Image Management of the Stars

The Wall Street Journal recently noted an interesting new trend among the stars – fake paparazzi photos. You’ve probably seen the images of Britney Spears’ bulging belly or a half-asleep Julia Roberts before makeup on the celebrity rags while waiting on line at the supermarket. But the WSJ notes how many stars are effectively casting themselves in a more flattering light:

Now many stars including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Jessica Simpson are fighting back. They are hiring their own photographers to capture supposedly private rendezvous, tipping off reporters to their whereabouts and developing relationships of mutual back-scratching with magazine editors.

So is this a deceptive practice among the stars who stage the photos and the magazines that knowingly publish them without telling readers, or a justified strike back against the paparazzi? Or is it just great image management? You decide.