Sienna Miller
Photo By Steve Eichner
SIENNA GOES TO COURT: Complaining about the paparazzi is part and parcel of most celebrities’ repertoire, but it seems Sienna Miller is hoping her gripe with one picture agency will make history. On Thursday, Miller lodged a harassment and privacy claim at London’s High Court against Big Pictures, a London-based picture agency, and its owner, Darryn Lyons. At an initial hearing, at which Miller wasn’t present, her lawyer David Sherborne called the agency’s photographers’ pursuit of Miller in recent months “a gross and intolerable violation of her rights.”
Miller’s lawyers, 5RB, said in a summary of the hearing that the actress is claiming injunctive relief and damages for “a campaign of harassment since June 2008.” The firm said Miller’s case is the first to use Britain’s 1997 Protection From Harassment Act against the paparazzi, adding Big Pictures’ photographers had both employed dangerous methods, such as driving through red lights, and engaged in intimidating or abusive behavior in the course of obtaining pictures of her. “Ms. Miller claims that the effect of this upon her has been substantial, seriously frightening her and causing her huge distress and anxiety,” the firm said. A spokesman for Big Pictures could not be reached for comment Friday, but British press reports said Lyons and the agency are contesting Miller’s claims. The case is expected to be heard in full early next year.
— Nina Jones
Miller’s lawyers, 5RB, said in a summary of the hearing that the actress is claiming injunctive relief and damages for “a campaign of harassment since June 2008.” The firm said Miller’s case is the first to use Britain’s 1997 Protection From Harassment Act against the paparazzi, adding Big Pictures’ photographers had both employed dangerous methods, such as driving through red lights, and engaged in intimidating or abusive behavior in the course of obtaining pictures of her. “Ms. Miller claims that the effect of this upon her has been substantial, seriously frightening her and causing her huge distress and anxiety,” the firm said. A spokesman for Big Pictures could not be reached for comment Friday, but British press reports said Lyons and the agency are contesting Miller’s claims. The case is expected to be heard in full early next year.
— Nina Jones
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