The world of celebrity news is an interesting beast. Supermarket tabloids spouting weekly rumors have given way to a whole new culture online, with anonymous Instagram accounts and massive websites reporting on things as quickly as they possibly can.
Not only has that changed the way that a lot of us engage with our favorite famous people, but it has also led to a lot more overstepped boundaries… and once again, it appears that TMZ is at the scene of the crime.
This week, the outlet is under fire for their reporting on actors Chris Evans and Alba Baptista welcoming their first child. While TMZ reporting birth announcements before they are even remotely picked up by mainstream press isn’t anything new, the way they chose to broke the news is. Their article initially included a watermarked photo of the baby’s birth certificate, with only a handful of details redacted. This was quickly met with backlash from fans, and although the photo has since been removed from the article, copies of it are still circulating around on social media.
It’s unclear whether or not this could lead to a lawsuit over invasion of privacy, but either way, the damage has already been done. It was arguably already bad enough that Evans and Baptista, who have been notoriously private in their relationship since they began dating in 2022, did not have control of when and how their baby’s birth would be made public. But the “leak” of the birth certificate honestly goes beyond that, sharing personal information about the couple and their baby that very few in the public sphere (but especially people casually engaging on stan Twitter and fandom spaces) needed to know.
Another controversy for TMZ…
In a way, this shouldn’t be shocking for TMZ. For the better part of the 21st century, the outlet has built a brand out of brash “journalism”, whether in the articles on their website or on their syndicated television show. I will admit, I did spend a stretch of the 2000s watching episodes of TMZ, because it seemed like the most high-speed and “edgy” way to catch up on Hollywood gossip prior to all of us using social media.
But in recent years, the tide has shifted towards criticizing the outlet, for its attitude towards certain subject matters, and for its methods of going to practically any means necessary to get information or photos for a story. Sometimes, this has just meant paparazzi accosting subjects in public in an attempt to get the next viral clip. But other times, this has led to clear boundaries being crossed.
The way TMZ has reported on, or was otherwise involved with, the legal case between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, as well as the deaths of Kobe Bryant and Liam Payne have all drawn massive amounts of backlash in recent years. There have also been the instances of the outlet reporting incorrect news before it could be verified, whether about celebrity deaths or about Beyonce maybe appearing at last year’s Democratic National Convention.
Again, with all of this in mind, TMZ’s “leak” of Evans and Baptista’s baby’s birth certificate shouldn’t be surprising… but it’s still disappointing.
(featured image: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)
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