Latest tourist activity: Be a paparazzo for a day

It used to be that tourists visiting Los Angeles peeked into hip and trendy bars and restaurants in hopes of spotting a celebrity.

Now tourists can pay to hang out with  professional celebrity spotters -- as a member of the paparazzi.

A Los Angeles company that takes visitors on running tours of Hollywood and Beverly Hills to spot celebrities has added a tour led by paparazzo Rick Mendoza.

Off 'N Running Tours, a business that takes joggers to celebrity-rich spots like the Ivy restaurant and Rodeo Drive, added "Rolling With the Paparazzi" tours this week.

For $150 each, up to two people can hang out for three hours with Mendoza, a professional celebrity photographer who is known for suing singer Britney Spears, accusing her of driving over his foot in 2007. Spears reportedly settled the suit with Mendoza last year.

-- Hugo Martin

Photo: A car carrying singer Britney Spears is mobbed by paparazzi after a custody hearing in 2007. Credit: Los Angeles Times

 

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