Slideshow March 13, 2008

David Samuels, the author of "Shooting Britney" in the April Atlantic, interviews Brandy and François-Regis Navarre of X17, Hollywood's biggest paparazzi agency, about a selection of recent celebrity photographs taken by X17's photographers on the streets of Los Angeles

by David Samuels

The Celebrity Hunters

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Britney Spears—in Beverly Hills at the Beverly Glen Mini-mall

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Brandy Navarre, X17: “Viva Vesgo, the guy in the pink wig, is the Jay Leno of Brazil. He was wildly and crazily chasing Britney Spears around Los Angeles and trying to give her a gift, which is a regular stunt that he does on his show. In this shot she still does not accept the gift, and the gate slams in his face. The picture is interesting because it shows that there are Brazilians who are crazier than our Brazilian paparazzi. Brazilians all have a soft spot for Britney.”

Regis Navarre, X17: “She’s a zombie.”

Brandy: “She is definitely pretty drugged up. Right after she was released from UCLA she literally went off and headed off down Sunset and did her aimless driving around thing. Now she is out and around to the extent that her father allows her to be. She isn’t driving herself. She is always driven by a bodyguard. She’s a bit more focused when she leaves the house. We don’t have that feeling anymore that she’s on the verge of a breakdown because she’s already had a breakdown.”

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David Samuels is the author of Only Love Can Break Your Heart, a collection of essays and reporting, and The Runner: A True Account of the Amazing Adventures and Fantastical Lies of the Ivy League Impostor James Hogue, both published this spring. François-Regis Navarre, a former journalist for Le Monde, is the owner of X17, Hollywood's biggest paparazzi agency. Brandy Navarre, a former journalist for Reuters, runs the X17 agency. X17 regularly updates the images on its website, www.X17online.com."

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From the Archives

November 2007

Fallen Stars

Can celebrities survive the age of too much information?

April 2008

Shooting Britney

How a French journalist recruited a posse of Brazilian parking attendants and pizza-delivery guys and helped create Hollywood’s most addictive entertainment product.

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