The Worst Jobs in Rock & Roll
Pete Doherty’s lawyerMaking more court appearances than Roger Federer
Since his 2003 criminal debut for burgling then-bandmate Carl Barat’s apartment, the Babyshambles frontman has been arrested at least 20 times — including three times in one magical day in January 2006. Most of the busts have been for heroin and crack possession, with the odd assault charge thrown in. Doherty has shown up late to court, assaulted a reporter in front of the courthouse and allegedly given one judge the finger. “The hardest part is probably his unpredictability — whether he’ll turn up for conferences,” says Samantha Cohen, a criminal-defense lawyer in London. Despite Doherty’s string of broken pledges to clean up, his indefatigable lawyer, Sean Curran, has mostly kept him out of prison. “He has a fairly faultless record,” Cohen says. “Pete’s a complete moron if he isn’t grateful.”
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Snoop Dogg’s bodyguardImagine: Suge Knight is the least of your problems
Guarding high-profile rappers involves everything from chauffeuring to managing angry girlfriends: “What it boils down to is, you’re a babysitter,” says Byron Williams, who has looked after Eminem, Snoop and Lloyd Banks. “These so-called tough guys are in the club and they need you to take them to the restroom. Or when the heat goes down and they realize they’ve bit off more than they can chew, they want you to handle their beef.” Snoop’s bodyguards in particular have been magnets for trouble: One, McKinley Lee, stood trial for murder after shooting and killing a man Lee claimed had been harassing Snoop in 1993. Another caught a bullet when Snoop’s car was showered with gunfire. Then there are the alleged death threats against Snoop from ex-label boss Suge Knight. “I prefer not to work with rappers now,” Williams says. “They don’t want to pay, and there’s a good chance you’re going to have to shoot somebody.”
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