Gossip Cop: Robsten is “Pray for Pay”

From Gossip Cop

By almost every measure, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart live charmed lives. They have successful film careers, adoring fans, youth, talent, wealth, and good health.

There is not much either one “needs.”

Except the same respect and decency afforded everyone else.

They don’t need bigger targets on their backs. They don’t need to be prey.

Which is what makes this just plain wrong.

Really wrong.

It’s an offer of money for a photograph of Pattinson and Stewart together in London.

The request to stay within the bounds of legality is immaterial. Offering cash for invasion of privacy is just plan wrong.

It doesn’t matter whether Pattinson and Stewart are “getting cozy” or miles apart, dating or not dating, filming or not filming, in London or New York or Los Angeles or Vancouver.

It’s wrong.

This isn’t good-natured celebrity worship. It isn’t crowd-sourced journalism. This is not a fun little “mission,” as the site puts it. It isn’t “happy snapping.”

It’s harassment.

We get it. A person who derives his or her privilege from celebrity will have to make certain concessions. Red carpets, photo shoots, talk show appearances… these are all part of the deal.

Bounties are not.

We have nothing against Showbiz Spy. It isn’t the first outlet to make this type of offer. It won’t be the last.

But at some point, enough is enough.

Gossip Cop has a lot of visitors who care about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and many who do not. There are those interested in whether they date, and there are those who care only about their films.

But the overwhelming majority agree: Hunting them down — hunting anyone down — is wrong.

If you want to be vocal, be as clear as you have been in the past. But don’t flood the site with vitriol and ugliness.

You can be passionate but also respectful at the same time.

The sooner media outlets understand that most fans think celebrities deserve the same treatment as the person next to them, the faster we can undermine “prey for pay.”