Seventeen-year-old Grammy winner Lorde has taken to social media to name and shame a photographer for invading her privacy.
On Sunday, the Royals singer named the photographer and shared a photo of the man – Simon Runting – when she posted this on Twitter:
this man has been stalking me, photographing me and refusing me privacy. i am scared of him. he frequents central akl pic.twitter.com/RGv39ESELV
— Lorde (@lordemusic) May 4, 2014
She followed up with a tweet saying, “this should not be an accepted standard for young women or anyone in this industry,” as well as a link to his Facebook page and another tweet including two photographs Bunting took of Rihanna in her hotel room last year (an incident that, at the time, prompted the Diamonds singer to compare the paparazzi to Nazis.)
his name is simon runting. he took these photos of rihanna at her hotel last year. pic.twitter.com/witARDCHym
— Lorde (@lordemusic) May 4, 2014
Her latest comments, targeting Runting, follows a wave of celebrity complaints about the papparazi’s constant and intensive photography of celebrities: Kristen Bell has called for a boycott of celebrity kid children, while last year, Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner testified before a Judiciary Committee in California to plead for better protections from aggressive photographers for their kids.
But the New Zealand singer’s comments about Runting on Sunday highlight a few things we’ve become desensitised to — like the fact that Lorde is underage herself. Regardless of how mature the singer appears in her press dealings or in her music, she is – legally – a child.
That Lorde’s status as emerging teen idol doesn’t protect her from feeling unsafe and violated by someone following her every move; in the same way each one of us would if we were being followed wherever we went.
That, somehow in the overload of endless videos, pictures and gossip posts about famous people that we pore over every day, we’ve started to mindlessly accept the fact that middle-aged men with cameras are allowed to constantly trail around after young women and teenaged girls around, filming their every move.
And that they do this, essentially so that we, consumers of pop culture and magazines, can lap up pictures of their every move.
It’s not something we think about often, but of this we are certain: it is not okay.
Yes, we enjoy knowing what celebrities are wearing and where they’re hanging out with their super-famous buddies — but no, we don’t want to see those images at the expense of women’s privacy, safety and security.
Lorde, we salute you. You may be a teenager, but you’re eloquent and insightful and wise beyond your years.
Thank you for making us think about this. Thank you for speaking out.
Need more Lorde? Here are a few more snaps she’s posted to Instagram:
Top Comments
Runting is not the problem, he is a symptom.
The problem is that magazines and newspapers are prepared to pay (sometimes hundreds) thousands of dollars for "candid" photos of celebrities.
But they are also only part of the problem.
The real issue is that people want to see these photos and buy the magazines etc, who have these photos.
The solution is simple. Boycott any publication that posts "candid" photos. They will soon change behaviour.
And yes, I also want world peace.