How paparazzi chased the Palins off of Maui

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When the Palin family cut short its Hawaii vacation, Sarah Palin said the reason they were leaving the Pacific paradise was because of the paparazzi who were stalking her family and annoying hotel guests. In a story that was picked up by the Honolulu Advertiser, Harry Eager of The Maui News reported Saturday:

In the superheated world of political blogging, that explanation was doubted, but Mike White, general manager of the Kaanapali Beach Hotel, said it was "absolutely correct" that obnoxious photographers chased the Palin family off Maui.

Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, apologized to other guests for the antics of the photographers. White said other guests began complaining about the photographers, who created turmoil for two days on the beach.

Local paparazzo Rick Leeks backs up the hotel manager's confirmation of what Gov. Palin had said. Leeks explains that after a trio of paparazzi snapped their photos of the Palins, the photographers deliberately made themselves obnoxious in an effort to drive the Palins away.

Why would they do such a thing after they had already gotten their photos? If the three paparazzi could force the Palins to leave the island, then no other paparazzi could get photographs of the Palin family. This made their photos more exclusive, allowing them to drive up the value of the images, which they sold to celebrity gossip site TMZ. "They didn't leave her alone," he said.

White said: "I found the Palins to be just wonderful people. Our hospitality staff was totally taken by them and by the attention that Todd and Sarah paid to the kids."

He said it was other guests who complained to his staff about the paparazzi.

Note that while it was the obnoxious paparazzi who chased the Palins off of the island, Todd and Sarah apologized to the hotel staff and the other guests. We recall that when arsonists tried to burn down the church the Palins attend in Alaska, Sarah Palin apologized to the pastor and the congregation. These actions speak volumes about the character of Todd and Sarah Palin.

- JP