Fame Pictures

Stop the international presses! Brad Pitt is kinda maybe sorta interested in buying himself another motorcycle.

This is the breaking news flash out of Tokyo this morning, where the Beautiful Bearded One is currently making the promotional rounds for Inglourious Basterds, which is finally opening in Japan.

"I had a little mishap," he explained when asked about his pavement-pounding, paparazzi-captured bike topple last week.

"No injuries, except my ego. I was trying to get away from some paparazzi and instead gave them a good story."

Actually, Brad, "good" may be overselling it a bit, but we'll assume that after three months on the publicity trail, any new talking point is welcomed with open arms.

"It was my favorite bike, so that is really sad."

Not Iraqi-refugees-in-Syria sad, mind you, but still a bit of a bummer. And a rather easily fixable one, at that.

"I will definitely be looking at motorcycles," he said. "You've got some of the best builders right here."

Something tells us this guy would beg to differ. But domo arigato all the same.

________

Check out more hotties on hogs in our Easy Riders: Stars on Bikes gallery.

Fame Pictures Inc.

Nicole Richie wants the paparazzi off her back and off her bumper.

The ticked-off celeb obtained temporary restraining orders today against two shutterbugs she says caused her fender-bender earlier this month and have been following her for some time.

"She claims they harassed and stalked her and were involved in the car accident in the beginning of month," Los Angeles Superior Court spokeswoman Vania Stuelp told E! News Friday.

Eduardo Cerri Arrivabene and Ivon Emilio Melo Miguel are required to stay at least 100 yards away from Richie's children, staff, home and vehicles. A hearing on the matter is set for Nov. 16.

The Simple Life alumna suffered minor injuries in the Oct. 5 smashup. She was seen tearfully talking to boyfriend Joel Madden's brother, Benji, after he arrived at the scene to help out.

________

Oh, those troublesome paparazzi! Then again, without them, we wouldn't have all of these...

Jim Spellman/Getty Images

Finally, some good news for Kanye West.

A court commissioner has agreed to drop all charges against the act-first, think-later rapper stemming from his airport altercation with paparazzi last fall.

In exchange for the misdemeanor-free rap sheet, West has agreed to complete 50 hours' community service, which he will fulfill, per attorney Blair Berk, by volunteering at the Taylor Swift Appreciation Society American Red Cross.

Berk also confirmed during the hearing that West had voluntarily completed 12 hours of anger-management classes in his efforts to make reparations for what turned out to be the first of several not-so-uncharacteristic outbursts.

"I'm very pleased that the court granted a dismissal of all the charges," Berk told reporters outside the courthouse.

It's safe to say that wasn't the consensus.

Keep Reading

nationalphotogroup.com

Caution: Paparazzi in mirror are closer than they appear.

A security car trailing a vehicle that was carrying Michael Jackson's three children was rear-ended by a photographer this afternoon in Los Angeles, TMZ reports.

Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket are said to be fine, though we feel they're a little young to be experiencing the Hollywood starlet treatment.

Lindsay Lohan, for instance, was famously involved in several smashups caused by overeager paparazzi who just couldn't seem to stay off the girl's fender.

Luckily, the Jackson brood had a whole other vehicle between them and the offending photog, who took off before police arrived at the crash site, which was just a few miles away from the Jacksons' compound in Encino. A hit-and-run report was filed close to 2:30 p.m.

Earlier this month, a judge determined that the kids were doing "wonderfully" under the care of their grandmother Katherine.

She knew enough to arrange for that extra layer of vehicular paparazzi protection, didn't she?

________

Can't the paps just leave 'em alone? It would be a shame if the wee Jacksons end up in this gallery of celebs giving photogs the one-fingered salute.

Mike/Fame Pictures

Hitting Britney Spears one more time paid off.

The chart topper has settled a lawsuit brought against her by a paparazzo whose foot she ran over with her car outside a Beverly Hills medical building in 2007 (not to be confused with the feet she squished that year belonging to a sheriff's deputy and a different shutterbug), according to paperwork filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Ricardo Mendoza, who was pounding the pavement when the accident occurred, had been seeking nearly $230,000 in damages and medical expenses.

Mendoza sued in May for an unspecified amount, then followed up with an amended complaint last month.

Perhaps it was the big round zeros that finally caught Britney's lawyers' attention.

Attorney Benjamin C. Alvarez's rebuttal papers had described Mendoza as a "self-serving, profit-hungry paparazzo" who "positioned and placed himself in the roadway in front of Ms. Spears' vehicle."

We're glad Britney's apparent foot fetish is behind her. It's so much more fun critiquing her sartorial choices in our Fashion Spotlight.

Nicole Richie's lucky she didn't have any babies on board.

The celebutante is nursing what appear to be minor injuries after her Range Rover was dinged by a pursuing paparazzo in Beverly Hills.

"She was rear-ended," BHPD Lt. Tony Lee tells E! News, adding that the accident occurred around 2 p.m. "There was a complaint of pain injury. She told officers at the scene that she's going to seek her own medical treatment."

Benji Madden was spotted on scene comforting her after the rough ride. But Richie, who just welcomed her second child last month, apparently left boyfriend Joel Madden home with newborn Sparrow and Harlow.

No ambulances were called and the damage to the vehicles was described as minimal (scratches and dents on the bumper), though Richie appeared to be crying afterward while sitting in the driver's seat, talking to Joel. Her mom, Brenda, showed up while police were still there and got into the car, apparently to console her daughter.

When asked if Nicole was OK, she replied, "No, no she's not."

The shutterbug behind the bust-up was cited for being an unlicensed driver and his jeep was impounded.

Tony Barson/Getty Images

On the bright side, it looks like Sean Penn's pretty limber for a guy pushing 50.

But about that high kick to a paparazzo...

Flynet Pictures is claiming that the two-time Oscar winner "attacked" one of its shooters. Penn, the agency alleges, "emerged from his truck and walked over 50 feet towards the photog and kicked and punched him without provocation.

"Penn also berated the photog with obscenities and shouted that he would 'put you in a box' to the photog before going back to his house."

The photog "suffered multiple cuts and bruises from the attack, has filed a police report and is considering pressing charges for battery."

No word on whether a lawsuit is in the works, but in cases like this, a police report can be a precursor to a civil action.

Keep Reading

Fame Pictures

You'd think this guy's rollover minutes would have expired by now.

Shutterbug Ricardo Mendoza, whose foot fell victim to the tire of Britney Spears' Mercedes in 2007, has updated his accusation against the rejuvenated pop princess.

When he sued her for assault, battery and negligence in May, the damages were unspecified. But now, they're specified: Mendoza wants $195,000 in general damages, $16,533.59 for medical bills and $10,000 for any future foot problems.

Mendoza, who was clicking away for TMZ at the time of the incident, let the website auction off the treaded-upon sock he was wearing two years ago, saying that would be that—but apparently it was not.

Keep Reading

Harrison Funk/The Jackson Family via Getty Images

Wait, so the Jackson family didn't want Michael Jackson's elegant, star-packed interment service caught on tape?

Not according to Randy Jackson.

In a statement released this afternoon, the King of Pop's youngest brother says that he is extremely disappointed that there was such an intrusive media presence at Forest Lawn last night, where Michael was laid to rest within the cemetery's Grand Mausoleum.

Not including the cameramen who were allowed to be there, of course.

Keep Reading

Ramey Photo

It was a collision course that couldn't have been avoided.

Croatian authorities have opted not to bring charges against a bodyguard for Jay-Z and Beyoncé after he roughed up some paparazzi and purportedly damaged one shutterbug's property.

Police in the medieval port city of Dobrovnik told TMZ that the guard was ordered to pay a fine but will not face legal action for allegedly going overboard in shielding the couple from having their picture taken by the snappers.

Video footage of the encounter showed Jay-Z's minder scuffling in an alley with several photographers who were staking out the rapper and his songstress wife as they left a restaurant and returned to their luxury yacht.

Three of the paps told police the guard threatened and manhandled them, while Jay-Z is heard in the background shouting, "Let's go, let's go, don't worry about it" and "Stop stop stop." The bodyguard later allegedly threw one of the photogs' tripods into the Adriatic.

Keep Reading

Breeden, Thompsett, PacificCoastNews.com

The Peacemaker is going to war.

George Clooney is fuming after shutterbugs allegedly snuck into his Italian compound and snapped a photo of a topless 13-year-old girl who was a guest at the villa.

"I don't know about the law in the United States but in Italy it's illegal for photographers to climb over my wall and to take long lens pictures of a 13-year-old girl in her bedroom," the Out of Sight star said in a statement to TMZ. "I draw the line of privacy at that."

No lawsuits have been filed yet. Clooney was clued in to the surreptitious snaps when they turned up in two tabloids. The pictures also included images of the 48-year-old actor and his latest conquest, 30-year-old Italian beauty Elisabetta Canalis, lounging about the Lake Como digs.

The Clooney-hunting paparazzi are so bad that, according to London's The Independent, Lake Como's mayor is going to fine groups of four or more outside Clooney's home (be it photographers or just plain ol' gawkers) $30 a person.

Yeah, that'll show 'em.

________

Elisabetta is but the latest. Check out Ted Casablanca's roundup of George Clooney's past hotties here.

Keep Reading