Harvey Levin | |
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.jpg) Levin in 2010 | |
| Born | Harvey Robert Levin (1950-09-02)September 2, 1950 (age 75) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Santa Barbara (BA) University of Chicago (JD) |
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| Known for | Founder ofTMZ |
| Partner | Andy Mauer |
Harvey Robert Levin[1] (born September 2, 1950[2]) is an American television producer, legal analyst, journalist and lawyer.[3] He founded the celebrity news websiteTMZ in 2005 and later briefly served as the host ofOBJECTified (2016–present), which aired on theFox News Channel.
Levin was born September 2, 1950, inLos Angeles County, California to a Jewish family.[4][5][6] He attended high school atGrover Cleveland High School inReseda, Los Angeles and graduated in 1968 with honors.[7][8] Levin attended theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, where he graduated with a B.A. in political science in 1972.[9] He later attended theUniversity of Chicago Law School and graduated with a J.D. in 1975.[10]
Levin was an active attorney in California for two decades, from December 18, 1975, until January 1, 1996.[1] In the mid-1970s, he taught law at theUniversity of Miami School of Law underSoia Mentschikoff.[10][11] He then practiced law briefly in Los Angeles before taking a position atWhittier College School of Law.[11][6][12]
In 1978, Levin came to public attention following a series of high-profile debates withHoward Jarvis, the co-author ofProposition 13, California's controversialproperty tax-reductionballot measure, which Levin opposed. With his newfound fame, Levin began to contribute legal advice on a radio show, where he was nicknamed "Doctor Law", as well as to write columns for theLos Angeles Times.[12][11][6] His columnist career with theTimes spanned seven years.[12]
Levin covered legal issues forKNBC-TV in 1982.[12] He subsequently joinedKCBS-TV and spent a decade doing investigative reporting and legal analysis,[12][11][6] most notably covering theO. J. Simpson murder case.[12][11][6] In 1997, he was named co-executive producer and on-air legal anchor forThe People's Court. Levin remained on the show until its cancellation in July 2023.[11][13][12] He createdCelebrity Justice, which ran from 2002 to 2005.[11][6]
Levin producedBeyond Twisted, which aired in 2009 for one season before being canceled.[14] He createdFamous in 12 (2014), an experiment in exploiting a family for quick fame,[15] but the show was canceled after less than one season, with only five of the scheduled twelve episodes having aired.[16]
This is not television. It's rawer, it's urgent, it's less produced. I really think this is the future. People want to get what they can get on-demand, and they have as much access to a computer as they do a TV set.
In 2005,AOL andTelepictures Productions launchedTMZ with Levin as the founder and managing editor.[12][18][19] The website quickly rose to prominence when it broke the story ofMel Gibson's DUI arrest and subsequent antisemitic rant.[12][11][6][18] It continued to break a number of high-profile stories including the abuse ofRihanna byChris Brown and the deaths ofHeath Ledger,Brittany Murphy, Michael Jackson, andKobe Bryant.[6] TheLos Angeles Times named TMZ's coverage of the Jackson death as the biggest story the website had covered to date.[20]
Harvey Levin Productions has produced Levin's media projects since he joinedThe People's Court in 1983 as the show's legal consultant.[11] In 1985, Levin wroteThe People's Court: How to Tell It to the Judge, reviewing and providing commentary on several cases from the show.[21]The Library Journal "recommended [the book] for public libraries."[21]
Levin appeared as an event speaker for theNational Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association in April 2010 in which he publicly confirmed his self-identification as gay.[22] He discussed his fear of losing his career if someone were to find out, which led to Levin compartmentalizing his personal and professional lives.[22][23]
Levin's longtime partner is Andy Mauer, a chiropractor in Southern California.[24][25][26] The two own multiple properties together, sharing joint-deed listings since the late 1990s and early 2000s.[24][25] Levin has been named toOut magazine's "Power 50" list as one of the most influential voices in LGBT America since 2012 when he was named No. 15.[27] He has since been named No. 25 in 2013, No. 34 in 2014, No. 48 in 2015, and No. 40 in 2016.[28][29][30][31]
Levin supportedDonald Trump in the run-up to the2016 United States presidential election.[32] Following the election, he met with Trump in theOval Office on March 7, 2017, and chatted for an hour.[33] However, by August 2018,[34] he distanced himself from Trump over the president's repeated attempts to establish atransgender military ban. He became an increasingly vocal opponent of Trump in the years following.[35][36]
For his broadcast work, Levin has been nominated for nineEmmys.[18]
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