The relationship is completely symbiotic, Fuller says.
Question: Are celebrities tabloid victims?
Fuller: I think they have a completely symbiotic relationship, and I don’t actually think you see a large number of celebrities complaining about the coverage. Most celebrities are very professional. They understand that being a celebrity means being in the public eye – that in order to get $20 million film paychecks and a million dollars an episode on a TV show; and to be able to brand fragrance, and clothing, and watches with your name – in order to reap those benefits, you need to be famous. You need to have a big following, and celebrity . . . celebrity newsweeklies and coverage from all of the media helps you to become a big star like that, and to be able to reap those benefits. Most celebrities understand that, and it tends to . . . It sort of tends to be the same few that you hear from over and over again that complain about it. But if a celebrity . . . First of all nobody is forcing these people to be film stars or TV stars. I mean I’m not like making anybody be a celebrity. And lots of people would trade places with them. If they wanna just be, you know . . . You know in the acting genre they can act for . . . You know they can go on Broadway. They can go on regional theater. Or if . . . they can be on TV. But they can live . . . You don’t have to live in the neighborhoods that are . . . that are more celebrity-infested, you could (12:08) say. I mean there’s lots of actors now and actresses that lead very quiet lives off of the screen. And they don’t shop on Robertson. And they don’t go to the Ivy, and they don’t go to Beverly Hills to Rodeo Drive. I mean you can be very under the radar if you want to. I mean there’s a certain amount of choice that you see the celebrities that you see photographed all the time are making. They’re going to very public places. So I think that a lot to . . . There is a lot of choice involved; and also that most celebrities do really understand that this is their role, and a lot of them really enjoy it actually. You’d be surprised at the amount of cooperation there is, and the amount of celebrities whose people are tipping off the paparazzi about where they’re gonna be. Recorded On: 1/30/08
