Mischa Barton has kickstarted a bitter war of words with a paparazzo who snapped her sunbathing topless in Australia.

Barton, 22, is furious images taken by Jamie Fawcett have appeared in an Australian magazine and online. Several snaps show her topless and with cellulite on her thighs.

And the actress has accused Fawcett of disrupting her vacation with her mother Nuala on Hamilton Island, off Australia's East Coast.

She says: "He's a ridiculous human being. I've never abhorred anyone more. I was so angry, I went up to him and said how disappointed I was with his behaviour. He apologised but he was very insincere."

But Fawcett claims he warned Barton about stripping off before he had even captured her on film - and insists she could have found a private spot to seek an all-over tan.
He tells the Sydney Daily Telegraph: "We spoke to each other on the island, and that's when I showed her my camera and I hadn't taken any shots of her topless.

"I did warn her it was a public place, and if she wanted privacy she shouldn't be there.

"I'm not a perv, and I didn't intentionally mean to embarrass her. I don't just set out and start my day thinking I want to get any celebrity topless."

Barton isn't the first celebrity to clash with Fawcett; in 2005 he was accused by a newspaper of planting listening devices in Nicole Kidman's Sydney home.

In February this year he lost a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper, after Kidman told a court she feared for her life after being pursued by him - and was forced to employ round-the-clock security for her and her family as a result.

Moral of the story, hit the gym, keep your top on in public and never, ever trust your friendly neighborhood paparazzi.

Source: irelandonline, picture: Barcroft Media

I love the collection of mugshots that Hollywood is providing this year. It's been a good year for DUI's, hopefully she's the last one of the year. Mischa was arrested late Wednesday night in Hollywood for allegedly driving under the influence, possession of illegal narcotics (marijuana) and driving without a valid license.

Mischa was arrested and handcuffed after she was pulled over while driving her white Range Rover in West Hollywood at about 2.45am.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department revealed she was seen “straddling two lanes of traffic and failed to signal when making a turn”.

Police say officers “determined that she was an unlicensed driver and was driving while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage”.

Mischa was held in police custody for seven hours on $10,000 bail, until she was finally released.

Her Irish mother came to retrieve her, who doesn't appear to have the same gleeful sympathy for her daughter as say Kathy Hilton. It looks like Mischa may be in for some trouble when she gets home.


"Her arrest was completed without incident," Deputy Hugo Macias of the L.A. County Sheriff Department tells OK!. "She was very cooperative."

You’ve got three big movies coming out this year. Are you excited to be back in the limelight, or is it daunting?
I’m happy that I’ve been working constantly since The O.C., and that my career has been going the way I want it. As an actor, all I wanted was creative freedom—to be able to pick and choose movies. I couldn’t be happier.

Is it true you were discovered when you performed a monologue about turtles at summer camp?
That’s how it happened. I remember going to camp with my older sister, who completely ditched me because she was 16 and I was eight and I was uncool to have around. I ended up doing all these monologues, and it paid off, because some agent came up to my mom and said I should try acting.

FOR MORE OF HER INTERVIEW AND HOT PHOTOS, CHECK OUT THE JANUARY ISSUE OF MAXIM ON NEWSSTANDS DECEMBER 18!

They'll be many more popping up over the past few weeks.