“I think more and more people pay attention to actors’ private lives (and that) makes it difficult to suspend disbelief when you are going to watch their movie because really what you are thinking about is whatever you have read about them in a magazine rather than the performance they are giving,” Ben Affleck said recently while promoting his movie “Hollywoodland.” “The movies become incidental pit stops and commercial breaks in the soap opera of their life.”

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In an interview with National Public Radio, Affleck said that the tabloid hysteria surrounding “Bennifer” — the nickname applied to his now-kaput romance with Jennifer Lopez — reached a level that was deeply disturbing. “(Strangers) know details about a relationship,” he said. “You can't believe other people know those sort of things about somebody else. It's like stuff I don't know about good friends of mine.”

Some who make their living covering celebrities and their foibles argue that such protests often are disingenuous, since the celebrities often seek the very publicity they end up criticizing.

“I respect celebrities who are consistent about issues of privacy, but it’s very disheartening to sit down with a star who announces, ‘I’ve just decided to stop talking about my private life,’” says celebrity profiler Degen Pener, who has interviewed some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Suddenly, ‘My private life is sacred’
“It’s difficult when a celebrity who’s in the news for a high profile relationship or break-up says, ‘I just want to talk about my craft.’ … There are celebrities all too happy to talk about their private lives when everything is going well, but the minute things start to sour, you hear, ‘My private life is sacred.’”

Those hired to look out for celebrities’ interests say such ruses are only natural, given the increasing assault on their privacy.

Other stars are opting for tougher responses, hiring super-protective publicists to keep the press at bay and acting quickly to threaten and file lawsuits.

And when conventional methods fail to keep snoopers away, some may resort to extreme methods.

Security consultant Anthony Pellicano, known as “private investigator to the stars” as well as “thug to the stars,” reportedly was sometimes hired by celebrities who wanted to keep their troubles out of print.

Earlier this year, Pellicano was indicted on 110 charges, including wiretapping, witness tampering, destruction of evidence, and racketeering. Prosecutors contend that Pellicano illegally tapped the phones of Hollywood stars such as Sylvester Stallone and bribed police officers to run the names of more than 60 people, including comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon, through government databases.

First the cash, then the bat?
One former associate also claimed that Pellicano would attempt to buy tabloid reporters’ notes and tapes before the stories appeared in print. If that didn’t work, others said, he was not above threatening them, with one noting that he liked to brag that he kept a baseball bat in the trunk of his car.

Pellicano is currently jailed on different charges and scheduled to go on trial Feb. 13.

While not endorsing such tactics, power publicist Olim says it’s understandable that celebrities are lashing out against the unrelenting intrusions they are subjected to.

“More and more, I’m seeing stars who are refusing to be photographed in their homes, who absolutely do not want their children photographed,” she says.

And what of those who say that the loss of privacy is the price of fame?

“I’ve always resented this notion that people are fair game,” she counters. “They’re not public servants. They’re in the entertainment business. Movie stars should be allowed to have private lives. That doesn’t seem too much to ask, does it?”

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