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Official: Paparazzi pursuit of Justin Bieber 'tragedy waiting to happen'
The paparazzi pursuit of Justin Bieber along Los Angeles freeways is a "tragedy waiting to happen," a Los Angeles city councilman warned.
Dennis Zine, who has sponsored tougher punishment for photographers who break the law while staking celebrities, witnessed an example Friday of why the practice is so dangerous.
"I expected to see a crash," said Zine, a 33-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department and still a reserve officer. "The danger is of someone getting killed."
Bieber's Fisker Karma - a $100,000 electric sports car - looked like a silver bullet as it zoomed past Zine at 100 mph on U.S. 101 Friday morning, he said. "He was coming up behind me, making abrupt lane changes, not giving signals, cutting off cars."
Four or five other cars followed close behind, apparently carrying photographers stalking Bieber, he said. "They were close by, at a rapid speed, all of them."
"It's like a miracle that nothing happened," Zine said. "It was mere luck that no one got involved in a collision."
FULL STORYReports: Justin Bieber cited after freeway chase
Pop star Justin Bieber was cited for speeding on a Southern California freeway Friday after a trying to evade paparazzi in a high-speed chase, according to news reports from Los Angeles.
L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine, a former police officer, told CNN affiliate KABC-TV that he witnessed the incident on the South 101 Freeway in Studio City and reported it to the California Highway Patrol.
He said Bieber was traveling at about 100 mph in his Fisker Karma hybrid.
"It was like a rocket ship coming by, I'm not exaggerating when I say that," KABC quoted Zine as saying. "When it passed me, it had to be going close to 100 mph."
Zine told the Los Angeles Times that the chase between Bieber and the paparazzi spread across the freeway and even on to the shoulder.
"It was like slot cars, they were going so fast," the Times quoted Zine as saying. "It was a very dangerous driving situation. I figured someone was going to crash, so I called 911."
CHP spokesman Saul Gomez told Reuters that Bieber was cited for driving 80 mph in a 65 mph zone.
Stars shine at Billboard Music Awards
The Billboard Music Awards aired Sunday night on ABC with a bevy of top performances from music’s luminaries.
Rihanna. Taylor Swift. Lady Antebellum. Justin Bieber. All the big names won awards. But as it goes with awards shows, it was the performances that made the show.
Keith Urban turned in a spirited performance of "Long Hot Summer." Mary J Blige and Lil Wayne performed "Someone to Love." The Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj all took turns on the stage.
Beyonce, who took home the Billboard Millennium Award, rocked the place into a frenzy. The singer delighted fans with a fiery performance of her new single, “Who Run the World (Girls)" before receiving the award from her mother, Tina Knowles.
On Twitter Sunday night, the event’s goings-on were heavily and hilariously tweeted, with Lady Antebellum, Billboards, Black Eyed Peas and Fergie all being top Twitter topics.
In February the social networking site was posited by Twitter CEO Dick Costolo as a “second screen” alongside live TV shows, turning television broadcasts into interactive social networking affairs.
And Sunday night was no exception. The hilarious tweets were coming rapidly.
BobbyJamess tweeted, "That awkward moment when Tina Knowles is trending & Beyoncé isn't."
It was that kind of night.
Beyonce's performance Sunday capped an impressive week in which she debuted the long-form version of the lead single from her forthcoming album, "4," and released the cover art for the project.
“I first want to start off by thanking my foundation, my family," she said. "I like to thank my father for teaching me so much about the music industry ... I like to thank (former Destiny's Child members) Kelly and Michelle," she said.
Rihanna won top female artist, screaming “Rihanna Naveeeey," an endearing term for her legion of fans, into the mic in what passed for a short acceptance speech.
Gotta Watch: Miley as Bieber; wedding dress; tornado
Miley as Bieber - Miley Cyrus talking to herself got big laughs on "Saturday Night Live" this past weekend. Well, it was Miley as Justin Bieber talking to Vanessa Bayer as Miley Cyrus, actually.
The day's most popular stories
The five most popular stories on CNN.com in the past 24 hours, according to NewsPulse.
Reflections from SI's first swimsuit star: Babette Beatty, born in Germany and raised in Brazil and Canada, now lives in relative obscurity in the Oregon boondocks. But in 1964 in Sports Illustrated's very first swimsuit cover, she was a page-turner. "It was just another job," she said. "I never expected it to be big. It just didn't even enter my mind."
The United States vetoes U.N. resolution against Israel: The U.N. Security Resolution would have declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said that while the United States agrees about "the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity, we think it unwise for this council to attempt to resolve the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians."
Diver apparently killed by sharks: Peter Clarkson, a well-known abalone expert, was attacked by two sharks as he returned to the surface from a dive, according to the watersport site Swellnet. Divers in the shark-filled waters off South Australia often use shark cages, but Clarkson was not in a cage when he was attacked, police Senior Sgt. Mick Walsh told Adelaide Now.
Justin Bieber's views on abortion cause stir: The teenage hearthrob's opinion on abortion, in the latest issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, threatens to create a Belieber Backlash. "I really don't believe in abortion. I think [an embryo] is a human. It's like killing a baby. [In the case of rape], I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don't know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that."
4.3 quake shakes tiny, tremor-filled Arkansas town: Speaking of rolling stones ... . Since September, seismologists have recorded 700 temblors around the town of Guy, Arkansas. The Arkansas Geological Survey has recorded 50 quakes in and around Guy since Sunday. That includes Friday morning's 4.3 window-rattler and three other lesser quakes that occurred within 20 minutes of each other around 11 a.m.
Gotta Watch: Grammys 53.0
Paging Dr. Dre - If book club kept you from catching the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards last night, fret not. We've condensed the entire ceremony into two minutes. Just add water and get ready to Google Arcade Fire.
The Grammys is an opportunity for musicians who are known for dressing strange to take it up a notch, or twelve. This year's red carpet did not disappoint. Rihanna showed up as a pipe cleaner, Lady Gaga hatched with horns, Katy Perry flashed plumage and Black Eyed Peas rapper Taboo accessorized with a tasteful placement of his new self-help book. Did anyone tell these people they would have to sit for three hours?
The future of Bieber - So, chances are you spent a good portion of the evening and this morning cursing the gods of music for robbing Justin Bieber of music's greatest honor. Don't worry. Some of pop's biggest stars think he'll be just fine. Music elite weigh in on where Bieber fever might be in a decade.
Bieber beater - Before you send that email to the editor of Tiger Beat complaining about Bieber's highway robbery, take a look at the woman who did win "Best New Artist." Here name is Esperanza Spalding, and she might just have you singing a different tune.
On the Radar: Pat downs, gas prices and L.A. stories
Travel trouble - This week is brought to you by the letter T - which stands for turkey, travel and TSA. Backlash against the Transportation Security Administration's pat-downs is swelling as millions get ready to travel for the holiday. Some of the criticism: A North Carolina cancer survivor recalls having to show a screener her prosthetic breast. There's video on the Web of a screener patting down what appears to be a shirtless child while his frustrated father looks on.
While Republican Rep. John Mica of Florida, ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, insists the system must change, the TSA chief John Pistole says pat-downs are necessary to stop weapon-smuggling terrorists. One CNN.com reporter traveled more than 5,000 miles to see the situation from airport officials' point of view. And it wasn't pretty.
Gas prices up - If news about airport hassles makes you want to drive, know that there's hassle in that option, too. Gas prices are about 23 cents higher than this time last year, clocking a national average of $2.87 per gallon for self-serve unleaded gas, says publisher Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey.
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