After a heinous clip showed TMZ staffers cheering during a livestream when news broke of Charlie Kirk’s assassination on September 10, 2025, the internet exploded in condemnation. Eventually, the tabloid apologized for its actions after a wave of online backlash.
For context, in a tenuous excuse for their actions, Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere claimed the cheers were for a police car chase suspect’s apprehension, not Kirk’s death, admitting the timing was “tone deaf.”
In any case, Harvey Levin apologized for the clip, claiming, “We were livestreaming all day during this tragedy when something happened in our office. As we were reporting the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there were some people in the back room away from our news desk here who were watching a car chase and they were laughing, they were clapping, and you could hear it out here.”
Continuing his unfounded claims, Levin stated, “And we want to make a couple of things clear. One is that I know these people, and they were not laughing; they were not reacting that way about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. They were not. They would not work here if they did.”
Even though critics noted that the timeline of the chase did not match the clip of the staffers cheering, Charles Latibeaudiere alleged, “That being said, we acknowledge that it was horrible timing, and for that we are sorry, and I get why if you were watching the stream, you may have felt that that’s what the laughter was about. We assure you it was not about that, but it was horrible timing.”
Reacting to the situation, DNI Tulsi Gabbard slammed the media for their coverage of Kirk’s death. She said, Charlie Kirk was truly one of a kind. A kind, loving, and courageous soul who lived what he preached. His view that our political, social, and spiritual differences should be debated freely and respectfully was something he put into practice every day — a living embodiment of the vision our founders had for our country.”
Still not done, she blasted the deep state, saying, “Charlie Kirk stood up to such fanatics who hate freedom and want to silence anyone who dares to challenge the so-called ‘liberal’ establishment. This assassin killed him to prevent his voice from being heard, prevent him from inspiring others, as he did every day, and to terrorize and intimidate the American people into silence.” –
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Blasting the callous coverage from the mainstream media, she noted, “I was sickened, but not surprised, when I saw the propaganda media like MSNBC react by encouraging and justifying this evil. Within minutes of the shooting, they said, Charlie ‘brought it upon himself.’ They said the very same thing about President Donald Trump after both assassination attempts on his life.”
Watch the clip here:
Concluding her remarks, she added, “I’m devastated that Erika lost her husband today, their children lost their father, and so many of us lost a dear friend. Our nation lost one of our greatest champions of freedom. I pray Charlie is now able to rest in the warm embrace of God’s love. He will be dearly missed.”
Featured image from embedded video