Overview
- TMZ said Monday it launched a Washington desk called TMZDC to report on members of Congress and the intersection of pop culture and politics.
- The outlet named Charlie Cotton, Jacob Wasserman and Jakson Buhaj as producers working The Hill, with an end-of-day show planned across YouTube, X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
- The rollout follows late March crowdsourcing that published vacation sightings of lawmakers during a partial Homeland Security shutdown that started February 14.
- TMZ’s political posts have drawn large engagement, including a widely shared photo of Ted Cruz on a flight and an “exclusive” about a group trip to Scotland, and the site highlights millions of followers across major platforms.
- Capitol Hill reaction has built, with Politico reporting anxious staffers and Senator Rick Scott posting a Disney photo that addressed TMZ’s coverage.