Media melee follows Britney’s Mexican meal

BURBANK, Calif. — A media frenzy broke out at the Acapulco Mexican restaurant across the street from the NBC lot (and Access Hollywood’s offices) Wednesday evening as Britney Spears had an early dinner with an unidentified friend.

When she arrived at around 6 p.m., Britney was filming the paparazzi with her own hand-held video camera.

When she left, after taking pictures with some teenage fans inside the restaurant, the paparazzi melee was out in full force.

AccessHollywood.com managing editor Jeremy Blacklow headed across the street to witness the scene.

“Access isn’t in the business of chasing Britney,” Blacklow said. “However, this was in our backyard. I’ve never particularly felt sorry for her in the past, but after witnessing the way she was treated, I’ve changed my mind. She seemed very sweet — to other restaurant patrons, to the restaurant staff, to her fans and to the paparazzi — but this roving pack that follows her everywhere seems to really just have gotten out of control.”

At one point, a paparazzo appeared to have tried to pull the camera off the shoulder of one of Access Hollywood’s camera operators. The paparazzo then ran away, jumped in a van and sped off after Britney’s car.