Agents slam "outrageous" stalking site

Agents of celebrities have labelled a new site which would enable stalking of stars as "outrageous".

Popular celebrity gossip site, Gawker.com's new "stalker map" enables interested parties to track the movements of celebrities in real time using the Google map, relying on tips from site members.

The site has horrified some people working in the entertainment industry, including agent Ken Sunshine, whose clients include Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck, who said he thought the Gawker Stalker site, launched yesterday, was "outrageous".

"It invites weirdos, if not dangerous weirdos, to physically come in contact with anybody they choose to expose on this site," Mr Sunshine said.

"Celebrities and everybody else have certain basic rights, particularly when there are children involved - children have got to be off limits. This is insanely intrusive and way over the top."

However, Gawker editor Jessica Coen has defended the map, saying that the new feature does not increase the risk to celebrities as the information used would be freely available through other channels anyway.

"If people are truly intent on doing some sort of sick harm to a certain celebrity that information for finding them is already out there," Ms Coen said.

"Anyone who says this is going to be the tipping point has clearly been living under a rock for the last couple of years."