CALABASAS, CA. (THECOUNT) — Almost 500,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to shutter celebrity gossip website, TMZ, after the website broke the news that Kobe Bryant had been killed in a Calabasas helicopter crash.
As of Thursday, more than 446,000 people signed the petition calling to shut down the popular news website, a CNN parent company, essentially over doing its job as a investigatory news outlet.
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The petition is titled “IT’S TIME FOR FOX TO CANCEL TMZ AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO KOBE’S FAMILY.”
TMZ broke the news no one wanted to hear, Bryant was dead at the age of 41 in a Calabasas Helicopter crash, and during a subsequent press conference, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva blasted the website saying the Bryant blockbuster was “extremely disrespectful” to the family members of the fallen.
When #KobeBryant and his daughter died suddenly in a helicopter accident, @TMZ reported on it before his family had been notified by the police.
Will wants @FOXTV and @warnerbros to hold tabloid journalism accountable. Add your voice to the petition ➡️https://t.co/c65eLfvcwJ pic.twitter.com/E4vBRz8QLJ
— Change.org (@Change) January 29, 2020
“It would be extremely disrespectful to understand that your loved one … perished and you learn about it from TMZ,” Villanueva said. “That is just wholly inappropriate.”
At 2:24 p.m. ET, TMZ posted the story that broke the internet on Sunday, Kobe was dead. The news quickly spread, as bad news tends to do, garnering TMZ, the outlet that also broke the news of the passing of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, the number one spot in the world for internet traffic. A trophy that also brought down the Harvey Levin led website for a brief spell.
Villanueva suggested the speed in which TMZ had reported the news — a little more than an hour after police said they received reports of a downed aircraft — outpaced that of trained officials who were seeking to notify the family members of victims.
Los Angeles County Undersheriff Tim Murakami also took a shot at TMZ in a tweet:
“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.”
One of the lingering questions remaining is, who told TMZ? Levin, while appearing on KFI radio hours after the deadly crash, said he had received a call.
“When it comes to high-profile people, they have an ‘in’ with the kinds of people who know this information,” Matthew Belloni, the editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, told CNN in a phone interview on Sunday.
Belloni added, “If TMZ reports that a celebrity has died in Los Angeles County, it is almost always correct. For whatever reason, and you can read into this, their accuracy rate in Los Angeles is very, very good,” reports KMOV.
Belloni added,
“If TMZ reports that a celebrity has died in Los Angeles County, it is almost always correct. For whatever reason, and you can read into this, their accuracy rate in Los Angeles is very, very good.”
TMZ has developed a large network of tipsters over the years. According to a 2016 profile in The New Yorker, the network includes law enforcement officials, entertainment lawyers, court officials, and anyone else looking for a quick payday.
The New Yorker reported in its 2016 story that the website sometimes compensates tipsters, something most newsrooms consider unethical.
A representative for TMZ, which is owned by Warner Media did not respond to requests for comment.