Imagine being a parent and having a random stranger start taking pictures of your kids? Hilary Duff had one such encounter recently and she did not hold back when she confronted the photographer.
Duff was in the park with her son, Luca, and other kids who were playing football when a paparazzo began taking photos of the children without their parents’ permission. Duff went after the photographer, posting the video of the encounter on her Instagram account.
“Paparazzi shooting KIDS! Go ‘practice’ your photography on ADULTS! Creep! Laws need to change! This is stalking minors! Disgusting!,” she wrote along with posting the video.
Hilary Duff Slams Photographer for Taking Picture of Kids at Her Son’s Football Game
In the video, Duff can be heard asking the photographer, “Who are you here with?” She then continues, “Do you know any people on the team? Can you stop pictures of the kids please?”
The photographer responded by saying it was legal for him to take the photographs and that the mom of two shouldn’t feel uncomfortable by him doing so.
“I’m asking you to stop taking pictures of our 7-year-old children if you don’t anyone that’s here,” the Younger star told him. “I’m asking you human to human, as a mother, if you don’t know anyone here, can you please stop taking pictures of our children playing football this morning.”
The photographer maintained that what he was doing wasn’t illegal and that Duff’s “paranoia is unwarranted.” Duff responded, saying, “No, it’s just an uncomfortability factor that these are 7-year-old children and you don’t have a child here. They’re our children and we would like to protect them.”
Duff told the reporter that she would post about the encounter on her Instagram and share the “creepy” behavior with her 15 million fans. Duff wasn’t alone in sharing her disgust about the incident.
“THIS IS INFURIATING. This isn’t about his job or his “rights”. This is about his OWN perceived POWER over others. I imagine it’s the only time this pathetic person feels any power in his life. I know it’s illegal for an adult not with a child to be inside a playground- how is taking pictures of children without parental consent legal?!??,” commented actress Busy Philipps.
Shortly after posting the video, Duff took to Instagram again to share a bit more insight into what happened that day. She explained:
“I’ve never seen him before so much so that I was walking around and I didn’t even notice him at first because I thought he was a family member of the other team. And when it finally felt weird to me that he was closer to our kids than any of the parents that were watching the game. And just snapping away, moving from side to side where ever the kids were going just snapping them over and over again for 35 minutes. Then I went to the other team and said like, ‘Hey is he a family member of you guys do you know him?’ No one seemed to know him.”
Duff called it highly frustrating, adding that she did call the police but they said they couldn’t do anything about it because it’s not illegal. “It’s just extremely strange and inappropriate and creepy to have a man photographing our 7-year-old children and that to be completely legal. If a parent is asking for it to stop the law should be changed for you to not be able to photograph that person.”
The photographer featured on the video has not commented on the incident, but it’s clear many thousands of people have seen the content and supported Duff as she fought to protect the kids.