Over the last few weeks and after an incident involving their daughter, Bell and Shepard have taken to social media and the interview circuit to call for a boycott of the publications and websites that supply these intrusive photos and implicitly condone the behavior of the harassers. Following the lead of Entertainment Tonight and Just Jared, People’s editorial director Jess Cagle has drafted a letter outlining the magazine’s new policy regarding celebrity children. In the letter, Cagle is quick to stress that upon taking the job earlier this year, he told the staff, “People would not publish photos of celebs’ kids taken against their parents’ wishes, in print or online.”
Of course, there will still be sanctioned photos and “rare exceptions based on newsworthiness,” so it’s more of a guideline than a policy. Well, it’s more like a suggestion than a guideline. Look, People’s really going to try to think about maybe stopping. And that will just have to do.
