Protecting Matthew McConaughey

What happened

A group of surfers allegedly attacked paparazzi in Malibu who were trying to videotape actor Matthew McConaughey surfing near Paradise Cove (watch the video on TMZ). About 13 young men surrounded the paparazzi, and said, "We'll fight for the beach. If you guys win, you can have the beach." Reportedly, they threw a camera into the ocean and assaulted the cameraman. (Los Angeles Times)

What the commentators said

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If the surfers really wanted to protect McConaughey, said the celebrity blog Hecklerspray, they should have left the paparazzi alone. Yes, paparazzi are "the biggest plague affecting celebrities today," but they also validate the "overinflated sense of self-worth" of celebrities, especially second-rate stars such as McConaughey. After all, he's merely an example of "what a surfer can become" with a few "dreadful" scripts and "some sort of baldness-reversing procedure."

The surfers say they just did what they had to do, said David Hauslaib on his gossip site Jossip, but the paparazzi have a job to do too. The incident will probably lead to a lawsuit. Another paparazzo, Josh Levine, is currently suing actor Woody Harrelson for $2.5 million, saying Harrelson assaulted him and broke his videocamera. But who's right in these situations?

That’s not the crucial question, said celebrity commentary site The Superficial. What I want to know is what is wrong with these guys—all of them. One of the surfers, in all seriousness, offered to draw a line in the sand, literally, and fight for hang-out rights. We all thought showdowns like that died with 1970s greaser movies, but apparently they're still alive and kicking in Malibu.