Yesterday's New York University panel about celebrity gossip and its players, sponsored by The Atlantic magazine and aptly titled "The Britney Show," brought together heavyweights like Page Six's Richard Johnson, Star's Bonnie Fuller, and X17's Brandy and François Navarre, who were kind enough to leave their six million dollar Pacific Palisades home to hang in the city.

Johnson shot himself in the foot when he called celebrity blogs "parasites," accusing them of not "generat[ing] their own news stories," which is amusing since Page Six wouldn't get through the day without lifting items from many of these bottom-feeding blogs, and the brand's own effort at competing with them failed after just three months.

And the always quotable Brandy Navarre, who is building a cache of Miley Cyrus photos in the hopes she becomes the next trainwreck poptart, admits her agency is "trying to get the shots before they go into rehab."

And that's when her God complex shines through: "Mr. Navarre suggested that a pack of paparazzi may have been able to prevent John Lennon's murder in 1980; Ms. Navarre said photos of partying starlets have sometimes spurred their families to get professional help," reports AdAge.

And the little matter of X17's own photogs allegedly brutally assaulting individuals to within an inch of their life? Well, so long as they're not celebrities, preventing their murders isn't really the Navarres' concern.

The sordid tale of paparazzi agency X17 continues this week with a lawsuit filed against it by photographer Alison Silva (the man pictured), who claims that on March 5, three X17 operatives beat the crap out of him after he managed to take the lead in chasing Britney Spears.

Silva is suing for unspecified damages on a whole list of charges, including battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotion distress, negligence, negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention of unfit employees. (See the court documents here; PDF.)

The photo evidence, his attorney says, speaks for itself.

The allegations, which surfaced on HollywoodBubble.com, detail the story: "Silva was severely beaten by three X17 paparazzi following a Britney Spears chase because he had the top spot behind her vehicle. Once the confrontation happened, we hear three paparazzi knocked him out and continued to kick him while on the ground, pressing his head against the asphalt, breaking his nose and causing head injuries. He was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. A police investigation is currently underway."

"Three witnesses called 911, and Silva was taken by ambulance to the emergency room with a police escort, according to the police report," says MTV. "One of the witnesses told police officers that he heard one of the attackers say, 'Let's go f— him up, there are 10 of us here,' saw one of the attackers go get a metal tube from his car for that purpose, and heard another attacker say, 'Don't kill him! Don't kill him!', according to the report."

Not that X17 owners Brandy (pictured) and François Navarre are too concerned over Silva's well-being, or their own culpability in the assault. Since X17's photographers are all freelancers, or independent contractors, the millionaire paparazzi twosome behind the agency believe themselves to be completely off the hook. They initially refused to comment to MTV on the matter, and then, when prompted about the police investigation, Brandy said, "I don't think the suit against us will hold up." Added François: "They give me their pictures but whatever they do on their own is their own business." (The Navarres and their attorney John Tehranian have not responded to request for comment.)

And "their own business" could include knowingly breaking the law. In an interview with The Atlantic that the Navarres also participated in, one of X17's paparazzi insisted, "To be a pap, you have to be ready to do anything, legal or illegal."

Indeed. The three men accused are said to be turning themselves into police custody today.

Brandy and François Navarre would make a lovely Hollywood "It" couple, if only they weren't the ones behind paparazzi agency X17, trafficking celebrity schlop to the highest bidder. Brandy, aka "Kelly", and François, aka "Regis" (they use pseudonyms because they once had dreams of doing something legitimate with their lives) are the subjects of the much ballyhooed issue of The Atlantic that has Britney Spears on the cover.

With their five million dollar Pacific Palisades home (they're neighbors with Adam Sandler, who they also tail), Porche Cayenne, and $80,000 from a single photo sale, it's clear who's profiting from Ms. Spears' troubles. Admitting to working with Sam Lufti to target Britney Spears, or Michael Lohan to go after Lindsay, at least one rival made the argument to us that this twosome is responsible for tearing more families apart than Dr. Phil is responsible for bringing together.

Even the staffers working for X17's website recognize how crude their employers are; they refuse to post items under their real names, fearing they'll never get another job in the future. And favorite-playing Brandy shamelessly admits to outright lying about the celebrities she covers: "We’ll put up a picture that’s so obviously negative and we just write something so completely ignorant of the focus of the picture and let the commenters online take care of it." Husband François is just as pleased with his misdeeds: "I don’t want to say anything, but in a way, X17 put three stars into rehab, if not in jail, this year." How surprising is it, then, to learn they met at the funeral of Frank Sinatra? They weren't invited guests; they were staking it out.

And don't even start on the photographers, who willingly admit to being prepared to break the law. One paparazzo, Felix, says, "To be a pap, you have to be ready to do anything, legal or illegal." That's quite the business model.

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Brandy Navarre, the dealer of paparazzi pics, chats with Radar about how her agency X17 doesn't just stalk Britney Spears, but acts as her best friend: "Sure, you do start to feel for her. It may sound ridiculous, but I think of her almost like a friend. In a way, we're her only friends at this point. Which is kind of sad. The photographers are worried about her. When they have the video camera on her, they're always very friendly to her. They always say nice things and compliment her. They say nice things because they feel for her and they want to boost her morale." This is the same person who denies she has a financial deal with Britney, hires less-than-professional photographers, and whose lensmen have such questionable driving capabilities other agencies claim they've been driven off the road.

But are there some lines she won't cross? Maybe! There are some photos she absolutely refuses to publish.

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PAPA-NAZIS It's cute watching Brandy Navarre's beleaguered photo agency X17 deny claims they pay Britney Spears for access. Maybe they'll be more forthright with their finances if the inquiry into their books that we've been hearing rumors about comes to fruition. [LAT]

Perez Hilton is fighting back against at least one paparazzi agency's claims of copyright infringement with a lawsuit of his own. Perez, aka Mario Lavandeira, yesterday filed an unfair competition suit against pap agency X17, claiming the husband-and-wife team (that would be Brandy and Francois Navarre) behind the site are using "illegal and unethical business practices" – that is, hiring undocumented workers to snap pics of celebs – that unfairly give them an advantage in the gossip blogging business. X17, of course, started its own "copycat blog" (as Perez's lawsuit claims) several months ago, where their "unlawful business practices" give them an (illegal?) leg up.

Perez, who just saw his website go offline briefly after his webhost dropped him, also appears to be the first to make one particular claim in his filings: that X17 "employ[s] photographers with criminal backgrounds and/or gang affiliations."

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The paparazzi agency X17 is notorious for a few things. Among them: hiring ex-gang members as photogs, owners Brandy and Francois Navarre getting rich off an under-compensated staff, and going after celebrity bloggers who they accuse of "stealing" their images. Funny, 'cause now X17 is the one being accused of stealing photos.

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