TMZ has cleared up a viral controversy after receiving accusations that their staff were caught on camera celebrating the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
As the news broke, TMZ were live streaming from their newsroom as reporters reacted. A part of the stream appeared to show cheering and clapping in the background as reporters discussed the shooting.
They have since denied that anyone in the newsroom was clapping about the shooting. Instead, they said the noise picked up on the livestream was actually people in another corner of the building reacting to a completely unrelated car chase.
The video sparked outrage online. Far-right activist Laura Loomer accused TMZ of openly celebrating the shooting, writing on X: “@HarveyLevinTMZ you are a monster if you don’t fire every single one of those people cheering on the death of @charliekirk11.”
DISGUSTING:
During the @TMZ livestream today, employees at TMZ could be heard CHEERING 30 seconds before @charliekirk11’s death was announced on the TMZ livestream. They were happy to hear the news of Charlie Kirk’s death and can be heard clapping and cheering before passing the… pic.twitter.com/gqtQdq9Gwi
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 10, 2025
But in a follow-up video titled “Addressing tone deaf laughter,” TMZ apologised for how bad it looked.
“As Harvey and Charles were reporting the developments in our newsroom, there were employees in another part of the building watching a car chase. The people watching that car chase began laughing and clapping in reaction to what they were seeing, but we want to make it clear … they were not cheering in response to the assassination.
“Nevertheless … watching a car chase at that moment was tone deaf, and the sounds of laughter at that crucial moment were totally out of line. We apologize to anyone who heard that as we were in the middle of covering such a tragic story.”
Charlie Kirk Assassination, Apology for Tone Deaf Laughter in TMZ Office https://t.co/fz61SDDHwc pic.twitter.com/Q9TaixkE3Y
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 11, 2025
So according to TMZ, what looked like a room full of reporters clapping about Kirk’s death was actually just some employees glued to police-chase content at the worst possible time.
Kirk, 31, was killed at an event on a Utah college campus, where he was speaking as part of his role as founder of the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA. His killing immediately drew condemnation from political figures across the spectrum and has deepened fears about America’s growing climate of political violence.
The search for the shooter is still ongoing.
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Featured image credit: X/@TMZ, Shutterstock/Maxim Elramsisy
