(The Root) — It's easy to forget that superstars are human beings, especially when you're TMZ's Harvey Levin.
He went off on Twitter yesterday, bashing Kanye West over a recent encounter with TMZ paparazzi. A cameraman caught West at an airport, telling him that he was a big fan. West said, "I appreciate that, but don't talk. I don't want paparazzi to talk to me … Don't talk to anyone I know … Don't talk ever again." The cameraman continued to follow and speak with West, who reportedly broke the camera.
Levin, managing editor of the entertainment news site, addressed the incident on Twitter, saying, "Somebody as self-elevating as Kanye cannot possibly believe he is entitled to live in a privacy bubble … the level of arrogance is just breathtaking."
Is it arrogance, or simply an agitated request to be left alone? Should celebrities be entitled to the "privacy bubble" Levin tweeted about, or should they accept that as superstars, camera lenses and flashing bulbs come with the package?
There has to be some happy medium in there somewhere. Demanding constant public access to people is dehumanizing, and, for lack of a better term, gross; it seems that to people like Levin, celebs like West are just public property. Check out his rant below.
Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist and blogger from Louisville, Ky.