygiene habits

[prattvictory]

Photographers and surfers debating over what a real job is, that seems like a comedy skit.

[BurtR]

EggsAckley!
America in the 21st century
Only Mexicans and Indians have real jobs

[naturallight]

Locals only!


Should of hit em earlier.


Maybe surfer vigilantes should be equipped with tasers.

[Durango]

Rich people only?

Or in the case of Malibu.

VERY RICH PEOPLE ONLY.

[rmetz74]

Lots of "regular" people go to Malibu beaches all the time.

[ThePhantom]

More power to the righteous surfers of California!

[Furby]

Yeah dude, power to the richeous surfers of California, and here's to their richeous daddies for giving them all that spare time.

[Economike]

I live inland about an hour an we have low income beach bum surfers who drive out there every day in there beat up volvo.

[JiminNC]

Cowabunga dudes! I would like to see more of this.

[Underthematrix]

Best story about the newsmedia I've ever read. Imagine the general public attacking a photojournalist trying to invade the privacy of an actor. I hope more people do this when they see the media hounding actors on the streets.

[SwingingFromCenter]

Congratulations on advocating lawlessness. Fact of the matter is that anybody who is out in public does not have a right to privacy, at least according to the courts.

Do I find paparazzi distasteful? Yes. Do I buy tabloid mags or watch TMZ? No. Do I wish they'd leave the celebrities alone? Yes. But fact remains they work hard and are well compensated for just the right shot, which they are always trying to obtain. The surfers, while nice of them to stick up for their buddy (Matt comes off as the type who doesn't refuse to fraternize with "normal people"), were in the wrong.

[citizenofmars]

TMZ started off civilized. Now they lead the pack for stupid, obnoxious "questions"..'I'm a Lawyer..." Indeed.....

[andvoodoo2]

And actors would HATE it. They live for publicity.

[rmetz74]

Spoken like someone who knows nothing about the reality of being a professional actor.

Yes, publicity is part of an actor's career, and they court it. And there are places and times set aside just for publicity. Red carpets, press junkets, and beyond that there are restaurants and shops and neighborhoods where everyone knows paps hang out. If celebrities was some 'candid' coverage, that's where they go.

Actors are also human beings who value their privacy and personal lives, and are just as deserving of it as anyone else.

[trollsbwild]

My opinion of surfers has just gone way up.

[rudyinbama]

"Photojournalist!"
HAHAHAHAHA

[protagonia]

The Ploparrazzi?

[oneofsixbillion]

Every time you buy a celebrity mag that publishes these photos you support the paps. Get a life and put down the mag. Superficial is as superficial does and then we wake up and our planet is destroyed. Become purposeful, its easy to be shallow.

[Underthematrix]

I don't buy these mags and I don't read them online. I only care what the actor does in front of the camera not behind it. You're right people need to stop buying this trash and find a real purpose in life that doesn't hurt other people.

[Durango]

My problem is that I would know nothing about all the celebrity nonsense . . . except Kieth Olberman reports it on his show.

I would have no idea who Brittany was if it wasn't for Keith.

I don't care, in fact I actively don't want to know.

But I like watching Olberman.

So if you, or your staff are out there Keith.

Cut the crap and stick to news!

[Mother77]

In Malibu, celebrity doesn't matter. Privacy does! It's about time.

[DPonyourset]

I am a surfer and live in Malibu. I was not at that beach during that incident. I know that that is a public beach but is very hard to get to unless you have a key. The only other way to access it is to walk a few miles. The surfers that surf there are locals, meaning they live in the multi million dollar homes on the bluff at Dume, thats how they get the key through a homeowners assoc.

I think the paparazzi got what they deserve. They are a pack of hungry wolves. We live in Malibu because we want to get away from LA and Hollywood. I can't take my kid to his normal t ball practice because there is some creep lurking in parked cars with long lenses photographing the parents, but getting kids as well. We can't go to the grocery store, get an ice cream at the Colony, play on the swings at the Country Mart, etc.... How do I know what they keep for themselves and what they try to sell. These guys disrupt not only the celebrities life but the residents of Malibu as well. They disrupt any normal raising of my children in an area that is as far from LA as most of us can time wise afford to live(most of us make the hour or two hour drive so that our families can live without this abnormal disruption).

[RedDogBear]

Sounds more to me like a bunch of rich a-holes attacking some guy trying to make a living.

[speakeasy]

Since you're obviously an angry guy, I'd like to see you with cameras in your face and people hounding you 24/7

[kikomnipotent]

A living being a parasitic leech. Paparazzi are scum, & are one of the few groups of people who deserve zero respect. They're like giant mosquitos & ought to be slapped. Good for those guys, even if they are So-Cal uber-money types.

[S1m0n]

...To make a living on their backs.

~~

"Just trying to make a living" excuses nothing. Pimps are just trying to make a living, as are all kinds of obnoxious individuals.

[pcplz]

Sorry there, RedDogBear, you just come off as a bit jealous. There was nothing said in the above that sounded a-holish in the least. Just because someone is better off than you doesn't mean he should have to forgo the right to privacy.

Raising a family in that crazy town has to be the hardest thing imaginable. Then you have the parasites slamming cameras in your face all of the time. There are sooooooo many pics of MM surfing that it really isn't a deal anymore. Give him a break.

I am totally for the surfer dudes that got tired of it and stood up. I agree that if we see someone being hounded like Britney or etc., that it would be interesting if we all stood up and said.....'enough'!

There are plenty of legitimate photo ops for the world to get their fill of excitement.

[Furby]

Oh you poor thing, here have a kleenex. Now c'mon chin up. There will come a day when you too will have the magic association key. Until then, try very very hard and maybe you'll find a grocery store where there are no paps in the parking lot. I know you can do it, I mean look at how long it took you to find the grocery store where the paps do hang out. Don't give up.

[marymansour]

Off all the paparazzi, it seems that the TMZ crowd are the most boorish. I have seen some of their videos where their approach was simply repulsive in hounding some celebrity or another.

[Furby]

Then why are you watching it? And WTF is TMZ?

[Tommygun264]

It's one thing if someone is getting in your personal space, but as long as they keep a distance, it's the price of fame. Let's face it - most of these photographers know where to go because they are told by the actor's publicist.

[Eric8869]

They DON'T keep personal space. They harass these people all the time Shove cameras in kids faces, drive recklessly endagering everyone and even try to anger the stars to get a good shot to sell.

[mystery2me]

Do ordinary citizens have to "pay" a price for the fame of others? These people who claim are "just making their living" never talk about the 100s of ordinary lives that they trample on and stampede across in order to make their dubious living - and that's without mentioning the public funds that are used to keep the peace when the paparazzi become mobs. Photogs "keeping a distance" from a celebrity are actually standing on somebody else's beach towel, they are blocking access to an honest business owner's establishment, are blocking traffic and causing disruption to many innocent bystanders. It simply is a disruptive and uncivil way to earn one's living.

[Tommygun264]

It's a dirty, nasty business and I want nothing to do with it. I pity anyone I see buying People, US and all the rest of those overblown fan rags. All I'm saying is that 99% of the time the so-called "stars" who lament "why can't they leave me alone" in public are usually the ones telling their publicists to fax, email and text their social calendars to the same people they claim victimize them. What do you think a "publicist" does anyway? Look at the article - "A call to McConaughey's publicist was not immediately returned". I'm not saying that the photographers are angels, I'm saying that if you think they are the only ones fanning the flames, you're buying the scam.

[leftLibertarian]

bring out the tiny violins for the paparazzo