If this was called, How O.J. Simpson Impacted Harvey Levin of TMZ, I doubt that many people would have watched it. But that’s what it’s about and to be honest, it’s kind of fascinating to hear one person’s life over two years be impacted by the case that would kick off the 24 hour news cycle and then give him the ability to start TMZ.
Levin found an interesting path into founding the site that more people turn to now than the National Enquirer for their celebrity news. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he graduated with a B.A. in political science and then got a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School. He was an attorney in the state of California for two decades and also wrote a column for the Los Angeles Times and was Dr. Law on a radio show.
He then started to work for KNBC and KCBS as an investigative reporter and legal analyst. The O.J. trial was his major story before he was the co-executive producer and on-air legal anchor for a revised version of The People’s Court. He also created the show Celebrity Justice. In 2005, AOL and Telepictures Productions launched TMZ, which has had Levin as the founder and managing editor ever since.
So what really happened on June 12, 1994? That’s what this special tries to explain and to my surprise, Levin is the perfect person to tell this story. He covered O.J. Simpson’s murder trial from start to finish. There are insider parts about untold lie detector tests and even speculation about who helped Simpson get away with the murders.
TMZ spoiled some of this special by reporting “O.J. Simpson went back to the scene of the crime — where he killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman — and our own Harvey Levin happened to be there and a wild chase ensued.”
In this TMZ special, Harvey claims that he drove a friend to Nicole’s condo where the murders occurred. They saw a limo in the alley and as soon as the driver made eye contact with him, he drove away.
If you haven’t had enough O.J. — and Tubi has been full of O.J. stories lately — here’s one more way to get your Juice fix.
You can watch this on Tubi.