ROBERT SHAPIRO

Century Plaza Hotel

Beverly Hills, CA

November 16, 2000

Photo credit: Robert Shapiro

Meanwhile, back at the spectacular fundraiser for the Muhammad Ali Center, everyone had finished dinner and the entertainment was complete. It was time to mingle so I headed to the stage to see who I could find. 

I hadn’t gone far when I saw Mr. Robert Shapiro, Esq. I felt very comfortable starting a conversation with him because he was practically my roommate in the 90s. He only existed inside my TV, but Robert Shapiro and his Dream Team of lawyers, along with Marcia Clark, Chris Darden, and Judge Ito were with me day in and day out during the OJ trial. 

Mr. Shapiro was talking to some people. but when they walked away, I approached him. He turned to me and puffed up as he looked me up and down. I said, “Hi.” He smiled and I continued. ”This is kinda weird, but I have a celebrity photo album. It’s just a bunch of pictures of me taken by celebrities. Will you take my picture?”

“You want me to take one of you?” He asked. “Yeah,” I said with a smile. He paused and seemed to consider the idea from all angles. What is this girl up to? Where is she going with this? Is she crazy? Does she have people living inside her television? Does she have a permit for that? The questions were seemingly endless, but the question he landed on was, “How are you going to know I took it?” Fortunately, I was talking to a lawyer whose beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt line of thinking kicked in so he answered his own question.

He turned the camera around and took a photo of us together. At least that’s what he tried to do. Instead, he took a fascinating photo of my left ear and the party behind us. This has since become one of my favorite celebrity pictures but it was not what he intended, so he tried again. 

A fellow partier walked by and graciously said, “Oh here, I can take that,” as he reached for the camera. Robert quickly pulled back his arm and said, “No. I have to take it.” The guy looked perplexed and walked away slowly scratching his temple.

Mr. Shapiro concentrated on framing the second shot. He clicked the button and success! “That will be a good one,” he said. “Yeah, it will. Hey! I’ll send you a copy,” I offered. If he were still living inside my television I would already know his address, but times have changed, so I asked for his business card. He said, “Great! Yeah, I want to see that,” and reached into his wallet. I took the card, thanked him, and moved back into the mix. 

Thanks for the photos counselor. No further questions.

Photo credit: Robert Shapiro