Harvey Levin, the attorney behind TMZ, is catching heat for publishing news confirming the death of Kobe Bryant and his teen daughter before law enforcement could even notify the family.
Now fans of the NBA legend have launched a petition calling for the cancellation of TMZ’s TV program.
A change.org petition titled “IT’S TIME FOR FOX TO CANCEL TMZ AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO KOBE…” reads:
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by WarnerMedia and carried by Fox Television Stations that reports on Celebrity and influencer news. TMZ has a history of harassing celebrities and crossing so many lines, but this time they went too far.
Basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a horrific helicopter crash, and TMZ LEAKED the news before the authorities were even able to notify the family. That means that Vanessa Bryant found out about the death of her husband and child through TMZ, tweets, or comments.
This is beyond not ok, and its time that Fox and Warner take away their platform. Sign the petition to get TMZ taken down once and for all!
View and sign the petition here.
We previously reported, the shocking news about Kobe Bryant’s death at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash on Sunday was first reported by the celebrity-gossip site.
Los Angeles authorities slammed TMZ for reporting the fatal accident before they could alert the victims’ families, according to insider.com.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva mentioned the website while during a press conference about the crash.
“There was wide speculation as to who their identities are; however, it would be entirely inappropriate right now to identify anyone by name, until the coroner has made the identification through their very deliberative process and until they’ve made notifications to next of kin,” Villanueva said.
“It would be extremely disrespectful to understand that your loved ones perished and you learned about it from TMZ,” he added. “That is just wholly inappropriate. So we’re not going to be going there.”
Los Angeles County Undersheriff Tim Murakami also posted slammed Harvey Levin’s webloid on Twitter.
“I am saddened that I was gathering facts as a media outlet reported Kobe had passed,” Murakami wrote. “I understand getting the scoop but please allow us time to make personal notifications to their loved ones. It’s very cold to hear of the loss via media Breaks my heart.”
Levin claims “Kobe’s people” gave him permission to post news of his sudden passing, but sports fans ain’t buying it.
“Kobe’s people are his wife, and I doubt she said it was ok, that soon,” wrote one Twitter user.
