"We acknowledge that it was horrible timing": TMZ responds to backlash on laughing in the background while reporting Charlie Kirk assassination

TMZ is facing backlash regarding a live stream clip of their office cheering in the background when news of Charlie Kirk's death broke. In the viral clip, Harvey Levin can be seen in the frame, speaking in broken sentences, while a few people in the other room can be heard cheering and clapping.

After a few moments, Levin's colleagues mentioned that President Trump had announced Kirk's death. He faced the camera and said:

"Trump just posted that Charlie Kirk is dead."

The reason behind the backlash is that netizens believed people who were in the other room were hollering as Kirk was announced dead. Hundreds of people condemned TMZ for the inhumane reaction to somebody's demise.

In a recent video, TMZ executive producer Harry Levin and co-executive producer Charles Latibeaudiere addressed the viral video, explaining that their colleagues were, in fact, not applauding Kirk's passing, but they were watching a completely different video.

Keep reading to know the entire explanation.

How did TMZ explain the situation?

TMZ, specifically Harry Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere, took to X to share a 1:31-minute-long video to explain that their colleagues were not cheering the news of Charlie Kirk's passing.

Levin spoke first, saying:

"We were live-streaming 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, and we wanna make a couple of things clear."

He continued:

"One is, 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."

Charles Latibeaudiere joined in to say:

"And that being said, we acknowledge that it was horrible timing, and for that we are sorry."

Levin spoke again, saying:

"We apologize. We apologize that you had to hear that."

Charles added:

"And I get why if you're watching this stream, you may have felt that that was what the laughter was about. We assure you, it was not about that, but it was horrible timing."

Harry joined in by saying:

"By the way, I get it too, and he gets it because we listened as we were talking..."

Latibeaudiere pointed out:

"You can go back and look on the stream. I actually walked off camera to go back and find out what the hell was going on because it was inappropriate for the laughter at that time. No one was laughing about the Charlie Kirk tragedy."

Harry Levin ended the video by saying:

"Nevertheless, we apologize for the way it sounded."

TMZ clarified that the laughter in the viral clip was unrelated to Kirk's death, explaining it came from staff watching a car chase in another room. Despite the explanation, Harvey Levin and Charles Latibeaudiere acknowledged the unfortunate timing and issued a public apology.

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