X17 co-owner Brandy Navarre on paparazzi principles, and why she just might be Britney's best friend

Each day, the relationship between Britney Spears and the paparazzi grows more and more bizarre. X17, the largest photo agency in Los Angeles, is usually at the front of the pap pack, capturing Brit's lunacy with an unflinching, and often unflattering, lens.

Until recently the agency was able to get exclusive photos of the singer-cum-tabloid mainstay by having a number of photographers follow her every move. But the landscape changed when the pop star's life took yet another strange turn and Britney started hooking up with photographer Adnan Ghalib, from rival photo agency Finalpixx.

The competition for photos of Hollywood's It girls, and Britney in particular, is notoriously fierce, with reports of photo agencies hiring L.A. gang members to get the up-close money shots. Some seasoned photographers are even dropping out of the hunt, claiming the streets are just too dangerous.

Brandy Navarre, who co-owns X17 and X17Online with her husband, recently sat down with Susan Campos to explain the complicated relationship between Spears and the paparazzi, the increasingly high-stakes business of pap photography, her views on celebrity privacy, and how, ultimately, chasing Britney mainstreamed her company.


Click here to see five of X17's most notorious photos, and read Navarre's commentary.

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RADAR: Those pictures of Britney Spears shaving her head changed your business. You were suddenly working with the mainstream media.
BRANDY NAVARRE: The whole Britney episode certainly created a lot more outlets for us. CNN is now a regular client of ours. A few years ago they wouldn't have done it.

In a way, we're [Britney's] only friends at this point. The photographers are worried about her. They always say nice things and compliment her, because they want to boost her moraleThe way celebrities are covered has dramatically changed and now there are many more outlets for your pictures. How do you respond when the mainstream media is critical of the paparazzi and then they run your pictures on television?
It's a bit disingenuous, because these outlets are the very ones who are paying my bills. People are buying what we're selling. If the public weren't asking for it and CNN weren't providing it we wouldn't be in business. But the truth is, not that many people criticize us these days. Everyone is hooked on this stuff now. People used to hide magazines like Star and US Weekly beneath the New York Times. But no one feels it's necessary to hide anymore. I can talk with a 45-year-old lawyer or a 60-year-old doctor and they are better informed about celebrity culture than I am.

You always have a number of photographers following Britney. It's a 24-hour watch that, according to Blender magazine, is "a surveillance mode usually reserved for prisoners and suicides." Do you ever feel bad when you see the pictures? It's almost like you're providing a day-to-day diary of her personal breakdown.
Sure, you do start to feel for her. It may sound ridiculous, but I think of her almost like a friend. In a way, we're her only friends at this point. Which is kind of sad. The photographers are worried about her. When they have the video camera on her, they're always very friendly to her. They always say nice things and compliment her. They say nice things because they feel for her and they want to boost her morale.

It almost seems like you have a soft spot for Britney Spears.
I admit it, I do. She hasn't seen her children in a month. I don't understand it. There are crack mothers who are allowed to see their children. Why is she singled out?

Isn't it tragic to watch someone's life dissolve in front of you?
Unfortunately, at this point there's almost nothing private and personal as far as Britney is concerned. Too many of the people around her have revealed and recycled almost every single detail about her personal life. So much of it is lived in front of the cameras that she can't convincingly ask for privacy or a personal life anymore. That's not just because of us. It's because of her bodyguards, nannies, and assistants going and selling their stories to the tabloids and throwing out the window any confidentiality agreements they've signed.

Her relationship with the paparazzi has become bizarre. They pump her gas, help her with car troubles, or pick up her checks after she goes out to eat. And she was (or maybe still is) dating a paparazzo from another agency by the name of Adnan Ghalib. That must be a first.
I've never heard of another celebrity who would date a photographer. That Britney would date not just a photographer, but a paparazzo, is bizarre. The fact is, he was clearly taking advantage of her. Conning her into taking photos and having her take pictures while buying a pregnancy test isn't love. It's just pretty sleazy. Listen, we're taking her picture, too. We're also making money off Britney's story, but we aren't setting up shots of her or trying to have images misconstrued.