Stalking is following or observing a person persistently and surreptitiously, sometimes done out of obsession or derangement. Stalking may involve the intent to acquire private information or objects. Common victims of stalking include celebrities, ex-husbands/wives and ex-boy/girlfriends, and teachers. In more extreme cases, stalking leads to threats or violence.

Examples are a fan stalking a celebrity, somebody stalking an ex-lover whom they want back, and other cases of non-reciprocal love.

The legality of the practice is defined differently under different jurisdictions; some define the act as it stands as illegal, while some only define stalking illegal once it becomes threatening or endangers the one being stalked.

Celebrities

Stalkers have been following celebrities around since the advent of yellow journalism. In some cases, the stalking behavior in question is harmless and does not go to extremes. In other cases, however, the celebrities being targeted have to leave their profession for many years while they build a new life (as was the case of Andrea Evans), or the celebrities being targeted by the stalker become the victim of violent attacks (some celebrities, like Theresa Saldana , have been able to live and tell the tale, while others, like Rebecca Schaeffer and John Lennon, did not).

Female celebrities

• Justine Bateman
• Halle Berry
• Sandra Bullock
• Belinda Carlisle
• Cher
• Sheryl Crow - confronted by Ambrose Kappos
• Sheena Easton
• Roberta Flack
• Jodie Foster - stalked by John Hinckley Jr.
• Sharon Gless
• Whitney Houston
• Janet Jackson
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - confronted by Ron Galella
• Nicole Kidman
• Avril Lavigne
• Madonna - confronted by Robert Hoskins who was shot but not killed by one of her bodyguards
• Barbara Mandrell - confronted by Edwin John Carlson
• Sarah McLachlan
• Anne Murray
• Olivia Newton-John - confronted by Michael Perry who camped behind her house and later murdered his family
• Gwyneth Paltrow
• Jeri Ryan
• Meg Ryan
• Theresa Saldana
• Rebecca Schaeffer - murdered by Robert Bardo
• Monica Seles - stabbed in back (but not killed) by fan of Steffi Graf
• Britney Spears
• Amber Tamblyn
• Tanya Tucker
• Vanessa Williams
• Kate Winslet
• Catherine Zeta-Jones

Male celebrities

• Scott Bakula - confronted by Tina Ledbetter
• Sonny Bono
• David Bowie
• Michael J. Fox - confronted by Tina Ledbetter
• Richard Gere
• Mel Gibson
• Michael Jackson
• John Lennon - murdered by Mark David Chapman
• David Letterman
• Brad Pitt
• Ronald Reagan - John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan to impress Jodie Foster
• Steven Spielberg - confronted by Jonathan Norman
• Gianni Versace - murdered by Andrew Cunanan

See also

• Erotomania

More celebrity stalking victims

WOMEN---Anna Kournikova, Anna Nicole Smith, Katerina Witt, Paula Abdul, Vanna White, Debbie Gibson, Toni Braxton, Gloria Estefan, Kelly Preston, Linda Ronstadt, Posh Spice, Chelsea Clinton

MEN---Andy Warhol (shot by Valeria Solanas), Axl Rose, Michael Landon, Chris Isaak, Jerry Lewis, Dennis Rodman, David Beckham

External links and references

• Benschop, Albert: Cyberstalking - Menaced on the internet. In: Sociosite - Peculiarities of Cyberspace.
• The Australian Anti-stalking and threat website
• Celebrity Justice