I think to myself that I definitely wouldn't have, and that I would have weather the storm of the press outside my house, and just focused on that great payday (everyday).
But from what I've heard, the paparazzi changes everything and it really is life-changing. So hard to say either way.
With millions of dollars, you can just get stuff delivered to you for a couple of weeks until the press sees something else shiny. I've been straight-up bedridden for longer than he lasted under the attention of the press, and there is no way it's more restrictive than that. The guy's choice was his to make, but I do not buy that he had no choice.
And yet, here we are a few weeks later, and he's in Rolling Stone magazine. The game hasn't been forgotten. He had the #1 game on the iTunes App Store charts, the same store where people now buy music by rock stars. I wouldn't dismiss the comparison too quickly.
What made his move puzzling wasn't that he didn't like the attention (I totally get that) but that it seemed obvious that pulling the app would make it worse, not better.
Maybe it was worse for a short time, but if the app was still available the craze might still be active, or not, you just can't be sure of that. By removing it he dictated his own terms.
But from what I've heard, the paparazzi changes everything and it really is life-changing. So hard to say either way.