I dont have the words to tell you how awesome our technical team is but I think theyre about the best technical team in television, Levin gushed, noting the TMZ team made the decision to work from home before any official orders came down to do so. Id tell them, Were not going to reveal our sources, because we want you to be a source for us again. YouTube. Harvey Levin, TMZ's founder, leaving an L.A. gym. Roskop recounted her evening with Sheen, which included tennis-ball-size hunks of cocaine and attempting to have sex. He described employees regularly gathering around computer monitors to watch footage of celebrities having sex. In the early aughts, he successfully pitched an idea to Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros.: a weekday newscast dedicated to celebrity court cases. Trini Lopez, the singer of "If I Had a Hammer" and an actor in "The Dirty Dozen," died on Aug. 11 from COVID-19. **An earlier version of this article misspelled Tim Weiners name. These are the people who call me with stuff, he said. The medium arrived in America in the late nineteenth century, when a weekly named Town Topics began publishing blind items, in a section called Saunterings. (In 1905, the sections editor attempted to blackmail Emily Posts husband after learning of his infidelity.) Harvey thought it was so unfair that these clubs would get away with it, just because they were selling to celebrities, Gillian Sheldon, the former TMZ publicist, told me. He shared insight on Britney Spears' conservatorship case, the all-new one-hour TMZ special: "TMZ Investigates UFOs The Pentagon Proof," and his love for Chicago. Schroeder said, Its not like you could pay a staffer twenty bucks to get a schedulethey are government employees who can be prosecuted for leaks., In L.A., numerous officials have lost their jobs for allegedly giving information to TMZ. Its much easier to understand paying for a Sheryl Crow concert. The Times piece quoted Waltzer, the former cameraman, saying, Britney is fluff, but the stories about Northern Trust and Madoff and politicians in D.C. really have an impact on the country. (TMZ reported that Kevin Bacon and Larry King had invested in Madoffs Ponzi scheme.) Roskop told me that she received a small sum for it. Henry Grimes, celebrated jazz bassist, died on April 15 at age 84, according to WGBO. (The first episodes of the game show, South of Wilshire, recently aired.) (Mee declined to comment. Levin attended. Russ Weakland, a former TMZ producer, told me that he sometimes negotiated payments with tipsters who were anxious about releasing sensitive information. Phil Valentine, Right-wing radio host, died after more than a month-long battle with COVID. Levin confided that hed been unable to sleep. LEVIN, HARVEY LYNN On Thursday, June 26, 2003, at INOVA Fairfax Hospital, HARVEY LYNN LEVIN, of Falls Church, VA. Beloved husband of the late Barbara M. Levin; dear father of Carl. Dasrath managed several of TMZs critical sources, including those inside Delta and the limo company. In the morning, Braun and Levin spoke again. Citron said, That was the moment the rest of the world discovered TMZ., Four months later, Michael Richards, the former Seinfeld star, was performing at a comedy club in L.A. when he singled out an African-American in the crowd: Fifty years ago, wed have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass. One of Levins deputies, Evan Rosenblum, got a call from a college friend in the middle of the night. She was 89. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. Levin had volunteered to stand in for him during Clevelands mock election. (The Web site is wholly owned by Warner Bros., but Levin is an executive producer of TMZs TV shows. Paratore had been contemplating a new Web site that could feature unused footage amassed by Extra, also a Telepictures production. Marriedwith Childrenstar Katey Sagalis hospitalized an undergoing treatment after being hit by a car. In October, 2011, Kim Kardashian, a Wasser client, filed to divorce Kris Humphries, the basketball player, after seventy-two days of marriage. (TMZ said that its employees are expected to obey the law. But theres nothing like selling celebrity fucking dirt. After Braun and Levin had their phone conversation, numerous flattering Bieber-related exclusives appeared on the site: a photograph of Bieber backstage during a commercial shoot; pictures of him getting a haircut; a video of him and his girlfriend Selena Gomez performing karaoke; a story about how he bought every single flower at a florists and sent the flowers to Gomezs house; video from a trip that Bieber took to Liverpool; and others, including a report of him watching Titanic one night, with Gomez, inside an otherwise vacant Staples Center. [2] He is the founder of celebrity news website TMZ, and the former host of OBJECTified, which aired on the Fox News Channel . But Levin taught us what else to look for, Angela Laughlin, one of the early hires at TMZ, said. That video just went everywhere, Levin said. She was 54. Harvey Levin, TMZs founder, leaving an L.A. gym. The next week, Stone confronted his student. Other hands went up. It was an auspicious start, and Web traffic soon soared to more than ten million unique visitors a month. The Extra-Terrestrial" and "The Color Purple". After guards responded to the incident in the lobby, several surveillance officers gathered and wondered aloud if a tape of Rice and Palmer could be sold to TMZthe Web site that, since its inception, in 2005, has taken a merciless approach to celebrity news. Levin claims to live by a code that precludes him from crossing certain lines, such as targeting minors or policing bedroom affairs. How TMZ gets the videos and photos that celebrities want to hide. Jack was 76. I use my law degree every five minutes, Levin has said. And if theres a cease-and-desist that comes after that, thats another story.. (The tours are managed by Andy Mauer, Levins chiropractor partner.) After hours of poring over casework, it was, he says, just like crack., Levin returned to California, to teach at the Whittier College law school. TMZ confirmed the death through one of Jacksons security guards and Jacksons father, Joe, and broke the news eighteen minutes after Jackson stopped breathing. When Levin appeared on The Howard Stern Show, in 2011, Stern said hed heard that TMZ was worth as much as four hundred million dollars. Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza who sought the Republican nomination for president in 2012, died July 30 from complications of the coronavirus. After a deal was made for the Bieber clip, Justin Kaplanthe former production associate who had received the limo lists at the gas stationwas sent to Levins house. The major media outlets publicly condemn Levin's practice of paying as much as six figures to his sleazy sources, but, as the magazine points out, he's landed stories like Mel Gibson's anti . Levin called the Northern Trust story the most important thing weve ever done, and commended his team for dealing with the financial crisis in terms that ordinary Americans could appreciate. Literally, that video made Kim.. In 2009, for example, he took the call that led to TMZs breaking the news that Chris Brown had physically assaulted Rihanna. The time stamp depicted the moment that the footage had been filedat 10:28 p.m.instead of the moment it had been shot, hours after the warrant was issued. It felt like he was set up, he told an audience at the National Press Club. The TMZ production banner was founded in 2005 by Harvey Levin, the former KCBS-TV Los Angeles correspondent, and the late Telepictures executive Jim Paratore as a division of Warner Bros . In October, 2014, TMZ received an e-mail that, under the subject heading Drake at Stadium Club in D.C., announced, I have the original footage. Josh Levine, TMZs first cameraman, told me that, once the site became successful, many publicists changed their strategy. Rice expressed regret, saying, Me and Janay wish we could take back thirty seconds of our life. What happened during those thirty seconds? Plus, Bob asks about Harvey's thermal cup situation He wrote on social media of his diagnosis on April 6, but he did not recover. searched for the culprits, TMZ continued publishing scoops about the incidents. Then, one day, a Telepictures executive suggested Thirty Mile Zone. It was an old movie-industry phrase, dating back to the mid-twentieth century, which designated the industrys boundaries in Los Angeles. Levin also disapproved of the way that publicists leveraged access to celebrities in order to control the media coverage of their clients. Waltzer told me that Levin prepared the quote for him. I recently spoke to TMZ's executive producer, Harvey Levin, about that fateful afternoon for a GossipCop.com story to coincide with the first anniversary of Jackson's death. Im into it.. As Bloomberg points out, Levin, an openly gay man based in Southern California, supports LGBT rights, animal cruelty prevention, and "various liberal causes" which doesn't fit with Trump MAGA. Soon afterward, Levin formed a local committee called Citizens for a Safe Society, and he lobbied the Los Angeles* city council for a gun-reform initiative that would require prospective gun buyers to complete a written competency test. Did this license lead Alex Murdaugh to commit fraud after fraudand then kill his wife and son? Grammy-winning country singer K.T. * It felt like bedroom police to me, he said at the time. . Sagal, 67, was hit on Thursday while crossing the street in Los Angeles; TMZreports that a car clipped her. When she sent him a gift basket, Levin refused that, too. Howard Kurtz, the host of Media Buzz, reminded his audience that TMZ had published memorable scoops, such as posting police records, in 2006, that exposed Mel Gibsons drunk-driving arrest and anti-Semitic rant. The former security supervisor told me that casino officials also identified which computer had been used to review the footage. The site needed a name, and Feed the Beast, Frenzie, and Buzz Feed were all considered, according to Rowes notes. Instead of taking a corner office, he placed his desk on a riser in the center of the newsroom, creating an editorial panopticon. On June 13, 1994, O. J. Simpsons ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found dead outside her Brentwood condominium. The vehicle's driver took time to help her call an ambulance. How much experience does Dr. Harvey Levin, MD have? In the early-morning hours of February 15, 2014, Ray Rice and his fiance, Janay Palmer, stepped into an elevator at the Revel hotel and casino, in Atlantic City. A source close to the situation told me that when Bieber was informed of the leak he broke down, confessing that he had made the video a while back, as a joke, and that he thought he had deleted it from his laptop, which was later stolen. Not because Im bowing to the gods at TMZ but because, when something from TMZ runs, it spreads so quickly that, if there is any inaccurate information, within five or ten minutes its been picked up by a hundred other outlets. (In 2009, TMZ published a black-and-white photograph supposedly showing John F. Kennedy sunbathing on the deck of a yacht, in the company of four topless women. By the end of the day, the Smoking Gun revealed that the photo had been lifted from the November, 1967, issue of Playboy, and showed a male model, not J.F.K.). Charley Pride, one of the first Black performers to break through in the country music scene, died of complications from COVID-19 on Dec. 12, just weeks after his final performance at the CMA Awards show back in November. He remembered filming Paris Hilton and her boyfriend at a movie theatre in Los Angeles in 2007; Hilton appeared surprised by Levines presence, even though, according to Levine, he was acting on a tip from Hiltons own publicist, Elliot Mintz. Burgers assistant, according to Levin, told him to quit trying. Then, Levin has said, he reached out to Harry Blackmun, who had written the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, and who had a contentious relationship with Burger. Levin is sixty-five. Most valuable was a shot of the bathtub, still filled with water, where paramedics discovered Houstons body. TMZ covered Blatts expenses for the day, and paid him a freelance-producers fee of around seven hundred and fifty dollars. In early 2007, he sent Gillian Sheldon there on a scouting mission. Sheldon, who was the publicist at Celebrity Justice, recalls, We were breaking news all the time, but we werent doing it on the show. Rather than unveiling scoops in the middle of the night, to meagre audiences, Levin and his reporters often took the best material to more established shows like Access Hollywood, or to CNN and Fox News. The Guardian, in a 2009 profile of Levin, referred to him as the high prince of sleaze. Alec Baldwin, who has been the subject of several harsh TMZ storiesincluding one, from 2007, in which the site posted a voice-mail recording of Baldwin calling his eleven-year-old daughter a rude, thoughtless little pigtold me, There was a time when my greatest wish was to stab Harvey Levin with a rusty implement and watch his entrails go running down my forearm, in some Macbethian stance. It was a pretty terrible show. Levin lost. Rice was cut by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the N.F.L. "Ellis Marsalis was a legend. Most read in Entertainment. Kim has hired disso-queen Laura Wasser, who has repped the likes of Britney Spears, Maria Shriver, Angelina Jolie, Ryan Reynolds, and Robyn Gibson, the accompanying story read. Harold Budd, ambient musician and composer for several Hollywood films, died from complications of the coronavirus, his manager said Dec. 8. The tip line also recorded a claim that a major pop star wears a fake booty in her music videos and employs a person who makes the fake butts., Many tipsters ask to be paid, and the site often complies. So then, for months, Harvey was, like, Blueberries! all the time.. into a crisis. . I mean, thats what youre supposed to do. Indeed, the site has built a deep network of sources, including entertainment lawyers, reality-television stars, adult-film brokers, and court officials, allowing Levin to knock down the walls that guard celebrity life. In February, 2009, a private bank, Northern Trust, which had just received $1.6 billion in federal bailout funds, hosted a golf tournament and party in the Los Angeles area. The Roskop stories boosted Blatts status at TMZ. Levin made some inquiries, and learned that Gibson had been pulled over for driving under the influence, and that he had called the arresting officer a motherfucker. Gibson also had launched into an anti-Semitic tirade, saying, Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world., Levin went to the Los Angeles County sheriffs department for confirmation. Im not putting the video up. Braun broke down in tears. It showed Shakur receiving oral sex. Walters wanted to see the video, so Blatt called his source, who lived in Oakland, and, a few hours later, the three of them met at a Kinkos in the Bay Area. He graduated from HOWARD UNIVERSITY in 1977. The video, which went viral, had the phrase TMZ SPORTS embossed in the centera branding practice known as bugging.. The former senior producer remembered Levin impetuously firing people. and "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," which later became a film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. He also spoofed Harvey Levin in the XXX . In February, 1987, to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, he set out to book a Supreme Court Justice. Ive sold aluminum siding. One day, Levin decided to go see the man, and he asked to borrow Rowes modest rental car, so that he wouldnt appear to be wealthy. Id have to talk people off cliffs, Weakland said. You get shut down all the time, and if somebody shuts the door youve got to find the way around the door. He said that he told his staff, Find twelve ways around the word no. After Levin finished, students crowded around him, asking for autographs and selfies. After a few more minutes of conversation, Bellino turned back to his table. In 2014, Taryn Hillin, a former TMZ writer, took legal action, alleging sexual discrimination and unlawful termination. Michael Jackson had died at the age of 50. These are the names of some notable figures from Hollywood and the media that we have lost. Grammy-winning country music singer Joe Diffie died March 29 due to complications from the coronavirus. This is the guy! We have to get him before he leaves! I cant tell you how many times I had to wait for a crew because Harvey convinced the dispatcher that he had the story of the year, every single day., After a few years, Levin quit and joined the CBS affiliate. It often aired late at night, and it struggled to find viewers. Blatt relayed the tip to TMZ, which confirmed the story and broke the news of Weintraubs death. Harvey Robert Levin [1] (born September 2, 1950) is an American television producer, legal analyst, celebrity reporter, and former lawyer. A former writer for TMZ told me that, for Levin, there was more to gain by sitting on the clip, and earning Biebers good will, than by running it and ruining his career. The issue is, did somebody else do something that might have gotten them in trouble? Without naming Mee, he likened him to Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers to the Times and other publications. *An earlier version of this article misstated where Levin lobbied the city council. (The site subsequently published a police photograph of Rihannas battered face.) He has pointed out that he frequently passes up the juiciest stuff. In 2008, he received photographs of Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer, smoking a bong, but elected not to publish them. 2023 Cond Nast. That afternoon, TMZ contacted Biebers manager, Scooter Braun, for comment. At the house, Andy Mauer gave Kaplan an envelope containing a check for about eighty thousand dollars. He ran a forklift at one point, Levin once said of Walters. did not seem especially determined to find out. At home, he turned on the TV and, to his surprise, saw Levin onscreen: I was flipping through the channels, and there was Harvey on High Rollersa game show hosted by Alex Trebek. We were going to be shopping in Beverly Hills, or whatever, so I said, If the bus is coming by. The document supplied both evidence of Gibsons bigotry and proof that the sheriffs department had attempted to cover it up. There was silence across the office. She was 67. In 2011, when Lohan went on trial for theft, TMZ repeatedly posted confidential information. American rock musician Alan Merrill, best known for co-writing and recording the original version of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," died March 29 of complications from the coronavirus. . They were at police precincts, doing real beat reporting, and getting things like surveillance video. In terms of photography, he said, they were coming up with things that we would never touch: cell-phone pictures, video grabs, things that wouldnt hold up in print. No, Bellino said. Share Overview Locations Ratings 284 Insurance About Me Locations 1 + slammed the door," TMZ's Harvey Levin told . ), Despite its belligerent reputation, TMZs coverage could be as fawning as other celebrity news: the day the Michael Richards video appeared, the site featured a picture of Britney Spears in fishnet stockings at a Las Vegas club, and one of Evangeline Lilly surfing in Hawaii. Many of them received free publicity on TMZ, and were referred to by cheeky nicknames. We actually really appreciate Harvey, Bellino said. Rice, the Ravens, and the N.F.L. In September, 2002, Levins new TV show, Celebrity Justice, premired. As the show's host and legal reporter, Levin introduces the cases to viewers, and then literally takes "The People's Court" to the . Levin, in the absence of video, generally tells his reporters to keep digging.) (On the day the Fox interview aired, TMZs home page featured an exclusive about Iggy Azalea, the Australian rapper, who was threatening to sue an adult-film company over the release of a sex tape.) With the rise of Hollywood, actors became gossips prime quarry; the magazine Confidential courted lawsuits by printing stories with titles like Mae Wests Open Door Policy., On the Fox News program, Kurtz asked Levin whether his willingness to buy material tarnished TMZs integrity. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 . A month later, Kennedy came to Los Angeles for an event at the Ambassador Hotel. One early hire was the daughter of Paris Hiltons attorney. Rapper Fred the Godson died after contracting coronavirus, a representative confirmed to Complex. Simmons was hospitalized for indigestion and said that he felt under the weather. Paratore discussed the idea with Jim Bankoff, an executive at America Online. Investigators at the Revel, trying to discover who had taken the video, ascertained its timing by scrutinizing the clips audio track; while the phone was recording the footage, a general request for chips to be refilled could be heard on the casino intercom. Broadway star Nick Cordero passed away on July 5 due to complications from coronavirus. (Deadspin published the messages.) Co-host Charles Latibeaudiere said Levin was in a pretty bad accident and hell need a little bit of time to heal. He did not offer details about the accident or Levins condition but said he was glad that Levin was wearing a helmet. Two L.A.P.D. Though Levin did not post explicit videos on TMZ, he was adept at translating the existence of a tape into news, Blatt said. She also sent Blatt text messages she had exchanged with Odom: My manager said she would personally pick you up in a unmarked car back to a closed off room so no one will see you or know youre here. (Odom replied, Im ready for that car! Ive sold cell phones. Currently, TMZ has three reporters stationed full-time at the courthouse; the Los Angeles Times has one court reporter. There is so much material. She handed me a laptop, and a disk, and I gave her the check. According to a former security supervisor at the Revel, nearly eighteen hundred cameras streamed video to a pair of monitoring rooms on the mezzanine floor. Some stars call ahead with their location, and then act surprised when the bus drives by. Charles Gregory, an Emmy-nominated hairstylist who frequently collaborated with Tyler Perry on his films and TV shows, died of complications from COVID-19 on April 8. You find associates and friends. Adam Schlesinger, Fountains of Wayne singer and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" contribute, died at the age of 52 from coronavirus complications on April 1. Another stood me up; she later apologized, saying, I was scared. Numerous former employees confessed to going on medication to manage workplace anxiety. Allen Daviau, a 5-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer, died April 15 at age 77. Levin's absence was discussed at the start of the nationally syndicated show, which pre-tapes and airs at 4 p.m. PT. He started celebrity-spotting bus tours in L.A. and New York. In November, 2014, according to a leaked e-mail, Jonathan Stinson, a publicist from Relevant Relations PR, submitted gossip about a former child star, backed up with legal/hospital documents left in a backpack of her former roommate. Mike Walters, TMZs news director, told his colleagues, We dont want to be involved with hospital records. (When reached by phone, Stinson claimed that he had been trying to sell the records on behalf of an acquaintance.). So who cares whether you pay money for it?. Due to his success in a multitude of areas involving media and law, Harvey has gone on to amass a net worth of $20 million! Los Angeles was, as he put it, a very Kevin Bacon-like city, and he wanted reporters who either had celebrity connections or showed an eagerness to build them. !), The waitress at Craigs placed a dish of jalapeo creamed corn on the table. Roy Horn, best known as half of the legendary Siegfried & Roy magic and animal act in Las Vegas, died on May 8 from complications due to coronavirus. His office accepts new patients. We want you to trust us., On February 19th, four days after the incident at the Revel, TMZ posted a fuzzy clip of Rice dragging Palmers limp body from the elevator. Blatt, citing a clause in his TMZ contracts that prohibits publicizing the terms with anyone other than an accountant, an attorney, or a judge, refrained from disclosing precise amounts that he has received, adding, Even if I could tell, I would probably undershoot.. Verified account Protected Tweets @; Suggested users He was 80. Ryan Linkof, an associate curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has noted that, in 1911, the Daily Mirror published a photo spread of Prime Minister H. H. Asquiths wife, Margot, which showed her looking pinched, pale, almost skeletal, and her dress crumpled. But TMZs crude look also emphasized that it prioritized speed over polish. Levins exposure on television has turned him into a celebrity himself. Alvin Ing, star of Broadway's "Flower Drum Song" and "Pacific Overture" died July 31, 2021 after battling COVID-19 for two weeks. The Society of Professional Journalists condemns the practice of paying sources, saying that it threatens to corrupt journalism. Levin was unapologetic. How does TMZ get this stuff? Kurtz asked. Five months after the Northern Trust story, Michael Jackson died. In 2012, the site published a video showing four marines in Afghanistan urinating on dead insurgents, which prompted a criminal investigation and disciplinary action against the marines. He went to the hotel, drank several Martinis at the bar, and eventually snapped a cell-phone photo of Stiviano in the lobby, while paparazziwho were prohibited from entering the hotelwaited outside. Harvey Levin 3d Report this post . He was 69. button. Harvey Weinstein remains hospitalized at New York's Bellevue Hospital after being convicted of rape in the third degree and committing a criminal sexual act in the first . . Producers knew that they werent real, but they played ball to get interviews with the stars. Most journalism about stars, he said, was built on a lie. He set out to infuse celebrity coverage with an investigative ethos by tracking legal filings and court cases. I played Burger against Blackmun, Levin recalled, in an interview with a local newspaper. officers were reprimanded in 2009 for purportedly selling TMZ the photograph of Rihannas bruised face; one was later fired. Linda Torres, known as Angela Raiola's friend on VH1's reality series "Big Ang" and "Mob Wives," died of COVID-19 on April 1, 2021, following breast cancer surgery. It was widely circulated. The piece, which was titled Bailout Bank Blows Millions Partying in L.A., sparked immediate condemnation of Northern Trust. The officer then called TMZ. He considered pursuing a Ph.D. but chose law school instead, at the University of Chicago. He had obtained and marketed a video of Paris Hilton, and one of Verne Troyer, the actor who played Mini-Me in the Austin Powers franchise. The company gained notoriety for its unflinching scoops, which included being the. Gossip sites have published paparazzi shots of Levin drinking iced coffee with his partner, Andy Mauer, a chiropractor. TMZ's brand has since expanded beyond its website with TMZ on TV, TMZ Live, TMZ Sports, and the TMZ Celebrity Tour. He used to say, to all of us, My fucking dogs are smarter than you! You become like a battered child. producer Joel Rogosin died of coronavirus at the MPTF nursing home. My technical team figured this out and didnt miss a beat. His father had run a liquor store in Reseda, and in Harveys youth it was subjected repeatedly to sting operations by police officers who suspected that minors were being allowed to buy alcohol. She was 76. Another was the son of the assistant sheriff in Orange CountyMike Walters, now the head of TMZs news desk. She didnt wanna say how she knew, but told me Hope Solos husband Jerramy Stevens was arrested in Manhattan beach 2 nights ago for DUI. (Solo is a top soccer player.)