Atlanta, GA 12/3/2010 10:28:54 PM
Nicole Richie is a "protective" mother.
The socialite - who has two children, two-year-old
Harlow and 14-month-old Sparrow, with Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden
- recently made an out of court settlement to ban photographer Fabricio
Luis Mariotto from going near her family for five years and insists she
would do anything to satisfy her maternal instinct to shield her loved
ones from harm.
She told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres in an episode due to air in the
US on Monday (06.12.10): "I don't want to prevent anyone from making a
living, but at the end of the day, we all have to follow certain
guidelines and we all have to answer to somebody.
"At the end of the day, as a mother, I have to protect my children.
It's instinctual, right or wrong, you have to protect your children.
"Like I said, there are certain guidelines for everyone. For you, for
me, for everyone. And it has to be the same for everyone. We all have
to be safe."
Nicole took action against the photographer after accusing him of
acting in a "predatory" manner and waiting outside Harlow's school,
though Mariotto denied knowing what the Los Angeles building was.
He said: "When I realised it was a school, I left."
Under the terms of the settlement, it is believed Mariotto agreed to
sign a document drawn up by lawyers to guarantee he will stay away from
Nicole and her family for a five-year period.
In return, the 29-year-old star is to drop her prior court request for a permanent restraining order against the paparazzo.
