<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how a typical morning unfolds in the buzzy newsroom<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s 7:30 a.m. at TMZ, and its leader, entertainment titan Harvey Levin, is holding court \u2014 literally. He stands atop a lectern perched above his buzzy newsroom sipping from a sherbet-colored water tumbler as producers try to persuade him to consider their<\/em> story, arguing ferociously that what they had been chasing in the darkest hours should be featured on TMZ\u2019s top-rated Fox show that night. Pitches are barked \u2014Howard Stern is back, or is he; Cardi B is running around in disguise; there\u2019s an update on the ball-snatching \u201cPhillies Karen\u201d \u2014 and debated. All of it is filmed as b-roll for TMZ\u2019s sprawling network of online and television entertainment.<\/p>\n Levin is 75 but doesn\u2019t look it. His wiry frame is roped with muscle from daily workouts at the gym. For a guy who gets up at three in the morning and is usually the first one to arrive at his empire\u2019s massive headquarters, he still vibrates with the same frenetic energy as the hungry young journalists assembled under him. \u201cI saw a great murder on Dateline<\/em>,\u201d Levin announces to the bullpen, prompting a question from the crew: \u201cDid the wife do it?\u201d Levin laughs. \u201cNo, the ex-wife.\u201d<\/p>\n On this September morning, TMZ\u2019s most recognizable celebrity-watchers who have become celebrities themselves, old-timers like Charles Latibeaudiere and Shevonne Sullivan and Charlie Neff , along with some of the newer faces, Courtney Doucette and executive producer of TMZ Sports Michael Babcock as well as a slew of others, banter heatedly about the day\u2019s show, kind of like a family at a boozy holiday party. Even the show\u2019s general counsel, Jason Beckerman, weighs in. There\u2019s clearly no mystery swirling around how TMZ\u2019s sausage is made.<\/p>\n This is a collection of dogged, well-sourced, shoe-leather journalists who come to the bullpen armed with fat digital Rolodexes of phone numbers for the city\u2019s real influencers, the movers and shakers who run Los Angeles, cops, emergency room personnel, agents, doorkeepers, bartenders, Uber drivers. Anyone and everyone who recognizes a story.<\/p>\n Watching Levin\u2019s hand-selected team banter about the day\u2019s scoops brings to mind a line from the film L.A. Confidential<\/em> uttered by Danny DeVito\u2019s Sid Hudgens, a tabloid journalist who exposes Hollywood\u2019s dirty secrets: \u201cOff the record, on the q.t. and very hush-hush.\u201d<\/p>\n