The paparazzi photographer who angered Hilary Duff by trailing her and her young son on Friday tells Gossip Cop he’s sorry, and that he never meant to target Duff’s child or other celebrity children. The cameraman, Jose, contacted Gossip Cop after we reported on Duff’s frustration with his pursuit of her
family. He gave us an exclusive explanation of what happened from his point of view, and an apology.
family. He gave us an exclusive explanation of what happened from his point of view, and an apology.
On Friday, Duff and her son Luca went to the park, attracting paparazzi attention. The actress snapped a picture of Jose and posted it on Instagram, writing, “These are the kind of grown men that stalk my two year old with their giant cameras at the park! It’s disgusting. Please f*ck off.” Shortly thereafter, Jose reached out to Gossip Cop and apologized.
We should be clear that Gossip Cop does NOT condone anything Jose did or think any explanation for his intrusive behavior is defensible. But he made it clear he wanted to apologize, and hopefully the more attention that’s focused on paparazzi pursuit of children, the less common it will become.
He told us he’s a freelancer who went out on Friday to earn a little money and never expected “such drama” to occur. “I am a father myself. I understand the fact about her son, but her son was never my target at any point,” Jose tells Gossip Cop. “I know this job isn’t a good choice but I am looking into other jobs where I can use my photographic skills but no luck… Being a paparazzi isn’t quite the happiest job anyone would say it is to have but its a living for a lot of people.”
All that said, Jose is apologetic. He tells Gossip Cop, “I’m sorry… I’m not coming after [Duff's] kids or anybody’s kids. The celebrities that have kids and that I have photographed have never had a problem except Hilary Duff today. First time I [have] ever seen her up close, and I have a lot of respect for celebrities.”
The cameraman says, “The one thing I would say to [celebrities] is that some paparazzi are understandable and have good relationships with others… you as a celebrity can come up to us in honesty and peacefully ask us to avoid certain things to [your] favor. If you don’t wish for your children to be photographed [at] a public place, then either go elsewhere, where paparazzi don’t normally go searching and keep it more private that way. Or just [have] you children face the other way or cover them as you carry them.”
Jose claims it’s never his goal to take pictures of the celebrity’s children. On Friday, he says he saw Duff getting out of her car and that he had gotten ready to snap photos before he noticed Luca in Duff’s back seat. “She looked at me multiple times and I had no camera [because] I was respecting her space to get down and go play with her son and did not bother her at any time.”
He explains, “When I thought she was leaving I walked on the other side of the street to get an angle, but when I aimed my camera I saw her son in her arms and she yelled at me to leave and so [I] put my camera in my hand turned off, and as I was getting ready to leave I grabbed my laptop, turned it off, and while doing so she walked over and took pictures of me in my car assuming I took pictures.” Jose says there were other paparazzi in the area, but claims he personally never shot photos of Duff and her son.
Regardless, he’s sorry. “I deeply apologize for being there at the wrong time. It wasn’t meant to annoy or hurt anyone… I never intended to pose a threat to her son or her family. [I] hope she can forgive me for the situation today… let her know I’m a family man myself, and I cant see myself as a person going after kids.” What do you think of what the paparazzo has to say for himself?
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