Stewart scandal a paparazzo's dream - Vancouver Sun

At first, the paparazzo didn't recognize the middle-aged man who slipped discreetly into Kristen Stewart's Mini Cooper. All he knew was that the guy wasn't her boy-friend, Robert Pattinson.

But as Stewart and her passenger approached Pacific View Trail, it became clear that they were more than friends when the pair started pawing each other like teenagers in the Twilight star's car.

The photographer started snapping images and called his agency, FameFlyNet Pictures, to request backup. Soon, three additional shutterbugs were also trailing the couple.

It wasn't until the photographers uploaded their photos back at the office that they realized just what a sensational scoop they had uncovered. After pulling up some pictures from the premiere of Snow White and the Hunts-man, it became clear that Stewart's partner was Rupert Sanders, 41, who had directed the 22-year-old in the adaptation of the fairy tale.

"That was when we realized, 'Oh, my God, she's not just cheating on Rob - this guy is married and has kids,' " said Scott Cosman, the owner of FameFlyNet.

The Stewart-Sanders scandal seized the attention of the public and Hollywood for a number of reasons: the unambiguous photographic evidence (which quickly landed in US Weekly); the brazen nature of the lapse, given Stewart's heretofore strongly guarded, cautious public persona; and the questions the tryst cast over the upcoming Twilight finale and plans for a Snow White sequel.

Stewart has been a tabloid staple since the Twilight series skyrocketed her and Pattinson to fame in 2008.

For years she has taken pains to guard her private life - rarely even acknowledging her four-year relationship with Pattinson.

Both the actress and the director issued public apologies within hours. Stew-art's statement was notable for its intensely personal nature: "I love him, I love him, I'm so sorry."

The apologies elicited both empathy and cynicism, with skeptics calling them a calculated effort to minimize any career ramifications. In November, the final entry in the Twilight series (Breaking Dawn - Part 2) will hit theatres, and both Stewart and Pattinson will have to promote it worldwide.

Perhaps more concerning for Stewart are the questions that now arise over Universal Pictures' planned Snow White sequel. (For Sanders, the stakes are also high: Snow White was his feature debut as a director.)

Cosman declined to say how much his company received for the images, and the magazine would not say whether it paid the agency.

But Melanie Bromley, a former West Coast bureau chief for US Weekly, estimated that the publication likely spent about $250,000 for the images.

According to Bromley, US Weekly likely informed Stewart's and Sanders' publicists about the story on July 23, before it was posted online the next day. "Usually, you go to the reps and they'll say, 'If you don't run those pictures, I'll give you this scoop instead,' " said Bromley.

"But in this case, there was nothing the reps could barter."