PHOTO SCANDAL: A photographer has hit back after Hollywood starlet Mischa Barton called him 'a ridiculous human being'.
An Australian photographer who took topless photos of Mischa Barton has hit back after the Hollywood starlet called the snapper a "ridiculous human being".
"I've never abhorred anyone more," Barton was reported as saying after Sydney-based paparazzo Jamie Fawcett snapped Barton sunbathing topless on Hamilton Island.
Barton was holidaying after appearing at the recent MTV Australia Awards.
"We went out from Hamilton to a tiny island to relax in the sun and all of a sudden Jamie Fawcett jumped out of a bush with a massive camera lens and took photos of me," Barton told the Sydney Morning Herald.
But Fawcett denied jumping out of a bush and claims he warned Barton she could be photographed.
"She was sunbaking topless on a balcony in full view of everybody," Fawcett told NineMSN.com.au.
"I was coming back in the boat around the Whitsunday Passage … where hundreds of boats go through every day. She was in broad public view on the balcony of the beach house," Fawcett said.
"There was no trespassing, nothing like that. Why wouldn't you take those photographs? As a photo journalist, you have to."
The pair were seen having a heated conversation at Hamilton Island airport, when the pair were booked on the same flight.
"I actually went up to get my bags, (and) she said 'How could you do this to me? Can't you get a job, can't you be a real photographer?'
"I didn't respond, I just walked away," Fawcett said. "She was pissed."
The photos have caused more embarrassment for Barton after British tabloid The Daily Mail poked fun at cellulite on the star's legs.
"(She) appears to have some issues with cellulite, as the back of her thighs look very dimpled, despite her youth," The Mail said.