Backlash is as much a part of celebrity as well-rehearsed stories for Leno and Letterman. Some spectators consider it the price of admission. If an attractive young man or woman wishes to make millions of dollars in the public eye, they say, he or she must expect that public eye to turn away from time to time — or even glare.

And so it is that everything becomes amplified beyond recognition. If a movie fails, the leading actress is buried by the press and on message boards. If she’s been the subject of unflattering tabloid stories, she can expect to land on Worst Dressed Lists or in Chelsea Handler’s quips. We can’t wait for the too-smug actor to get his comeuppance, or to be caught scratching himself on TMZ.

When momentum is in someone’s favor, we conveniently overlook flaws. When we wish to rip them down, no fissure is too small.

The problem is: The media often portray events as they didn’t happen, in order to fit the narrative their readers been instructed to follow.Robert Pattinson — like hundreds of other famous people — is hounded relentlessly by paparazzi. Surprisingly, just like everyone else, he doesn’t care for it.

Some celebs have handled their frustration with violence.

Others scream and carry on.

It’s not the best route to go, and it surrenders some of the moral high ground to the predatory photographers.

X17Online.com is pretending that Robert Pattinson made similar mistakes when pestered by paparazzi over the weekend. He supposedly “yells” at a photog after committing a “hit & run.” He got “pissy,” sneers the site.

It’s a total misrepresentation.

There’s no hitting and running. There’s no yelling. There’s no prima donna hissy fit. He barely even raises his voice.

Pattinson looks frustrated and exhausted, and he repeatedly — politely — asks the paps not to follow him. The outlet even provides video of the incident, and it shows Pattinson being completely civil.

You can even hear a photographer praising Pattinson as “such a nice guy.”

X17 asks viewers to ignore what they see in favor of a more dramatic, sensational confrontation. Consider that Pattinson is literally forced to pull off the California Pacific Highway to ask for some privacy and to ask nearby police officers (presumably) whether they can help. When the harassment begins, it’s still light outside. By the end, it’s dark. It’s ridiculous.

Yet X17 wants the takeaway message to be: If Pattinson can’t handle harassment, he shouldn’t be a celebrity. And if he does handle himself like a gentleman, just misrepresent events to make it look like he didn’t.

Shameful.

Source: Gossip Cop