Brad and Angelina’s bodyguards are TOUGH
Ol’ Mickey is making a bad name for himself in the attempt to keep the paps off of their backs in Namibia, but they managed to get a shot or two in - see them at the Times article:
From South Africa’s Sunday Times:
On Thursday, an Australian “pap” photographer, Ben McDonald, was attacked by a bodyguard and sprayed with pepper spray as he photographed Pitt playing a game of catch with Maddox in the garden of the lodge. As the frightened child watched the attack over a low fence, Pitt was seen gesticulating at the bodyguard.The incident took place barely a week after the security men made headlines when they roughly manhandled two female reporters from local newspapers — grabbing one around the neck — and forced them to delete pictures from their digital cameras.
Read the rest after the jump!
Tags: Angelina Jolie, Angelina Jolie Pictures, Namibia, paparazzi, TravelResidents said they were gatvol (fed up) with the security detail’s heavy-handed approach.
“They’re out of control. It’s a public beach and yet they carry on as if they own it,” a businessman said.
“They really don’t have to be so aggressive. They can’t just go around threatening people. I sympathise with Brad and Angelina because they do want privacy, but on the other hand they are public figures and there is a lot of interest in their visit.
“From what I hear, they are really nice people, but their security guys most certainly are not.”
Relations between the heavies and residents began to sour when the security men illegally cordoned-off roads leading to the lodge. Then, just ahead of the Easter weekend, they tried — and failed — to rope off a pier popular with residents going for morning walks and evening strolls.
On days when the couple were in residence, anyone with a camera was a target for harassment. Residents have been sworn at and threatened. Even a group of schoolchildren, who regularly go on outings to clean the beach, were chased away.
Mickey Brett — Jolie’s longtime British bodyguard — heads the security operation. A stocky, powerfully built man with a penchant for pink shirts, Celtic tattoos and violent threats, he has been mockingly nicknamed “Snowy” by the paparazzi and is jokingly referred to as “the very white white man” by black staff at the beachfront.
Humourless, menacingly quiet and a caricature of suppressed rage, Brett opens most conversations with choice threats: “I’m going to break your neck,” or, for variety, “I’m going to break your f***in’ legs.”
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POSTED IN: Angelina Jolie, Angelina Jolie Pictures, Brad Pitt, Travel
43 opinions for Brad and Angelina’s bodyguards are TOUGH
jackie
Apr 17, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Good for Ol Mickey he was hired to do a job and he is doing it.Oh poor paps, really now they are complaining because they cant get shots of them everyday.The shot they got of them at the airstrip the pap hid in the desert overnight, but he is lucky Mickey never saw him or those pictures would have been destroyed.Brad and Angie deserve their privacy they don’t need to be gawked at by residents or paps that only want to make money.I’m so happy they put up a green banner around the compound to block their view,their on holidays and they need to be left alone to enjoy themselves before the baby joins them.Good for security put the paps in hospital if they have to ,they want to be the ones to the get the first shot of the baby so that they can make alot of money off the child while the parents want to control who gets it.Good for B/A its about time they fought back.
Mandy
Apr 17, 2006 at 6:20 pm
I am with you Jackie and don’t for a minute believe these reports that the public hates Brad and Angie becaus of Mickey. It is like this little kid beating another who naturally beats him back then he goes to the teacher and start crying and saying “waahhh…but he beat me”…waaahhh. The paps started this not the other way around.
michelle
Apr 17, 2006 at 9:37 pm
Well, I think it’s all a little obnoxious. The other people that are rightfully staying there are having their rights infringed upon. I dig Brangelina, but they are famous. They use that fame to help their charitable causes and it keeps them employed to the degree that they can buy houses all over the world. So like with anything you have to take the good with the bad. Furthermore, all the pictures that we all love to look at come from paps who are supplying a demand. I know I’ll probably never be able to post here again, but it’s hard to feel sorry for very rich, famous people. Even with paparazzi they are living better than most people.
I still love them as a couple and a family, but all the threats of putting people in the hospital and treating people who have a right to be there with disrespect just because of some pictures is obnoxious to me. Sorry, I’m just being honest about how I feel.
Mandy
Apr 17, 2006 at 10:02 pm
michelle - I understand where you coming from but remember, on the very first day, Mickey told locla reporters exactly what he said now…a week or two later…that “Brad and Angie are on vacation and do not want their pictures taken” He even said Angie is very accomodating but please no pictures and the reporters left. The government retaliated and said to its citizens that this is a family vacation and that these two want some privacy. They asked for them to respect that and as you can see the locals do understand that Brad and Angie want provacy.
In short, everyone who live there was forewarned. The problem is Mickey got a situation where the pap has blended in with the local and in short is spoiling for them. How is Mickey supposed to distinguish between a pap and a local person.
I am not sure of what they should do but I also don’t think the locals are innocent. They too may be looking in to cash in. As it was menntioned that anyone with a camera was checked by the security.
Susie
Apr 18, 2006 at 12:22 am
Hi Michelle I hope you don’t leave. The way I read what he said, he was mostly talking to the paparazzis because we all know what they are capable of. He has to sound macho or else no one would take him seriously. The reasoning being that if people take his words seriously enough, then he doesn’t actually have to actually fight any of them. Also, the level of interest on them must be crazy and so who knows what people are capable of doing. It’s a dangerous situation for everyone concerned.
Susie
Apr 18, 2006 at 12:28 am
Also I just wanted to add that I used to know an ex-security guard and I used to ask him to teach me some moves. I remember him saying that most of the time he doesn’t actually have to fight anyone. He said that what is the most effective is that you just got to act tough, like you mean what you say and you will carry it out without hesitation. You have to make people believe that you will do it or else people will try to out-maneouver you and then you really got trouble on your hands.
But it could be different for other security people.
Bethany
Apr 18, 2006 at 5:50 am
I think the paps deserve whatever is coming to them, I saw on extra yesterday that those pictures we saw with angie huging Z and with brad holding maddox to the car, that the paps dug a 6foot whole and camped out all night in 100 degree weather to get the pics, thats just ridiclous, the paps will do whatever they have to do to get pics of them, they have a price tag, anfd it’s really sad that angie can’t enjoy her final weeks of pregnance in peace, and here I thought things will cool of in Africa
Bethany
Apr 18, 2006 at 5:51 am
This is the report from extra
Sources also tell “Extra” that in order to get a shot of a glowing Angelina holding her daughter Zahara, the paparazzo rented a farmer’s field adjacent to the airstrip where the shot was taken, dug a six foot hole and camped out all night. And with a price tag of $1 million for a photo of Brad and Angelina’s newborn, things could only get worse.
Marie
Apr 18, 2006 at 6:40 am
I have no sympathy for the paparazzi. I know they are just doing their job but in the process they are ruining people’s lives! I am with Jackie…GO Mick GO!
I was so happy to see that BAMZ looks great and so very happy!
laura
Apr 18, 2006 at 6:56 am
and we allllllll love this photo so thanks to the paps we have been able to look into there lifes …..so we either are interested or we are not… I have no opinion about what gets done…they both have a job to do and get paid for it…. just life…..
I had a dream last night…a announcement was made angelina and Brad had a boy…………YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST! ha ha I have this way of dreaming things and they usualy come true…so I cant wait to hear the baby news…
Marie
Apr 18, 2006 at 8:39 am
Last time I checked up on careers…”stalking people” is not an official job. The paps have gotten out of hand and there is a very fine line between the paparazzi and stalkers. As a matter of fact it is currently a case in the Canadian courts!
Just Asking
Apr 18, 2006 at 9:46 am
Isn’t it a contradiction though when we lash out at the paps,but still look at and post the pictures they should not have taken. As long as we keep wanting to see their every move,we are also part of the problem.
laura
Apr 18, 2006 at 4:21 pm
I agree with you just asking … the very reason this site and many others even exist…its a fine line….. and as far as them stalking them…they were how many feet away from them taking this pic of her and the baby and how far were they away when they took pics of them at the Eifel tower, Brad in his plane…hmmmm Brad smoking …Angelina and maddox shopping…. its all the same…stalking would be them peeping in there bedroom window and taking pics of them having sex or anything else personal that is none of our business but as long as they are walking outside in the public and noone is physically attacking them ….. like what they do with so many celebs these days…I mean Resse witherspoon was just saying she was at disney world and they were harrashing her …Brad and angie are no more special then Tom and katie …julia roberts ..I mean we can go on and on George clooney etc and they are seem to live there lifes without hiding out…I feel that if Brad and angie actually came out in the public as Angelina has done so with Billy Bob and anyone else she has been with then life would be less hectic for them…instead they have lived in lies and insist on keeping such a low profile and we the people are all wanting moreeeeeeeeeeeee …So if they let us see them out and about doing there every day stuff dont you think we get use to seeing them…I mean it just stands to reason….
I enjoy seeing pics and am glad I get to see them…I like to see more interviews for sure…
Diana
Apr 18, 2006 at 7:05 pm
I agree with Just Asking. I believe that if i were in Brad and Anges situation i would be desperate for some privacy too, but without the paprazzi we really wouldnt have much to talk about on this site would we? because we wouldnt know where they are or what they’re doing. So I wouldnt say that the paprazzi are over stepping the line because they are not stalking people they are simply doing a job. From what i know, stalking is a criminal offence, and anyone caught stalking can get thrown in jail….so where does that leave the majority of the worlds paparazzi?
Mandy
Apr 18, 2006 at 8:09 pm
We have been seeing them out and about doing mundane things for months and it is still not enough. Brad was photographed up inside his house smoking, if that is not intrusion then I don’t know what is.
I don’t know of any other celebs that get hounded this much. As for hiding, they have been to the malls with their kids, been photographed grocery shopping, and they never complain. No matter how wealthy you are, every human being still deserves some space. Not many of you here will like your employer following you around after work, trying to find out what you do when you are not working just because they pay your salary.
I can do without the pictures all the time.
Diana
Apr 18, 2006 at 9:14 pm
Hmmm Mandy, If i didnt want a job where i have to answer phones then i would not have applied to become a secretary. You know thats what is going to happen so you learn to accept it…right?? i think if you work hard to get yourself a big name in the spotlight you have got to accept that privacy is one thing that is not part of the job. And also you dont know any other celebrities that get hounded this much! I think there are tonnes of celebs that get hounded. Look at Jessica Simpson after her split with Nick Lachey, they photographed her every move from leaving rock stars hotel rooms to her being out shopping, Nicole Richie cant eat out in a local cafe without the media announcing to the world that “Nicole Richie was spotted eating a cheeseburger” WOW…Reese and Ryans marriage is on the rocks then its stronger than ever then its on the rocks again….. I mean stories are always getting more and more ridiculous but its because this is what we crave, and dont forget that sometimes celebs head out infront of cameras and do things deliberately to send a message out to the public and to their fans, so when they feel the time is right they use the paparazzi to their own advantage, so take the good with the bad I say!!
Diana
Apr 18, 2006 at 11:02 pm
And may I say one more thing. All this hype about “Privacy” and “Needing their own space” all i can say to that is “Ohhh pleaeeeease”.
As much as i idolize this couple, all this “we want privacy” business is getting a little frustrating. Since the big Brad and Angelina get together we as loyal and caring fans have not been offered anything from them. We have been reading more BS than ever before because of their whole “privacy” issue and now the whole Namibia security thing where their bodyguards are threatening people with violence. I mean whatever happened to getting out there in a dignified manner and smiling to the cameras and perhaps even doing a little interview here and there to let people and more importantly fans know that things are well, and facing the media and telling the world that….yes, you are happily pregnant and excited about the upcoming birth. Instead the couple are hiding away like some animals out in the bush that are scared of getting hunted down by some hungry predator.
And if one more person comes on and says “they are entitled to some privacy” i am going to scream, because when you become a multi mllion dollar superstar it has been known for thousands of years and will continue to be known that you cannot have any privacy, has anyone ever known any famous person to have had ‘privacy’ after they entered into a life of fame?
What are they going to do when they’re baby is born to stop photogrpahers…put a mask on it to stop the public from seeing what it looks like.
All i can say to those photographers when it comes time to get that snapshot of the new born is GOOD LUCK!!
Hmmmmm
Apr 18, 2006 at 11:12 pm
I am getting sick of all this! I don’t feel sorry for BAMZ anymore. They are spoiled!
Hmmmmm
Apr 18, 2006 at 11:14 pm
In an odd, sick way I think Brad & Angelina are loving this. Because, they wouldn’t be so secretive if they really wanted to be left alone. They are loving this. Don’t let it fool you!
laura
Apr 19, 2006 at 4:16 am
fianlly someone who I agree with and are on the same page as me………….HEAR HEAR Diana and Hmmmmmmmm I totally agree with everything you have to say ! They need to get out an ddo more interviews…. yeah we have beentaking pics of them doing there evry day stuff but ITS IN PARIS……….. LAST TIME I checked they were both AMERICANS…….. and they are not the first big movie star couple and they wont be the last but I have yet to find one who moved away…I mean come on………..Brad Pitt and Angelina are only a big press name because of how they came about …….and the scandal that followed….
If they actually had waited for the divorce to go final or not even if they were just upfront about it from the beginning then people would not have been so interested in them…. they really have created this life for them selves to some degree…..
Angelina has always liked her privacy and has had it when she wanted it ….not anymore….so enough already …have the baby and get on with your lifes….I think it must be stressful for them living like this and how much will they be able to take as a couple…..
Dee
Apr 19, 2006 at 8:53 am
If you want privacy - do not become a movie star!! They have a choice after all. They would make the locals happy (instead of making their life miserable by closing ff the beach and streets) and their fans if they would just give everybody an opp for pics and an interview….it would create less stress for everybody involved….and it part of their job description.
QQQQ
Apr 19, 2006 at 10:24 am
U people are amazing, one biased article written by a SA paper who was given dubious info by the paps about residents and all of a sudden Brad & Angie are menace to the society…This is one side of the story every one is jumping to whatever conclusion.
The local newspaper the Namibian who first reported of BAMZ+1’s visit to country, has not reported on this, but the SA paper knows details of whats going on in Namibia… Give me a break
Dee
Apr 19, 2006 at 12:33 pm
There are many newspapers, SA, German and others who have reported on the severe guarding off of BAMZ in Namibia….there are no interviews or photo opps…..so while being fans, one can voice opinions….I agree with Hmmmmmmmmm and others
bamz9LOVE
Apr 19, 2006 at 12:56 pm
QQQQ, haven’t you realized by now that there are some who would rather believe the worst about Jolie-Pitt, are should I say “the worst about Angelina Jolie”, and who never fail to prove me wrong about that when stories like these pop-up?
I could set my watch by them.
QQQQ
Apr 19, 2006 at 7:21 pm
bamz9LOVE….
I kinda realize that, but it was getting on my nerves….. Its realling amazing how naive and easily led people are. Saying that the story was in this paper and that paper, is really not a good defense. The story originated from the SA Sunday Times, then every other news story picked it up, with out checking the facts. Seriously just because NY Times, AP or Reuter reports a story, it doesn’t make it true.
Mandy
Apr 19, 2006 at 7:48 pm
QQQQ and BAMZ5LOVE - good points.
I have seen Africans fans posting online and saying the situation is not that mad…and that it is just the media manipulating it to fit their liking because they are the target in this case.
I thought a fan or not would recognize this.
bamz9LOVE
Apr 19, 2006 at 8:02 pm
You’d think so Mandy, but I reiterate that there are those who are simply more interested in the negative no matter who reported it. They probably wouldn’t believe the Arican fans if they weren’t complaining about the couple. Sad, but so.
Mandy
Apr 19, 2006 at 8:11 pm
Fans are so fickle. Everybody has an opinion how some else should conduct their lives as if celebs are not humans just because they have money, meanwhile I am sure the most opinionated ones will not appreciate someone telling them how to live their lives.
Mandy
Apr 19, 2006 at 8:15 pm
I agree with you bamz, there are some people that only post if it is negative. When it is positive, makes you wonder why they expend that energy for people they don’t like.
Jada
Apr 19, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Brad and Angelina are not living their
life in lies! They told the truth.
What is sad is that some of you are
still wrongly bashing them on the lies.
They did not do anything scandalous,
it was the tabloids who turned this
into a scandal. You have people
being so extra harsh, judgemental,
and closed minded about Brad & Angelina…
choosing to criticize them on a legal
technicality! A marriage ends when two
people break up. That marriage was over
way before the divorce was finalized.
The filing of divorce papers is just
a legal formality. A divorce being
finalized is a legal and financial
process. It is all about officially
separating money, property, and custody
( if there are kids involved). That
divorce only took six months to be
finalized…but sometimes it can
take much longer. Most people do
not wait that long to move on with
their lives…they do not put their
lives on hold because of the courts.
People do it all the time. It is not
uncommon and it is not controversial.
The media and the public does not
treat other celebrities and other
people like this. For example, you
have both Nick and Jessica hooking
up with people before the divorce
is finalized..you don’t have people
bashing them for that. You don’t
have people bashing Heather Locklear
for hooking up with David Spade before
the divorce is finalized. Why are they
not bashing them? Because they are not
doing anything wrong. They are all
single people. Their marriages are
over, they are just waiting for the
courts to legalize it. Just like
how Brad became a single guy in
January…and he and Angie began their
romance in April. You just have the
nasty media digging up anything they
can to misportray them as a scandalous
couple when there is nothing scandalous
about it.
Brad and Angelina are not enjoying all of
this negative publicity and attention.
They live in a fishbowl. They can’t
help that the paparazzi is following
and photographing their every single
move. The media hates them, has no
respect for them. The media is just
exploiting them for sales. The media
is using and abusing them. Part of the
way they are destroying Brad & Angelina
is to overexpose them. Brad and Angelina
have tried their best not to flaunt
their relationship but they are not going
to stop living their lives…they are not
going to stop traveling and doing what
they want…because of the cameras. They
are not media whores..like how some of
you suggested. Brad and Angelina are
victims of the press…they are the
number one targets for the tabloids.
They are famous…but they are still
human. They are not characters and
tools for our amusment. They need some
privacy too. They did not sell their
souls to the press when they became
famous. Even though I think they
are going a bit over the top with
the security..I guess it must be
necessary because the media has gone
out of hand. They have to go through
this torture daily.
Catherine
Apr 21, 2006 at 5:47 am
Good Post Jada.
bamz9LOVE
Apr 21, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Jada, excellent post imo.
“You have people being so extra harsh,judgemental,
and closed minded about Brad & Angelina…choosing to criticize them on a legal technicality! A marriage ends when two people break up. That marriage was over way before the divorce was finalized. The filing of divorce papers is just
a legal formality. A divorce being finalized is a legal and financial process. It is all about officially separating money, property, and custody
( if there are kids involved). That divorce only took six months to be finalized…but sometimes it can take much longer. Most people do not wait that long to move on with their lives…they do not put their lives on hold because of the courts.”
I’ve attempted so many times to express what you have above, but I could never get it to come out so succinctly. I guess there are those who need that final “T” crossed before an admission that once was is no more, but I’m not one of them. Over is over is over and if it weren’t at the time a divorce was filed, then the divorce wouldn’t have been filed.
John
May 2, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Mickey Brett is a thug and he’s giving Brad and Angelina a bad name.
No closed off areas were entered by either the local press or the paparazzi. As a resident in the area I can assure you there is no way way of approaching within a few metres of the house without security guards racing to cut you off.
The sole scuffle, which involved a guard emptying a can of pepper spray into a photog’s eyes, occurred on a public beach some metres away from the house where Pitt and Jolie are staying.
In fairness to the photogs, various requests were initally made to the couple by local reporters asking that they pose for a quick picture. This is not unreasonable, given that they are in Namibia and their presence is obviously a huge coup for that nation. The locals were coldly rebuffed by Mickey who made numerous promises that never came to fruition. Instead Pitt and Jolie allowed the hysteria to ratchet up and then posed for the Hello! shots and did the Ann Curry interview.
Even though the Curry interview was filmed in a township in the area - yet another public place - local journalists were blocked from recording the moment for their local rags. I doubt it would hurt to pose for a quick shot for the local paper. Seems a bit petty.
This is not about privacy, but marketability. Both Pitt and Jolie are creatures of the media. They need the media, they have helped create the hype and now they simply want to turn off the tap. They are selling a product to the highest bidder - although, admittedly, they are doing a great thing in donating the cash to charity.
Perhaps if - on day one - they had posed for a couple of shots on the beach, they would have killed off much of the demand for pap shots. If they had done so, they would certainly have dealt with the local press who would have gone off quite happily. Then their security could have focused their efforts on the few international papas left behind.
Their guards have behaved unacceptably. Most of them, I understand, are not professional bodygaurds but local tour guides hired as muscle. I understand there were never more than half-a-dozen photogs in the area at any given moment and they could easily have been controlled and may have been more co-operative if Mickey did not initially approach them with threats to break bones and hospitalise people.
To hear Mickey in action listen to this clip I found on the South African Sunday Times website http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/2006/04/30/mickeybrett.mp3
It was Mickey’s violent attitude that infuriated the photogs - and residents - and led the photographers to push even harder to a get a shot; just to spite him.
Forgetting about the photogs for a moment, one must also keep in mind that Mickey and his band of merry men have threatened local residents, harassed patrons going to the only restaurant in the area - to the detriment of trade, cordoned off public roads and a public pier and even hounded groups of children off the beach, despite the fact that they were accompanied by their principal on a school outing to clean the beach.
Mickey himself has threatened local shopkeepers and businessmen. Apparently he believes that selling a Coca Cola to a photographer is an act of collusion. Tourists have been threatened and harassed and on days the Hollywood stars feel like going on to the PUBLIC beach, anyone with a camera - which is probably every tourist on the beach - is targetted for harassment and intimidation. According to a recent press report, two fo the bodyguards even got pissed at a local nightclub and sprayed patrons with pepper spray. Apparently they thought it was funny.
Everyone in Namibia is proud to have Brad and Angelina staying there. But perhaps they should perhaps be more circumspect about the security they hire.
It is all well and good that they want their supposed privacy, but at the expense of the rights of other residents in the area who can no longer move about freely? Surely that is not right.
Mandy
May 2, 2006 at 5:01 pm
John - I have a hella of hard time believing you since your source is a tabloid - the Sunday Time. Of course this said source is going to write these kind of article since their photographer was pepper-sprayed.
the key to remember before you and anyone else accuse Mickey of being a thug:
- why is it so damn hard for these paps to kinbdly ask Brad and Angie for a pose.
- why do they need to harass them for a picture
- why whine when they csn’t take pictures
Suffice to say, last we checked the local police raided a lodge next to where Brad and Angie where a few paps took up shop and pretended to be the owners…TO THE OWNER!
who is acting as a thug now? Mickey or the paps
John
May 3, 2006 at 1:20 am
Firstly, I know Langstrand well and in recent weeks have got to know a number of the journalists and photographers working there. Having spent a good deal of time on the beach during recent holidays I was able to watch them first hand. BTW, the Sunday Times is a broadsheet. And it wasn’t their photographer that was sprayed, it was an Aussie paparazzi. Their reporting, to my knowledge as a local, has been accurate.
Secondly, I’m told that efforts were made - at least by local Namibian and South African journalists - to request a posed picture. Unfortunately they had to go through Mickey who made a series of vague - and as yet unfulfilled promises that they would get a picture. He kept telling people that Brad an Angelina were “not yet ready for photographs”, even though, at the same time, they were posing for Hello! and Anne Curry. Seems to be a bit of a double-standard.
Thirdly, I think it is important to differentiate between local journalists and papparazzi. The incident you refer to where paps pretended to be the owners, involved three French paparazzi who have since left Namibia. I agree that their behaviour was unacceptable. But one must remember that they operated pretty openly until Mickey began threatening people. If Brad and Angelina had allowed the locals to take just one picture to record their visit to Namibia, the press guys would have gone off quite happily and Mickey and crowd could have concentrated their efforts on the three or four pap photographers lurking around. Posed shots in the local press would also have probably killed off the demand for pap shots because magazines and newspapers could have purchased those pics for far less than they would have to pay to a pap agency.
Most importantly, forget about the local press and the paps, the fact remains that Mickey and Co have been intimidating and threatening local residents, conducting searches of private properties without warrants, illegally detaining tourists who simply want to walk on the PUBLIC beach, but were not allowed to do so because Brad and Angelina were on the beach. The greatest irony is that in at least two incidents involving German tourists, they were not even aware Brad and Aneglian were staying there. One gentleman, who went to the lodge where Brad and Angelina are living - because it advertises a restaurant - found himself surrounded and jostled by security convinced that he was paparazzi.
The “whining”, as you call it, is not about the fact that they can’t take pictures. It is about the completely unacceptable thuggery of the guards. There are ways of doing things. Physically attacking and threatening women reporters and pepper spraying photographers on a PUBLIC beach yards from the house should be a last resort. Harassing local residents and curtailing their rights under the pretence of protecting Jolie and Pitt from about six easily-identifiable reporters and photographers is hardly acceptable. The Namibian government has said much about the rights enshrined in our Constitution. But in any democracy, one person’s rights cannot be held to be greater than another’s. And that is what is happening at Langstrand. Mickey and crew are treating the place as their personal fiefdom. As a resident that angers me, because they are guests in my country. I’m not sure how you would feel if a gang of thugs came to your country and began treating the place as if they owned it.
It is as much my beach as theirs. I often used to go for walks along the Langstrand pier, but that too has been cordoned off - even though it is a public place.
And even more ironically, given Jolie’s various human rights campaigns, one of her key local bodyguards - a man I know - was a member of the notorious apartheid-era police “counter-insurgency” unit Koevoet, a unit that stands accused of some of the worst human rights abuses ever comitted in Namibia.
It is no surprise then, that Langstrand has come to resemble something akin to a police state.
It was Mickey who opted to raise the aggression levels and in so doing created a stand-off that became something of a childish pissing contest. He has personally threatened local residents that I know, accusing them of siding with the paps - when they have done no such thing.
What Mickey must remember is that he, just like Jolie and Pitt, are guests in Namibia and should therefore show the locals the respect that they expect in return. Mickey’s thugishness has simply made local residents far more sympathetic to the press.
Finally, this is not an attack on Jolie and Pitt. By all accounts they are an amazing couple who are doing admirable work. But as I pointed out in my last post, they should be more circumspect about the security they use. In all likelihod, they don’t even know what Mickey and Co are up to.
mickey brett
May 11, 2006 at 4:45 pm
in answer to the idiot john who talks out of his backside! for one children have never been chased off the beach, stoping someone selling a can of coke to a paparazzi, you must been a complete fool because i dont know what you are talking about, i have never entered the home of anybody or threatened any local people so again you are wrong, as for me offering the paparazzi a photo chance but then it never happened is again a lie, i have never offered or promised anyone that. also the road behind our residence is open to residents or their guests and nobody else needs to come through there unless they are being nosey else why would they want to be behind our property! we have had full support from local people apart from this idiot john who seems to think all paparazzi are nice guys, angelina jolie and brad pitt love being in namibia where as paparazzi only want the big money and dont give a shit about namibia! i could go on all day about the lies these so called press write but it will never stop their rubbish. yes i did threaten the paparazzi and i will do it again if they bother my clients, i have to watch 2 young chidren sit inside a house with the curtains closed and the beach outside but they are prisoners because of the paparazzi so yes im angry and they will be sorry if they come too close to the family, these press are not nice people and would use violence if they had the upperhand. so to john the village idiot and his paparazzi friends clear off and leave this family alone then there wont be a problem. but again i add that you seem to be the only local with a problem, that is if you really are a local?
Christina
May 11, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Mickey - thanks for stopping by! I am sure your job is tremendously difficult, and I am also sure that you are doing what needs to be done to do it. To be honest, I was sort of expecting more people with John’s attitude to come by here and join him, but am glad they haven’t. We all certainly support you in doing what needs to be done to keep the family safe and let those kids see the outdoors! Please send our love and prayers. :)
Catherine
May 11, 2006 at 9:04 pm
Hey Mick… most of the folks around here aren’t all that judgemental…we take almost everything with a grain of salt.
:)
Peace.
(i’m glad ya dropped by too.)
James
May 29, 2006 at 5:21 am
Interesting story on the Sunday Times website in which Mickey denies posting comments on blogs:
http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/topstories/topstories1148886036.aspx
They also have a special report on the drama in Namibia: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/specialreports/brangelina-sreport-template.aspx?Page=ST6P32645&MenuItem=ST6P32645
And there is a piece about the one photographer’s jail experiences :) http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/topstories/topstories1148885616.aspx
[Edited out article, you can read it at the first link above]
viva brangelina
May 29, 2006 at 8:11 am
eghhhh… was that the real mickey brett??
Christina
May 29, 2006 at 9:03 am
I dunno viva - but regardless, he makes pretty valid points. It makes me sad to think of those kids sitting inside all day when they have gone to so much trouble to find a secluded spot so they wouldnt have to.
viva brangelina
May 30, 2006 at 12:44 am
yeah… i can imagine how bored they are. kids are so moody when they got nothing to play with…
but geez, christina! it’s an ‘honour’ to have the real mickey dropped by here! =D
i wish he can drops by more often so brad and ange will know about our best wishes and prayers for them.
James
Jun 7, 2006 at 1:43 am
To add to the debate a piece in South Africa’s Business Day Weekender about “celebrity colonialism” and how a Hollywood couple bought over a government
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/weekender.aspx?ID=BD4A208981
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