Fame PicturesThat big showdown Nicole Richie had planned today with the "creepy, disgusting" paparazzo she claimed was targeting her 2-year-old kid. Never panned out.
Richie was there. The photog was. Both were prepared to lay out their stories. But it will have to wait a couple of weeks.
Why the delay?
Richie's high-powered lawyer, Mark Geragos, is asking for a little longer for the sides to work things out without litigation.
Everybody's due back on Dec. 21 to see where things stand. For now, Fabricio Mariotto must keep his distance from Richie, fiancé Joel Madden and their two kids.
For his part, the shutterbug on the receiving end of Richie's restraining order petition says he's anxious to get his side out there—and not without a little dig at the former Simple Life star.
About Richie's claim that he stakes out daughter Harlow's school, Mariotto says she's all wrong.
"I've only been there once, I swear to God. I thought I was going to get a shot of her at Starbucks, when I realized it was a school, I left," he told reporters outside the courthouse.
But by the time he realized his error, Richie was taking pictures of him and the license plates of his car. He did take one shot—of Richie photographing him.
"The last time I took pictures of her was eight months ago," Mariotto told reporters. "It's so hard to sit on her house and it's not worth it."
Mariotto then whipped out his portfolio "show I'm not a stalker. Look at these pictures, all the celebs are smiling," he said, flashing magazine pics of Britney Spears, Mischa Barton and even a few oldies of Richie.
"She makes up part of 1 percent of one percent of my income," Mariotto continued. "I shoot Brad, Angelina, Reese Witherspoon—A-listers. Nicole is like what? A C-plus?
"She's no Angelina."
Ouch. We're sure that will go over well in mediation.