Current and former employees speak out about how the celeb gossip site has changed
June 27, 2017
After the release of the infamous Access Hollywood video where Trump was caught bragging about sexual assault, Trump struggled to generate positive coverage. One notable exception: TMZ.
The site, best known for celebrity gossip and interviews, landed an “exclusive” from former Miss Teen USA Katie Blair. In an edited two-and-a-half minute video shot from the front seat of a car, Blair says that she “never had a bad experience with him” and “has a great deal of respect for him.” Blair went on to describe, in the words of TMZ, “why Trump couldn’t have done many of the things some other pageant contestants have accused him of doing.” She concluded the video by saying she would vote for Trump.
Trump’s accusers, on the other hand, got harsher treatment. TMZ highlighted how one woman, Jessica Drake, “might’ve pulled off the ultimate publicity stunt — announcing an online sex shop 1 day before accusing The Donald.” The story wasn’t exactly true, Drake’s lawyer later made clear in an email to TMZ, but still served as an effective vehicle to discredit her as a sexual deviant and profiteer.
Another “exclusive” on TMZ reported that Bill Clinton made “trashy, disparaging remarks about women during golf games” with Trump. According to the report, Trump was considering bringing this up in the next presidential debate. TMZ cited “sources familiar with the situation.” (Trump didn’t end up bringing up Clinton’s alleged comments during the debate.)
A former TMZ employee, who spoke to ThinkProgress on the condition of anonymity, was watching this unfold — and praying for it to end. “In the weeks leading up to the election, it was all Trump all the time… and it was gross.”
But after months of fawning Trump coverage that put the site’s creator, Harvey Levin, at odds with its young, liberal, Los Angeles-area staff, many saw Election Day as the solution.
“In the back of my mind the entire time I was like, ‘All right, you know, come November this will all be over, we won’t have to think about this anymore, we can get back to normal business,” the former TMZ staffer told ThinkProgress.
Then the results came in.
“I felt like I had blood on my hands.”
The morning after the election, Levin, who sits on a raised platform in the center of an open newsroom, got a call. It was Trump. Levin “went into his big sort of conference room right behind my desk,” the former staffer told ThinkProgress, “I don’t really know what they were talking about, but I heard some laughter.”
Trump was the ideal vehicle for TMZ to break into political coverage. A reality TV host and a creature of celebrity culture pursues the most powerful position in the world — all while dishing out TMZ-friendly sound bites on a daily basis.
As Trump has risen, TMZ has quietly emerged as, arguably, the most important pro-Trump outlet in America. Fox News is the largest and best known, but its audience is older and already inclined to support Trump. Breitbart is the most aggressive and strident, but its connection to white nationalism limits its appeal. TMZ attracts a large and diverse audience — precisely the folks Trump needed to reach to stitch together a winning coalition.
Stories on TMZ not only gain a wide audience online but also appear on two nationally syndicated daily television shows (TMZ and TMZ Live) that, in most markets, are aired multiple times each day.
‘Trump is calling you’
One person who understands the importance of TMZ is Donald Trump.
In April 2016, TMZ interviewed Trump on the red carpet and asked him what TV shows he’s watching. “Only TMZ. Only Harvey. That’s all I want to watch,” Trump said with a grin.
In the weeks after taking office, Trump did not grant many one-on-one interviews with reporters. But on March 7, Harvey Levin met with Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Levin didn’t conduct an interview but “were discussing future opportunities.”
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