A man rich in sources and contacts, Levin not only broke the story of Gibson's arrest (which he says was "100 percent" vetted and lawsuit-proof) but with almost stereotypical attack-dog investigative brio is now alleging the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department tried to cover up Gibson's behavior. A lawyer-cum-investigative reporter, Levin is known to Los Angelenos as a former local CBS reporter and creator and producer of "Celebrity Justice." Today he's TMZ's managing editor. Mixed in with all of the above are newsier tidbits-such as United Talent Agency's filing suit against Wesley Snipes, one of its own actors, for breach of contract-which have clearly been unearthed by someone who knows his way around legal documents and police stations. A typical day includes updates on the marital status of Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock (as of press time, still in connubial bliss), video footage of Ashlee Simpson arriving at a Hollywood hotspot (feeling, she reports, "excellent") and whether Ben Affleck caught a Red Sox pop fly launched into his section at Fenway Park (he did not). So, we'll bite: who, or what, is TMZ? With a recent redesign, the site, a joint venture between America Online and Telepictures, has the look and feel of a blog with a journalistic pedigree. And now, by reporting Gibson's arrest and anti-Semitic ranting late last week, complete with Smoking Gun-style police reports, TMZ has for the first time affected the national (or at least dinnertime) dialogue-to say nothing of one of the most powerful Hollywood careers. In May it introduced us to oil heir Brandon Davis, who in turn graced us with his drunken loathing of actress Lindsay Lohan and a new word for the female genitalia. In just nine months since going live, TMZ has broken its share of stories-the day it went online, the site obtained video footage of a Paris Hilton hit-and-run. Hovering somewhere between gossip and news, TMZ appears to be the next phase in the evolution of celebrity journalism, a development that leaves pundits and players feeling either queasy or compelled, depending on whom you ask. When Mel Gibson was pulled over for driving under the influence on Friday, he had a few choice words for the cops who stopped him.
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