Mamamia News Thursday 3 May 2012 6:47am

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Lara Bingle modelling for Speedo

LARA BINGLE, THE PAPARAZZO AND A CURRENT AFFAIR

It’s not quite what you think it is. Model and television personality Lara Bingle is involved in another nude photo brouhaha but it’s not because an ex-fling sent them around. She was papped while inside her own apartment. The naked photos were then bought by her own friend, celebrity paparazzo Darryn Lyons (him of the fake abs variety), and then shopped around to the tabloids and newspapers to see if anyone took the bait.

Instead, A Current Affair ran an ‘expose’ on the paparazzi tactics and aired blurred out versions of the photos. And now, to top it all off, Darryn Lyons is demanding $110,000 in payment as the pics were aired without his permission.

Huh? ACA boss Grant Williams said:

“My job is to expose grubs who think it is al right to take photos of naked women through bedroom windows, not to do business with them,” Williams said yesterday.

“Darryn is absolutely kidding himself.”

As for Bingle, she said she wasn’t sure what was going on but said she felt violated by the drama, especially considering Lyons was a friend and co-owner of a restaurant with her.

“What I understand is that he brought the photos,’’ she said.

“I called him but he never returned my calls so there must be something up.

“I don’t know whether he bought them to protect me or if he bought them to make money off me.”

Lara Bingle outside the courtroom

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Here’s what else is going on:

Avery with her 'first tattoo'

1. Did you hear about little Avery Canahuati? She was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and didn’t have long to live. Her parents started a blog called ‘Avery’s Bucket List’ with a list of tiny accomplishments she was making in her short life. She managed to tick off things like ‘wake up with a smile’, ‘get a tattoo [a stick on one] and ‘get picked up by a fireman’. She passed away this week due to a sudden complication. Her parents are asking for donations to SMA-related research.

2. 14-year-old Julia Bluhm is a bit peeved at her favourite magazine, Seventeen, which she says is meant to be supporting its readers but is failing in that duty by running Photoshopped images in its pages. She’s brought a petition with over 24,000 signatures to the magazine’s doorstep, noting: “…girls want to be accepted, appreciated and liked. And when they don’t fit the criteria, some girls like to fix themselves. This can lead to eating disorders, dieting, depression and low self-esteem. That’s why I’m asking Seventeen Magazine to commit to printing one unaltered — real — photo spread per month. I want to see regular girls that look like me in a magazine that’s supposed to be for me.”

3. This British marriage equality ad is going viral. What do you think?

4. The Health Services Union (that one at the centre of the prostitute credit card allegations involving Labor MP Craig Thomson) is in the news again, this time because East Branch president Michael Williamson is under investigation for allegedly removing documents from the office while police were raiding it. Watch this space.

5. Facebook has unveiled a feature in the UK and the US that allows users to select an ‘organ donor’ option on their profile. No indication it will be available in Australia – yet – but it’s a pretty nifty move that raises awareness about the critical issue.

6. You could billet an asylum seeker, or more. The Australian Government will start paying registered families in the Australian Homestay Network (usually used for international students) $300* a week to take in asylum seekers due to a possible shortage in community housing. Refugee groups backed the plan saying it was better for the mental wellbeing of asylum seekers and cheaper than mandatory detention while the Opposition called it ‘desperate’.

*Early reports of the $300 per week figure were misleading. The figure is up to $300, but usually about half that.