John Mayer made a public plea on Thursday for the Los Angeles City Council to begin regulating the paparazzi.
The singer appeared during a hearing at LA City Hall, where officials were discussing imposing restrictions on overzealous shutterbugs.
“I don’t sit before you today to ask that you ban the paparazzi,” Mayer, 30, said in his testimony. “I’m asking you to regulate it. Officialize it. Tax it. Legitimize it.”
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Following the hearing, the singer’s testimony was posted on his Web site.
Mayer certainly knows a thing or two about being a paparazzi target and spoke about some of his run-ins with aggressive photographers. And while he understands an abundance of attention comes as a price of fame, some of the tactics used by the paparazzi are putting people in danger, according to the singer.
“I don’t want to beg the city of Los Angeles to give me 1987 back,” he told those in attendance. “I love being a famous musician in 2008… This is about safety.”
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Among the measures Mayer suggested enforcing were requiring a “an acceptable distance” between the photographers and the object of their attention.
“A law governing an acceptable filming distance from an unwilling subject keeps everybody safe and misbehavior becomes accountable,” Mayer testified. “Without know who is following you, you do not know why you are being followed, which
brings about a very really possibility of suffering harm.”
In addition, Mayer recommended a “big white P on a yellow license plate [that] says the driver works for an accredited photo agency,” as well as “press credentials worn in plain sight.”
Nevertheless, Mayer understands no matter what rules are put into place, it won’t make the problem go away.
“Regulating the paparazzi won’t bring an end to modern-day media coverage, just as the newly enforced hands-free law hasn’t stopped people from talking on cell phones while they drive,” he concluded. “It’s only an adaptive measure put in place to respond to some of the ways that living in a technological free-market can compromise personal safety.”
Mayer wasn’t the only celebrity in attendance at Thursday’s hearing. Actors Eric Roberts and Milo Ventimiglia were also on hand to talk about their paparazzi encounters.
Prior to the hearing, LAPD chief William Bratton seemed to dismiss the need for paparazzi regulation, citing the recent actions of three of the most famed paparazzi targets.
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