Halle Berry testifies in favour of anti-paparazzi bill
Posted June 26, 2013 10:12 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Actress Halle Berry testified before the California State Legislature on Tuesday, regarding a proposed bill that would protect children from paparazzi.
Berry attended a hearing on State Senate Bill 606, which would shield kids that are vulnerable to harassment due to their parents’ employment.
The Hollywood actress said that passage of the bill would help her own children’s lives, while she gave details about the level of harassment they currently face.
“Just getting up in the morning and trying to go to school is hard for us,” Berry said.
“She doesn’t want to go to school — some kids don’t. My daughter every day rejects going to school. Why? Because she knows the men, as she now calls them, are waiting for her at her schoolyard.
“They jump out of bushes. They jump out of cars. They come from behind buildings. Who knows where they come from? But all of a sudden, a seemingly normal schoolyard with children running to and fro turns into what feels like a battleground.
“Here come these men with their cameras, besieging the school and these little children all to get a photograph. They cause chaos. They cause fear. The children and their parents are horrified. We start arguing. Everybody is fighting, and the men seem to not care at all that they’re causing this kind of harassment and harm to the children.”
If the bill passes, it would not only protect the children of celebrities, but also people with other types of jobs, such as judges and police officers. It would increase penalties for the intentional physical harassment of a child.
