Well here is my humble take on the matter. I agree with Prince and the Bodyguard. I love stories like this myself. I don't know why so many of you are trying to make Prince out to be some sort of bad guy for doing this. Ask yourselves how many times have you seen a recent Prince pic in the National Enquirer or whatever. Please believe it is not because he is not still a huge star, he is. Prince behaves in this way to keep Paparazzi off his ass! If I saw Prince in the airport I might ask him if I could take his pic or if not cool. He is a person and not a thing or some monument and just because he has fame that is no excuse to be treated as an object. The boy was not assualted though he might have a case for theft and I am sure he will milk it for all it is worth in court. As for his faith I don't see as how this contridicts that at all. I mean he does not want photo's taken of him without his concent. This in no way contridicts anything ever written in the scriptures. We are all owed respect and Prince was disrespected. The boy did not even say hello can I take a photo with you or anything. Now some of you might say Prince disrespected the kid in return but I would argue Prince did not go up and take his photo without his consent. Just because we all like Prince's music he never has and never will owe any of us a damn thing. That is why I choose to focus on the beauty of his art and not his every waking hour on this planet. Just my argument on this event.
Peace

shygirl said:

cuz
Prince
is
old
news

According to the story, he was assaulted. The bodyguard stepped up to him and began yelling at him. The bodyguard then STOLE the kid's camera.

The assault charge is pretty weak, but the right attorney can make that stick.

The ROBBERY charge is pretty self-explanitory.

Prince's only guilt in this is that he is the employer of the bodyguard and has not reprimanded him, or offered restitution to the kid for the theft of the camera. In a way, that almost makes him an accessory.



AND WHAT KINDA STUPID LOGIC IS "HE SHOULDA KNOWN BETTER" ???!?!?!?

So, if I'm walking downtown and get robbed, or shot, or raped, or anything, will the judge tell me "you should have known better" ?

If I stop somebody on the street, ask for the time and they steal my jacket, will the judge tell me "you should have known better" ?

How about this - since it is LEGAL for the kid to take a picture of somebody in a public place, maybe PRINCE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER.

chiltonmusic said:

STUNNED that the majority here accept this story as fact!... Isn't CJ a "gossip" columnist???... I mean it just seems like her jabs at Prince are so personal/psycho/fatal-attraction that its scary... Move on girl.

firstoff, maybe everyone should calm down, for all we know prince could have fired that guy now, but is too big in himself to give a camera back. we all know what hes capable of good and bad. as for this piece of "news"

the kid "walkd over" to prince to take a pic, now if i was sat down and some kid came over to take a pic of me, id be pretty fucked off, to have this for most of my life, id be fucking livid. dont give it all the shit like its not 1984 and shit like that, its bullshit, as if prince doesnt need bodyguards. he just did a sellout tour of australia that sold out faster than kylie minogue, and when she did that tour she was the hottest solo pop female on the planet.

on the other hand i dont see how anyone can defend the theft of the camera. we'll see what happens but all that bullshit about the boy earning $7 an hour and stuff, yawn. its got fuck all to do with the case, he could be a wanker or a good boy but it woudnt change the facts, its pure tabloid shit. and ive only been a pricne fan 2 years max and this reporter woman makes me sick, i hate her!

I'm changing my attitude on this:

If the people don't file charges, then they're the morons.

*shrug*
[This message was edited Fri Jan 2 7:41:35 PST 2004 by Dauphin]

Dauphin said:

I guess for me the logic in the "He should have known better" argument is that regardless of whether this was Prince, you, me whoever the boy should have asked permission for a photo. That is at the very least as plausable as the boy thinking he can just shoot away at someone. Hey do you ever watch celebrities gone wild on E! Well in my opinion Prince could act like some of them and that would be a hell of a lot worse than this senario. I do agree he should pay the kid for the camera though as it was his property.
Peace

prince is a public figure who was in a public place. neither he nor his bodyguards have a legal right to prevent another person from taking his picture under those circumstances.

maybe, just maybe we don't have the whole story here???

Heartbreaking epiphany here:


With each day, Prince acts less like Christopher Tracy and more like Isaac Sharon.


Dang.

thedog said:

---
But, he did't let people take his picture in 1984. You think this guy is going to change and start acting humble because he can't afford to buy radio airplay!!!

I'm loving the Christmas Spirit on this web site. Chill people. One of Prince's body guards twisted my arm behind my back for invading his space at Paisley Park. Just doing his job. But, I did my job and cussed Prince's ass out without using four letter words -- I do like to belittle people with a smile on my face -- then kindly told his bodyguard he had so many seconds to release me. I received an apology from the bodyguard and Princey boy put me in a video because he's too above anyone else that resides on planet earth to every say, "I'm sorry."

The 19-year-old will get his camera back either the nice way or through a lawsuit. People stop defending Prince like you're on his payroll. The man is not perfect and will NEVER be perfect. But I will still buy his music and some.

The sad thing is news like this gets more excited than release of new tunes! Get in the studio and record some stuff that we can all dance to old man!

This guy is not a kid if he's 19 years old! I could understand if he was 11 or 12, but come on, a 19 year old
rushing towards me... would scare the hell out of me.

think about this: what if that camera had been a gun or a knife

2freaky4church1 said:

When is it against the law to take a picture of someone in an airport??? What is he a vampire ? He should be happy that someone actually wanted to take his picture. His body guard had no right to take the camera. He should at least pay this guy...or send his camera back. That was low.

question...why is it any story from CJ that gets posted here usually has these strong reactions and always make prince look like a prick?..if its not being a prick in a restaurant and now at a airport..there is always this bias of "look at his behavior"...i dont know if this is true or not but i was always taught when in doubt.. check the source..my .02$..

INCOGNITO>>>
i would have twisted your arm too...
thats a joke i love u sis...as for prince...i love him too but sad to say...he can be an asshole he was an ass to me also at paisley at the celebration 2000 i felt like going the hell home after getting dissed by his phoney ass...how dare him invite his only true supporters to a celebration of himself and act like the fuc&^*^ all mighty...oh well...gotta dig those 80's bootlegs tho LAWD !!!

JIMMYNUTHIN said:

This reminds me of the time when we lived in the USA, right near Minneapolis, and we used 2 go 2 Paisley Park for those Friday Night/Saturday morning jam sessions, once my husband had set off that airport type scanner thing that u have 2 walk through, before u get 2 the small Love4OneAnother Room(Anyone would think u were entering The White House!!! ), so my husband had 2 empty his pockets and they confiscated his small penknife that he always carried around with him!!(I always warn my husband about carrying things like that around with him everywhere! I have no idea why he does it, to b honest!! ) But the security promised they would give it back 2 him at the end of the party!! They never did!!!

Dauphin said:

Amen!

What if!! blah blah blah, this is just some old man! Prince is old and does not want his picture taken unless he grants his royal permission. I started to hear the old man in him when he started to blame record co., television, radio for him music failing. If he continued to have success on radio, mtv would the old man be complaining. Now ya-all have Prince living out the good old days playing old songs from 20 years ago and hanging with guys like Larry G. who know all about the bible!! Cause the guys so old he was prolly around when the bible was written!!! bawhawhawhaw

Realm, What a dumdass you are. Truely a dumbass.

Bull said:

Oh, yeah sure, well what if the camera was, blah blah blah one of those xray cameras that took naked pics, the kid bought it in the back of a comic book, eh, right?

Come on now, we all know the kid was going to go and sell this pic of Prince for like $1000 seeing that he is so famous and I bet you that a bunch of others were snapping pics up and trying to sell them up. The security guard was just being cool.

Ps last album was selling like hot! Last I checked, he was in the charts right up against all the pops stars of today. Anyone got that info?!

Just great he is not some burned out has been doing meet and greets for $1000! Yeah, its great he is out there putting heart and soul into the new music. All the new music that was released. I love that new stuff he just released and wow that 3cd set from the vault last year was amazing.

We even get to hear new stuff! and Whew how about that new video on MTV.

All you dunbasses don't know shit anyways. Why do you keep coming here?? Why aren't you listening to stuff like Bowie? He plays all old stuff, his new stuff rots..yeah right!

The great thing is the new Chocolate Invasion cd set, soon 2b released. Great that he cared enough to release this stuff for people who missed year 1 and 2.

Is that the type of whew hew stuff we should post here, Bull! Yeah, he is a great guy signed some autographs took some pics with the fans cause he cared. Cause is was cool.

At least his asshole bodyguard could have given the camera back? Of course it never really happened anyway, just like all the wet dreams you have about your idol Prince, right?

Bull said:

He should let the guard rough him up for the camera, not letgo, and sued.

Hope this isn't true. Too bad his ego always gets in the way. Don't see Paul McCartney walking with a bodyguard. He needs to come back to earth.

How can anyone really take anything CJ says so seriously? The woman's had some sort of ridiculous grudge against Prince for years. I'm not one to defend many of Prince's actions, since he can truly be a dick when he wants to, but I really have to question whether any of this is true. So many of the things CJ has reported over the years have proven to be complete bullshit. The woman still calls Prince "Symbolina"! I mean, is she a journalist, or is she a junior high school student?

Is this the women that he calls Billy Jack Bitch?

JediMaster said:

you'd hold a grudge too, if someone wrote a song calling you a bitch

Just as well they Prince don't arm these thugs...