Van Lathan FIRED From TMZ After Verbal Altercation With 'Right Leaning' Co-Worker & Producer, Wants To Hire An Attorney Before Speaking

The one guy not scared to confront Kanye West about his bullsh-t on national TV just got fired.  Deets on the surprising entertainment newsroom shake up inside.

He held it down for black folks with sense last year in the TMZ newsroom, now, Van Lathan has just gotten fired.

According to Page Six, he and his co-worker, Senior Producer Michael Babock, got into it while filming an episode of "TMZ Live" last week.  Like, really got into it.  To the point their verbal altercation had to be edited out.  It's important to note - Van is unapologetically black and woke and often talks about entertainment and political news stories from that angle.  Apparently, Michael is more of a "right" leaner.  So, we all know how this goes.

The site reports:

We’re told that the pair appeared on the site’s online show “TMZ Live” together about a week and a half ago and had some kind of disagreement. The on-air face-off has been edited out, we’re told, but sources say they were sparring over politics, which has increasingly come between them. Lathan famously went head-to-head with Kanye West last year over the rapper’s claims that slavery was “a choice.” Meanwhile, we’re told Babcock leans to the right.

Sources say that Lathan confronted Babcock in the newsroom after the segment and told him there would be trouble if he “ever embarrassed [Lathan] like that again.” Insiders say Lathan met with the site’s attorneys and he was suspended. He was dismissed a few days later, we’re told.

Van - who has been a major face of the company and brings in plenty of eyes via his Red Pill Podcast - confirmed the news tweeting:

It’s looking like tomorrow is going to suck. We good up there God? Okay, cool Just checking.

— VanLathan (@VanLathan) October 21, 2019

 

I’m okay. Promise you guys. Seriously.

— VanLathan (@VanLathan) October 22, 2019

We believe you. And it's probably totally a blessing in disguise.  Sometimes you're too big for the space you're in, and it takes a major shakeup show you if other folks know it or not.

Page Six's source defended Van saying they're surprised he was fired over this, since he's not mean spirited:

An insider defended Lathan saying that in the site’s high-pressure newsroom, staffers are often pitted against each other for the sake of making good TV. “Van’s not mean-spirited. Anything that happened is a product of that environment,” said an insider.

Sources also said that Lathan had been “a huge part” of the success of TMZ over the past few years and they were stunned he had been fired over the incident.

 

This line tells us everything we need to know:

When reached for comment, Lathan declined to comment without speaking to an attorney, Babcock hung up on us, and TMZ didn’t get back to us.

Hmph. Onward and upward, Van.

 

Photo: Instagram

source: theybf