how would you say this in french? 'she gave the paparazzi a punch in the nose'?

de le nez -- is ungrammatical - must contract to : du nez , but DE is the wrong word here. You give a punch to the nose in French: à le nez -- which must contract to: au nez.

paparazzi (an Italian word), is also used in French. However, if you want to use photographer, then:

à le - becomes: au.

all together:

Elle a donné un coup de poing au nez au photographe (au paparazzi).

note: you can replace "donné un coup de poing ..." by using "frapper":

Elle a frappé le photographe au nez. (She hit the photographer in the nose). - although we don't know if this is one time or more. un coup de poing -- is definitely one punch. Although, in most cases, such precision is not necessary.

Elle a donné les paparazzi d'un poinçon dans le nez.