TMZ Apologizes for Laughter During Charlie Kirk Assassination Coverage

TMZ faced significant backlash after laughter and applause were heard in the background during their livestream coverage announcing the assassination of Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA. Viewers criticized the reaction as insensitive, interpreting it as celebration of Kirk's death. TMZ founder Harvey Levin and executive producer Charles Latibeaudiere clarified that the noise was unrelated to Kirk's passing, explaining that staff were watching and reacting to a car chase in a different room. Both Levin and Latibeaudiere acknowledged the poor timing and issued a public apology, emphasizing that no one at TMZ found Kirk's death humorous. Despite the explanation, the incident sparked widespread condemnation on social media. TMZ also took to the platform X to further clarify the situation and apologized for the tone-deaf nature of the background noise during the tragic news coverage.