Craig Hill
KC Hill
Paladin
Oracle of DelphiCelebrity Stalkers
July 20th 2006 09:54
Red carpet events. Holidays in the Bahamas. A personal chauffer. The life of a Hollywood celebrity sounds pretty sweet. But behind the glamour, the opulence and the luxurious lifestyles, there is a dangerous reality that most celebrities will have to deal with at some point in their lives.
I’m talking about stalkers. From Madonna to David Letterman, Hollywood personalities are constantly on the lookout for those fans who go too far and become dangerously obsessive.
Who could ever forget that time when an armed gunman turned up at the home of well-known comedian, Jerry Lewis and threatened to murder him?
Or when that young fella who had been stalking Halle Berry for several years decided in his own head that they were in a relationship and engaged to be married?
Earlier this year, Catherine Zeta Jones almost had a nervous breakdown after her stalker not only threatened the actress but also sent her parents an invitation to their daughter’s funeral.
Clearly celebrities need some sort of protection. Sure, they can hire bodyguards and put up surveillance cameras and secure fences around their homes. But at the end of the day, stalkers always manage to overcome these obstacles. So what other forms of protection are there?
Well, there’s always the legal system...
The most recent celeb to turn to the law for protection is actor John Cusack. He says that his stalker leaves him threatening letters, attends his place of work and recently, she even listed his address as her own after an arrest. On Tuesday 18th July, Superior Court Judge Linda Lefkowitz granted Cusack a temporary restraining order against Emily Leatherman.
A restraining order is an order from the court that prevents a person from approaching or contacting the person who is seeking the order. In Cusack’s case, his stalker is required to stay at least 500 feet away from him, his home and his place of work at all times.
It seems that restraining orders have become commonplace in Hollywood. This is essentially because they can provide a good method by which to stop harassment, intimidation and stalking. Depending on where you are in the world, if a defendant breaches a restraining order, they may either have to pay a fine, face a prison term or both.
But of course not all stalkers will be deterred by a restraining order. And that’s when you realise that being a celebrity may not be so great after all...
*the images used in this post were obtained from www.wikipedia.com and are in the public domain.
Who could ever forget that time when an armed gunman turned up at the home of well-known comedian, Jerry Lewis and threatened to murder him?
Earlier this year, Catherine Zeta Jones almost had a nervous breakdown after her stalker not only threatened the actress but also sent her parents an invitation to their daughter’s funeral.
Clearly celebrities need some sort of protection. Sure, they can hire bodyguards and put up surveillance cameras and secure fences around their homes. But at the end of the day, stalkers always manage to overcome these obstacles. So what other forms of protection are there?
Well, there’s always the legal system...
The most recent celeb to turn to the law for protection is actor John Cusack. He says that his stalker leaves him threatening letters, attends his place of work and recently, she even listed his address as her own after an arrest. On Tuesday 18th July, Superior Court Judge Linda Lefkowitz granted Cusack a temporary restraining order against Emily Leatherman.
A restraining order is an order from the court that prevents a person from approaching or contacting the person who is seeking the order. In Cusack’s case, his stalker is required to stay at least 500 feet away from him, his home and his place of work at all times.
It seems that restraining orders have become commonplace in Hollywood. This is essentially because they can provide a good method by which to stop harassment, intimidation and stalking. Depending on where you are in the world, if a defendant breaches a restraining order, they may either have to pay a fine, face a prison term or both.
But of course not all stalkers will be deterred by a restraining order. And that’s when you realise that being a celebrity may not be so great after all...
*the images used in this post were obtained from www.wikipedia.com and are in the public domain.
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