Id tell them, Were not going to reveal our sources, because we want you to be a source for us again. 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. Im not putting the video up. Braun broke down in tears. He was 80. The Brian Eno and Cocteau Twins collaborator was 84 years old. Rice, the Ravens, and the N.F.L. Blackmun agreed to go on the show. One early hire was the daughter of Paris Hiltons attorney. Levin insists that his photographers are not paparazzi. (That night, a TMZ cameraman captured John at the door. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. It often aired late at night, and it struggled to find viewers. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. You find affected groups. He wanted a site that created a sense of urgency.. It was single-handedly creating the news cycle, Stone said. ****An earlier version of this article misstated Biebers age. We look forward to his return soon., Also Read: Harvey Levin Thinks His 'TMZ' Shows Look Better Now Than in Studio. TMZ has learned. . 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. Paris Jackson, the daughter of late pop legend Michael Jackson, was hospitalized Wednesday after an apparent suicide attempt, according to reports. As they dispersed, I stepped forward to introduce myself. The company gained notoriety for its unflinching scoops, which included being the. Bieber later called Levin and thanked him. (Wasser said, This firm has a strong policy of not speaking with media about our cases.), Multiple sources told me that Levin is close to Shawn Holley, a lawyer who has represented Lindsay Lohan and other celebrities. The officer then called TMZ. You call the record label, you call the N.A.A.C.P.what do they have to say about it? Such posts draw more readers to the original story, helping it to go viral. Its hard for people to wrap their heads around $800 billion in bailout money, he told the Times. And its terrible, and Im the first one to say those guys should be dealt with very strongly, thrown in jail, when they do it. Josh Levine, TMZs original photographer, questions this statement: We dont follow people or do car chases? 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 . He was 83. But theres nothing like selling celebrity fucking dirt. Later that year, the site released video footage of Michael Richards making racist comments during a comedy-club routine. He was 80. He wrote on social media of his diagnosis on April 6, but he did not recover. TMZ founder Harvey Levin told . . Andrew Jack, a dialect coach who most recently was hired to work with Robert Pattinson on the new Batman movie, died March 31 of complications from coronavirus, TMZ reports. After the Democratic House Impeachment managers unveiled never before seen security footage, we spoke with TMZ's Harvey Levin & election law expert Jason Har. The next week, Stone confronted his student. It was a shit show. He disappeared from the limelight in 2014, fueling social media users to speculate about his whereabouts. "Ellis Marsalis was a legend. We had the guys name, and we knew that he worked at a computer-parts company, Rowe said. 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. She handed me a laptop, and a disk, and I gave her the check. The world continues to be upended by the coronavirus pandemic, with more people contracting COVID-19 as the days pass. I got on the next flight back to Burbank., In the newsroom, staffers made preparations to publish. At the same time, celebrity-friendly clubs in Hollywood touted their lenient policies with respect to minors. !), The waitress at Craigs placed a dish of jalapeo creamed corn on the table. Ive sold aluminum siding. Wow. John Prine, one of the most influential and revered folk and country songwriters of the last 50 years, died on April 6 at the age of 73 after being infected with the COVID-19 virus. You find family. The rest was like organ rejectionit just didnt work.. Judge Judy just called Harvey Levin from her hospital bed to tell him she's fine, saying, "I'm just exhausted, and my body was telling me it needed a day to chill." Judge told Harvey, "I. Last April, Levin gave a lecture at the University of California, Santa Barbara, titled The New Journalistic Environment. A few minutes after 7 p.m., he came onstage wearing a blue V-neck sweater, slip-on sneakers, and baggy stonewashed jeans. He cultivated sources among the hotel employees. He beats you down, but the second youre about to say, Screw this place, he gives you a compliment, and you live for that. The former TMZ photographer recounted that Levin once screamed, I could get a monkey to do your job! and, on another occasion, Do you want me to draw this out in crayons for you fucking idiots? The former news reporter said that, on one occasion, Levin compared his staff to a roomful of handicapped people. Rory Waltzer, another former cameraman, told me, Harvey Levin would have been a great dictator: he is charming enough so that you want to follow him, but terrifying enough so that you dont want to fail., Some of Levins subordinates, such as Evan Rosenblum, the TMZ deputy, mimic his style. In 2010, the Los Angeles County Superior Court dismissed its chief spokesman, Allan Parachini, for supposedly providing confidential information to TMZ. The Roskop stories boosted Blatts status at TMZ. If there were gaps in your stories, if you didnt have enough detail, if he wanted another question answered, he would fly off the handle, a former news-desk reporter told me. Palmer and Rice, a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, were arguing as the doors slid shut. Almost anything. Did such posts, Kurtz asked, signal an intent to change TMZs reputation as a raunchy tabloid operation? Last year, Page Six reported that TMZ paid two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for surveillance footage of Beyoncs sister, Solange, attacking Jay Z in an elevator at the Standard, in New York. Tom Seaver, Hall of Fame baseball pitcher, died on Aug. 31 in his sleep of complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19. . In November, 2005, TMZ began operations, on the second floor of an aging studio complex in Glendale. 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. He worked with such legends as Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins. Harvey has no problem publicly shaming you, a former assignment-desk producer told me. ), Inside Craigs, the bar area was crowded with women in stiletto heels and sleeveless furs. Josh Levine, TMZs first cameraman, told me that, once the site became successful, many publicists changed their strategy. Though Levin did not post explicit videos on TMZ, he was adept at translating the existence of a tape into news, Blatt said. There is so much material. More recently, a transgender sex worker from Dennis Hofs Love Ranch, near Carson City, Nevada, contacted Blatt to inform him that one of her clients, the former basketball player Lamar Odom, had just collapsed at the brothel. Italian actress Lucia Bos, who starred in such films as Michelangelo Antonionis "Story of a Love Affair" (1950) and Juan Antonio Bardems "Death of a Cyclist" (1955), died on March 23 of pneumonia after contracting COVID-19, according to the Guardian. When Carol Burnett sued the National Enquirer for defamation, in 1981, he observed that her lawsuit faced significant challenges: she must prove that the Enquirer published the article about her with either an intentional or reckless disregard for the truth., Levin began consulting on The Peoples Court, and in 1986 he joined the staff of a rival program, Superior Court, where he was eventually promoted to managing editor. These are the people who call me with stuff, he said. 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. Last year, a TMZ photographer went up to Hillary Clinton, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and asked her, Hillary, with the blunder on the e-mailswas that just a generalizational gap or can that be corrected? Clinton smiled and walked past. These are the names of some notable figures from Hollywood and the media that we have lost. Compassion!" Then, on September 8th, TMZ published a second surveillance video from the Revel. In the morning, Braun and Levin spoke again. At around 4:30 a.m., one of the surveillance officers, sitting at a monitoring-room computer, reviewed footage from a camera that faced the elevator and, using a cell phone, surreptitiously recorded the screen. and "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," which later became a film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE, Harvey Levin Thinks His 'TMZ' Shows Look Better Now Than in Studio, died from complications of the coronavirus. In May, 2012, the judge overseeing the case of a man who allegedly extorted Stevie Wonder caught a TMZ cameraman illicitly taping the courtroom proceedings. Roskop said that Sheen had written her a thirty-thousand-dollar check, which she had already deposited. Although her cause of death was not immediately known, a friend told the Associated Press that she had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Ive sold cell phones. (The National Enquirer also seeks photographic and video evidence, but when it is not available the Enquirer will subject sources to polygraph examinations. Levin replied, Thank you. Anyone buying a gun should be familiar with its deadly potential, he told the Los Angeles Times. ), Many people declined to discuss TMZ on the record, citing nondisclosure agreements and a fear of antagonizing Levin. The piece, which was titled Bailout Bank Blows Millions Partying in L.A., sparked immediate condemnation of Northern Trust. Harvey Robert Levin [1] (born September 2, 1950) is an American television producer, legal analyst, celebrity reporter, and former lawyer. Levin's absence was discussed at the start of the nationally syndicated show, which pre-tapes and airs at 4 p.m. PT. Plus, Bob asks about Harvey's thermal cup situation Sonny Chiba, a martial arts master and a Japanese actor who played legendary sword maker Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill, has died from pneumonia caused by COVID-19. Deedswhere Adam Sandler surprises Winona Ryder with a date at Madison Square Garden.) Bieber also made some appearances on TMZ Live., In June, 2014, the Sun published a copy of the scandalous One Less Lonely video. You find associates and friends. 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.. John Kerry, then a senator, declared that he was sick and tired of reading about another idiotic abuse of taxpayer money while our country is on the brink. (The bank insisted that it did not use any bailout funds for the tournament.). He was 82. Gillian Sheldon called Levin to ask him for permission to speak to methough she left TMZ in 2008. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 . 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. If you see a dollar on the road, you pick it up, he said. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. 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. Levins exposure on television has turned him into a celebrity himself. People had choices. It showed Shakur receiving oral sex. He rented a car and headed to an apartment building on the outskirts of the city. Paratore had been contemplating a new Web site that could feature unused footage amassed by Extra, also a Telepictures production. Celebrity Justice continued to do poorly in the ratings, and after three years it was cancelled. Yes, Dr. Harvey Levin, MD holds board certifications in Obstetrics & Gynecology. (Levin drove a Mercedes.) In an e-mail dated January 29, 2014, a TMZ manager informed her colleagues that the star of an ABC drama had been spotted sitting in first class, in seat 2A, on Delta Flight 1061, from Orlando to Los Angeles, when his plane was rerouted to Dallasthe result of a bomb threat issued on Twitter. Blatt waved his fork and declared, This is off the hook. Then, across the restaurant, he spotted Alexis and Jim Bellino, the co-stars of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Blatt said that he contacts TMZ whenever he sees someone famous. He considered pursuing a Ph.D. but chose law school instead, at the University of Chicago. I was on my motorcycle and there were, like, twenty-five other cars, all paps, weaving in and out of traffic, running red lights. The fierce advocate for the AAPI community was 89. Weve been around for nine years, and if you look at the stories that weve broken they are stories that literally every newscast in America has put on the air, he said. TMZ personality Harvey Levin interviews big name celebrities and newsmakers in this new Sunday night series. That fall, Levin enrolled at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied political science. Photograph by Peter Bohler for The New Yorker In the early-morning hours. He was selective about whom he brought on, prizing loyalty, energy, and connections over experience. Harvey also went on to create a number of shows prior to launching TMZ.com, such as 'Celebrity Justice', 'Rock & A Hard Place', and 'Beyond Twisted', to name a few. In place of the usual lyrics, Bieber had substituted nigger for girl. He giggled as he sang, Therell be one less lonely nigger and If I kill you, Ill be part of the K.K.K., Levin faced a tough decision. At the time, Bieber was sixteen* years old and about to star in a bio-pic, Never Say Never., The caller e-mailed a teaser from the video that reached Diana Dasrath, who until recently was TMZs clips-clearance manager. The teaser showed Bieber, sitting alone in a room, singing his hit One Less Lonely Girl a cappella. I dont live by hard-and-fast rules in this job, he said. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, the dark genius of William dAlton Mann, the publisher of Town Topics, was his realization that stories that came into his possession were perhaps worth more untold than told. In the nineteen-fifties, Confidential gained access to the head of Columbia Studios by leveraging tapes of Rock Hudson that referred to his homosexuality. In 2014, Taryn Hillin, a former TMZ writer, took legal action, alleging sexual discrimination and unlawful termination. While many have recovered, some have died from complications of the illness. She was 89. 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! Levin also disapproved of the way that publicists leveraged access to celebrities in order to control the media coverage of their clients. 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. ), In the months before TMZ obtained the video, its coverage of Bieber had often been antagonistic; it ran a post suggesting that he had hit a twelve-year-old boy during a game of laser tag. Levin called a Telepictures executive and said, of DeGeneres, Shes ruining the brand! DeGeneres phoned Levin to apologize, according to three former TMZ employees, but he refused to take her call. 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. 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. Blatt sold this to TMZ for about a thousand dollars. Several of Levins colleagues told me that he is determined to maintain his youth. Two years later, Levin declined to post voice mails and lewd text messages that purportedly had been sent by the quarterback Brett Favre to a New York Jets gameday host. Harvey Levin created the tabloid news site under the Telepictures Productions umbrella, which is owned by Warner Bros, in 2005 along with Jim Paratore, who died in 2012. Thats what Ive been doing since I was born. 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 was widely circulated. Ellis Marsalis Jr., New Orleans jazz legend and father of Wynton and Branford Marsalis, died at 85 from COVID-19 complications, Branford said. Henry Grimes, celebrated jazz bassist, died on April 15 at age 84, according to WGBO. Harvey Levin House. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. 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. Instead of taking a corner office, he placed his desk on a riser in the center of the newsroom, creating an editorial panopticon. 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. 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. In isolated, poor regions of South Carolina, coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity. ***An earlier version of this article misstated the job of the person who received Brett Favres voice mails and texts. Honestly, I go to a black barbershop now. At 8:41 a.m., Hope Solos Husband Busted for D.U.I. appeared on the TMZ home page. A Web site called the Smoking Gun was already publishing such documents online. The case combined Levins core professional interestslaw, celebrity, scandaland he worked tirelessly on it. Two L.A.P.D. If I call in now and say, Im with Alexis Bellino, and they give me fifty bucks, thats fifty bucks that paid for my dinner.. Harvey called him up, went over, wrote him a check for five grand, and bought the URL, Rowe said. He used to say, to all of us, My fucking dogs are smarter than you! You become like a battered child. But Levin taught us what else to look for, Angela Laughlin, one of the early hires at TMZ, said. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. 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. Blatt feared that Roskops statement alone would not be enough for TMZ to run a story; he knew that Levin expected documentary proof. The Bellinos slid into the banquette beside ours. So who cares whether you pay money for it?. He was 79. Broadway star Nick Cordero passed away on July 5 due to complications from coronavirus. Then Levin seemed to catch himself, and he laughed. After the speech, as Kennedy was walking through the hotels kitchen, an assassin shot and killed him. Legendary Auburn football coach Pat Dye died on June 1 after combating COVID-19 and other medical conditions. Harvey, whatever those four seconds werewhatever that place isthats the place that I want you to go back to, Braun said. At least one employee of Delta Airlines supplies TMZ with the names and itineraries of celebrity passengers travelling through Los Angeles and New York. Gillian Sheldon told me, I cant tell you how many times we got calls from Britney Spears, or her people, who called to say, Shes going to get a tan., In 2006, Levin told the Times, What I love is the business of creating and preserving celebrity. His proudest moment, he said, during a talk in 2010, at the University of Chicago Law School, was when Levine captured footage of the actress Tara Reid standing behind the velvet rope outside of Hyde, a Los Angeles night club, while Paris HiltonReids former best friendwalked right in with a new friend, a previously unknown woman named Kim Kardashian. Id have to talk people off cliffs, Weakland said. Ive had over a hundred and fifty jobs in my life-time. Levin had volunteered to stand in for him during Clevelands mock election. 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. The success of the Web site inspired Levin to branch out. Levin is sixty-five. Over the years, he has trained many employees in the art of court reporting. One days list, from June, 2010, included the flight details for Robert Redford and Jack Kevorkian; another one, two months later, had the itineraries of Julius Erving, Kathy Ireland, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. I dont think weve ever posted as many stories per day as were posting now that theres so much going on.. Harvey is ruthless, Simon Cardoza, the former cameraman, said. A month later, Kennedy came to Los Angeles for an event at the Ambassador Hotel. The tapes owner had called Blatt anonymously. . He was hospitalized in Atlanta just days after attending a campaign rally for Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was seen without a mask. Popular Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, whose career spanned decades, died March 29 due to complications from the coronavirus. Thats the way Harvey controls the game.. . In a 2013 radio interview, Levin said that his kind of journalism was as rigorous as any other: You could take me, put me in Afghanistan, and Ill use the same principles Id use with Britney Spears., In January, 2011, an anonymous tipster, using a voice modulator to disguise her identity, called TMZ, offering to sell a compromising video of Justin Bieber. media center, which served as host for the event, described Levins reporting as very powerful and impactful. When she mentioned that Levin graduated from the University of Chicago, one of the top five law schools in the nation, Levin interjected, Three., He spoke for thirty minutes, describing how TMZ had broken down the barriers once maintained by publicists. (In a 2015 e-mail, a TMZ employee asked colleagues if anyone had yet established a source at Uber.) During this period, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, and Selena Gomez were all victims of swatting. While the L.A.P.D. TMZ never really did that. TMZ did not create its aesthetic. 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.) In September, 2002, Levins new TV show, Celebrity Justice, premired. TMZ would not discuss payments, or other internal matters, but called this figure overblown.) Kathy Griffin on Saturday blasted TMZ's Harvey Levin and released his personal number in retaliation against his gossip site and TV show. He is able to treat people like shit because everybody wants to be near the limelight., Levin continued to break big stories. (TMZ said that its employees are expected to obey the law. Harvey gets it. In 1709, the first modern gossip magazine, The Tatler, started publication, in London. Jack was 76. He and other members of Biebers team stayed up all night crafting a statement. By February, 2007, TMZ was drawing more Web traffic than the sites of People and Entertainment Tonight combined. He and Alexis finished their meal, then stepped outside, into a battery of camera flashes. There was silence across the office. According to the lawsuit, Rosenblum routinely belittled, berated and humiliated her, screaming at her in front of co-workers, and telling her, I fucking hate this shit you hand in. She called the workplace environment at TMZ hostile or offensive. (Levin isnt named in the suit, although TMZ Productions is. He shared desk space with another general-assignment reporter, Kent Shocknek, who later became the anchor of the morning newscast. In October, 2011, Kim Kardashian, a Wasser client, filed to divorce Kris Humphries, the basketball player, after seventy-two days of marriage. He became the fifth person to die from COVID-19 complications at the facility. Our mission was to be aspirationalsomething that was pretty, shot in a certain kind of light, people looking good. Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ who co-founded the company in 2005, will stay on board and report up to Fox's management. At first, most of his earnings resulted from his connections in the porn industry, but he had begun diversifying. The league suspended Rice for two games, but by early September he was preparing to return to play. Harvey Levin 3d Report this post . Most read in Entertainment. Theres nothing wrong with it, he said. In 2009, for example, he took the call that led to TMZs breaking the news that Chris Brown had physically assaulted Rihanna. Though the proposition ultimately passed, Levin made a positive impression, and the Los Angeles Times hired him to contribute an advice column, titled The Law and You. Levin wrote about, among other things, a passengers rights when he or she is bumped off a flight, and whether blood tests can conclusively establish paternity. Carol Sutton, actress who has starred on HBOs Lovecraft County and OWNs Queen Sugar" and appeared in such films as "Monster's Ball," "Ray" and "The Help," died of complications of COVID-19 on Dec. 10. **An earlier version of this article misspelled Tim Weiners name. He was 52. 1 420 Bainbridge St Ste 201E, Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215) 627-7080; Map. Levin founded TMZ in 2005, and continues to serve as its managing editor, delivering Hollywood scoops and rumors. No, Bellino said. The Corrupt World Behind the Murdaugh Murders. Rick May, a voice actor best known to gamers as the husky-throated Soldier in Team Fortress 2, died in Swedish nursing home on April 13 after contracting COVID-19. 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 . One woman held a Pomeranian under her arm. Listen to our #podcast that explores how security and connected medical devices are embedded into the hospital experience. In 2013, TMZ broke a series of stories about hackers swatting celebrities: calling 911, falsely claiming to be the celebrity victim of a home invasion, and then watching as a swat team descended on the celebritys house. In a Q.-and-A. 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. Blatt drove across town to see her. When people have choices, you cant sell that gray coat anymore., From the start, Levins crusader mentality at TMZ caused some consternation, Lewis DVorkin, a former senior vice-president of AOL, told me. Alvin Ing, star of Broadway's "Flower Drum Song" and "Pacific Overture" died July 31, 2021 after battling COVID-19 for two weeks. Objectified: With Harvey Levin, Pamela Anderson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Judy Sheindlin. Bankoff, who is now the chairman of Vox Media, liked the concept: Telepictures would supply the content, and AOL would handle the technical and commercial side.