Paparazzi

A Malibu jury deadlocked Friday in the trial of two surfers charged with beating a French paparazzo on the beach two years ago. The hung verdict comes after about half a dozen delays in the trial of Skylar Peak, 26, and Philip Hildebrand, 31, who were each facing one count of misdemeanor battery. The June 2008 incident was caught on camera and spread across the Internet. A dozen paparazzi were angling for a shot of actor Matthew McConaughey when they were confronted by a group of local surfers, including Peak and Hildebrand.

A female photographer told authorities Wednesday that Rob Kardashian "grabbed her camera and removed the memory card" while she was taking photographs and that he struck her in the face. Kardashian is the younger brother of the three best-known Kardashians: Kourtney, Kim and Khloe. "The paparazzi alleged that while she was photographing Rob Kardashian, he grabbed her camera and removed the memory card. During the struggle, the paparazzi stated that she was struck in the face by Rob Kardashian," according to a statement from the Beverly Hills Police Department.

The summer surf is up in Malibu, and that means competing cultures are colliding with more zest than usual: surfers who jealously guard their favorite beaches, locals who want Malibu to remain a West Coast Mayberry and younger celebrities who love to hate their attendant paparazzi. Case in point: Over the weekend, obscenities, fists and video equipment went flying in two incidents involving paparazzi, celebrities and surfers, capturing the attention of Internet junkies around the world.

A paparazzo trying to photograph and videotape actor Matthew McConaughey at the beach Saturday told police he was attacked by a mob of surfers who threw his camera in the ocean and struck him. The 29-year-old paparazzo from Santa Monica told sheriff's deputies that a large group of surfers near Paradise Cove in Malibu approached him and other paparazzi about 2 p.m. and demanded that they stop taking pictures and videotaping.

Re "Malibu Denizens Divided on Shooting of Paparazzo," Aug. 9 As a professional photographer, I have watched the paparazzi wars for decades. Your article reprising the age-old feud (Brando, Sammy Davis, Sinatra and Jackie O) hit home. I was privileged to work on assignment and refused to take a shooting that I would not be invited and welcomed to. No, I didn't make near the money the spec paparazzi made. These are the professional standards I held myself to: Anyone on private property is off limits unless I am invited in. Anyone on public property is fair game, but watch out for jabs.

Re "Bieber urges paparazzi limits," Jan. 3 On Jan. 1, my gracious and loving mother hit a man with my car while he was attempting to photograph Justin Bieber's Ferrari. In the back seat of my car were my two 1-year-old boys. We have been reflective in the last two days on the horrible and tragic beginning to the new year. My mother was baby sitting and driving my car while my wife and I got the rare opportunity to celebrate an intimate New Year's Eve. My mother is a widower and has always had the utmost trust from us when taking care of our kids.

On a fall afternoon in New York's Central Park, hundreds of curious onlookers and paparazzi watched as two comely young actresses, Abbie Cornish and Andrea Riseborough, performed a scene on a park bench. When a rock band sound check across the park disrupted the scene , the movie's director trotted off to ask the band for a reprieve. "The entirety of Central Park followed her," said Riseborough, "and left Abbie and I sitting on the bench, at which point we just looked at each other like, 'Well, this obviously isn't where it's happening.'" That filmmaker has held crowds in thrall every time she's left the house for the last 30 years.