by Kitahna Moe // Staff Writer
On January 26, 2020 the world was struck with tragic news from Thirty Mile Zone also known as TMZ. Basketball legend, Kobe Bryant along with his daughter and 7 others had died in a helicopter crash located in Calabasas, California. The devastating news, which was confirmed by a celebrity gossip website, spread the nations far and wide.
When news first surfaced the internet people from all over the world were in disbelief over what had taken everyone by surprise. However, claims were made by TMZ that everyone assumed were false because it came from a gossip website. The website was receiving a bunch of backlash due to the unprofessional way that the situation was handled.
Academy of Education and Empowerment junior, Marrisa Leniu mentions, “ It’d be messed up if TMZ did release the news before the families knew. I wouldn’t know how to feel if I heard off of social media that I lost a family member.”
Many people were shocked and had mixed emotions about TMZ’s article on the incident. Because TMZ provided such little information and details, many thought it was untrue.
According to Insider.com, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated, “There was wide speculation as to who their identities are; however, it would be entirely inappropriate right now to identify anyone by name, until the coroner has made the identification through their very deliberative process…It would be extremely disrespectful to understand that your loved ones perished and you learned about it from TMZ,That is just wholly inappropriate. So we’re not going to be going there.”
Many people criticized and bashed the gossip website after they were accused of releasing the early news. But when asked questions, a representative for TMZ, which is owned by WarnerMedia, CNN’s parent company, did not respond on Sunday to requests for comment.
According to blackamericaweb.com, Harvey Levin from TMZ said, “We dealt with Kobe’s people…and we were told very clearly that she had been notified” He then added, “We were dealing with them for an hour before we published the story and they said, ‘Go for it,’”.
The website did not back down from the critiques that were made and took matters into their own hands letting people know that they had the “okay” from several Kobe representatives before releasing the news. Other blog websites were aware about what was going on but, proceeded with caution due to the lack of evidence that was available during the death of the 9 victims on the helicopter.
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