What's With the Nude Paparazzo in the L.A. Times?

Here's a cache of the L.A. Times Ministry of Gossip blog post (since taken down) featuring Jennifer Aniston... and a naked photographer in the background. And here's what it looks like now, with replacement photo.

WHAT. My pals over at Newsweek/The Daily Beast -- Kate Aurthur, Jace Lacob and Maria Elena Fernandez -- had a field day with this pic this afternoon, and their litany of tweets were likely what led to the Ministry of Gossip taking the pic down. (Read Jace's take here.)

Turns out it's not a new occurrence. The New York Post identifies the photographer as Holly Van Voast, who frequently does this naked-photographer-on-the-street thing as a bit of performance art. But clearly someone at Getty Images, which took this photo, didn't examine it closely before sending it out... and sites like the LAT didn't notice Van Voast either. Strange stuff.

Los Angeles mag staffer: Sorry, Photogs, I'm Not Abbie Cornish

This is pretty amusing: Los Angeles magazine staffer Caroline Cagney grabbed a coffee the other morning at the Starbucks in Larchmont Village.

A few hours later, a photo of Caroline walking down Larchmont appeared in a gallery of celebrity photos. Why? Apparently the paparazzi thought they were taking shots of actress Abbie Cornish. Nope.

Caroline took it all in stride -- even though it's kinda creepy when you think about it. She writes:

I’m headed back to Starbucks in hopes of fooling the photogs again, this time wearing fierce undies and some bubble wrap. I can channel Lady Gaga.

Quote of the Day: Police Chief Bratton Outs Lindsay Lohan

KNBC caught up with LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, who explained why he thinks a city ordinance controlling the movement of paparazzi is unnecessary:

"If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody, thank god; and, evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don't seem to have much of an issue."

Bratton interrupted his workout -- he was still sweaty on camera -- because, he told the station, an earlier KNBC report with Councilman Dennis Zine (who's pushing the new rules) pissed him off.