TMZ Takes On Capitol Hill: 'Kind of Like a Reality Show'

TMZ, the site built on celebrity scoops, has turned its lens on Congress, opening a Washington bureau in April staffed by two reporters who say they are treating Capitol Hill as "kind of like a reality show."

The bureau consists of Charlie Cotton, a longtime TMZ producer, and Jacob Wasserman, who recently covered the criminal trial of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs. Their approach mixes levity and gossip with what they describe as legitimate exclusives, aimed at readers who might not otherwise follow politics.

"What me and Charlie are trying to do is we need to take a step back," Wasserman said in an interview with NPR. "And while it's great to get into the importance of social and political issues, we want to understand who these people are."

The site drew notice in Washington earlier this year when founder Harvey Levin asked the public to send in photos of vacationing members of Congress during a partial government shutdown. The images went viral, including one of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham holding a bubble wand at Disney World. Graham said he had been in Florida for a meeting with President Trump and stopped at the park afterward to see friends.

"It just went so viral that Harvey just came to us and said, 'Now is the time. It's now or never,'" Cotton recalled.

In one recent airport encounter, Cotton chatted with Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who faces a reelection challenge from Republican Rep. Mike Collins. "You don't look like Pee-wee Herman," Cotton said, a nod to Trump's recent description of Ossoff as "Pinky Herman." The conversation turned instead to their shared Australian roots. "You know, there is a laid-back culture, I think, in Australia," Ossoff said. "We get a little wound up over here sometimes."

Not everyone plays along. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to answer Wasserman's question last month about a sound heard on the Senate floor during his remarks; TMZ later conceded it might have been something else. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., was more forthcoming, discussing Botox and the National Defense Authorization Act.

Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University professor of television and pop culture, said the attention the pair receives is "extraordinary" and that the operation should be taken seriously, even though TMZ has long operated under different rules than traditional outlets, including paying for exclusive photos.

"We want to be players," Wasserman said, "and we want to compete and break news that is going to move the needle."