Heading into White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend, POLITICO caught up with the buzziest new celebrities in town: the TMZ guys.
Since arriving in Washington last week, Jacob Wasserman, Charlie Cotton and Jakson Buhaj of the TMZ DC bureau have shaken up the D.C. media bubble, asking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth what he feels in his mind and body when dropping bombs or whether lawmakers know what Grindr is.
In an interview in front of the Capitol building Friday afternoon, the trio discussed their mission, tactics and whether they’re really trying to troll us all.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Where are you guys from and how did you get into this job?
Cotton: I’m from the capital of Australia … Canberra. I came to America and just got a job randomly at TMZ as a tour guide on our celebrity tours around Hollywood. And then I’ve been there 13 years now, doing camera stuff, doing reporter stuff.
Buhaj: I was going to go to school, and then TMZ hired me out of an ice cream shop as a [production assistant]. I did a few things for them, and Harvey [Levin] just decided he wanted me on TMZ full time. And so he was like, “Don’t go to school, come here.” And I just found myself in Capitol Hill with these guys. So it’s been quite an adventure.
Wasserman: I went to Tulane, and TMZ was my first job out of college and then just slowly built up. I’ve been there now for six and a half years. Before this I actually covered a lot of political stuff for TMZ, numerous campaign cycles. I also covered high-profile court cases, like the Sean Combs criminal trial.
The Call Your Mother and Tatte tweets — are you trolling us?
Wasserman: Yes. That was a total joke. I have to say, I didn’t really tweet before I moved here a few days ago, and I was trying to be a little tongue-in-cheek.
I’m learning that that doesn’t necessarily land always on Twitter. I’d never been to Call Your Mother, but given the line there, I was like, Oh, of course, this is really a popular place. And since everyone was losing it, I just parlayed it to Tatte. That was it.
Cotton: We’re discovering D.C. … We’re so amazed to be here. Everything feels new and exciting, and look where we are. We’re talking to you right now outside the capital, like it’s crazy. I think that sort of energy of just excitement around politics and politicians is something that this place hasn’t had for a long time, maybe, if ever.
We want to talk to people who maybe someone from middle America has no idea who it is, but because they’ve seen a few of our interactions, they know this is going to be interesting.
And if we want informed voters, if we want people to know more, we want greater transparency, I think it’s a good thing we’re here and we’re just excited about where this very fledgling sort of thing is going to go.
Talk to me about your mission and what you would see as a dream TMZ DC story.
Buhaj: A big story could be a bill that’s being passed. A big story could be what an intern is saying about a fellow intern. A big story could be who clogged the toilet in one of the House office buildings. It could mean anything for us. So I would say, dream story? I don’t think we have anything specific in mind. I think we’re here just providing factual news to the people. That’s at the forefront of our minds right now.
Wasserman: I think TMZ plays off emotion. I mean, that can be found in a soundbite. That could be found in court documents. That could be found in a 911 audio clip.
So you guys are not officially credentialed [through the congressional press galleries]. Are you seeking credentials? What’s happening there?
Wasserman: We’ve applied. So we’re just waiting.
At the same time, even when you’re not credentialed, there’s plenty of opportunity to meet a lot of people. We’ll speak to people when they walk from the House over there to the Capitol building and tunnels. What’s been so amazing is how inviting people are and how willing they are to talk.
There’s no chasing anyone down. If anything, people are coming up to us and they recognize us now. They say, “Hey, I want to talk about X, Y and Z,” and what a great opportunity for that.
Are you getting a lot of outreach from Hill staffers who want their boss to be talking to you guys?
Cotton: Yes. It’s amazing.
It’s amazing because we see them all, and we didn’t expect everyone to be so down. There have been a few people, Lindsey Graham included, who haven’t wanted to speak to us when we’ve given them the opportunity. And if they don’t want to speak to us, I don’t begrudge that one bit. I get it. This is new and scary.
We want to be here. We want to ask interesting questions. If there’s a direct question that needs to be asked, it just needs to be asked. But we don’t want to be rude. We don’t want to “gotcha” anyone. We just want to have conversations like this and have some laughs, some serious. … We’re just out here to learn about D.C. and the people in it.
There’s some chatter about TMZ paying for stories or tips. Is that true? Is that something you guys will be doing here?
Wasserman: Absolutely not. That’s just complete misinformation. I think people like to use that as a way to maybe sometimes discredit us.
The way that TMZ really operates is we work super hard. And although it’s just us three here, our engine is in Los Angeles and we have an incredible team of producers who work incredibly hard. Harvey Levin, Charles [Latibeaudiere], these are guys who have been working in journalism for decades. And we conduct ourselves the way that journalists go about reporting on stories, whether it be getting police reports, FOIA requests, searching through court documents. We take it really seriously.
How does covering politicians compare to covering celebrities?
Cotton: It’s the same. We’re just doing the same thing.
We know everything about, say, “The Real Housewives.” Yet we know nothing about the members of Congress who control our lives. You know what I mean? And we pay their salaries. They’re our public servants. So why is there more scrutiny on a private citizen rather than our public servants? And we just wanted to come over here, kind of flip it on its head and do the exact same thing we’ve been doing in LA, which is cover the news fairly, truthfully, factually.
And we want people to trust us. We want people to trust that when they talk to us on camera, we’re not going to be all weird. We want people who consume our media to know that this is accurate.
Charlie, you talked about fairness. I saw some of your posts on social media from years prior. One called Lindsey Graham a “bozo.” One praised Chuck Schumer. Talk to me a little bit about that. Can you cover these people fairly?
Cotton: Absolutely. I mean, I use that expression very liberally. If you know me, I’m Australian. You know what I mean? So, yeah, absolutely I can, and I’m also not afraid to express my opinion, either.
I’m here and I’m going to cover the news how I want. I’m going to ask the questions I want to ask. That’s just that.
The ultimate merger of celebrity and politics is happening this weekend, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. How are you guys tackling that? Where can people see you guys?
Wasserman: We are going to the Grindr party tonight. We’re going to the Substack party tomorrow.
We’re pretty tired. We’re working pretty hard. And even this morning, we were at the Pentagon. It was an early morning. So we’ll definitely pop out and show face but I don’t think it’s going to get too crazy. TBD.
Most standout interaction so far?
Cotton: AOC hanging out of the side of a car saying, “Hey TMZ DC, hi, how are you guys?”
And we’re like, “What? Like she knows us?”
People here know us and respect us and appreciate that we’re here. And sometimes in LA I haven’t felt that, but here I felt it so much. And it’s been a breath of fresh air. And I really hope that we can deliver on people’s faith.
Buhaj: I can’t talk about it yet because it’s not out, but you’re gonna have to stay tuned. … But to give you guys a hint, there are congressmen here that are very hospitable.
Wasserman: Jonathan Jackson was a great interaction I had the other day. I ran into him again at the airport, and he came up to me and he was like, “Hey, how’s it going?” We were just kind of joshing around. So that was great. And I’m happy that he feels like he could do that with me. And it’s not going to be a weird thing.
Which members have surprised you?
Buhaj: Tim Burchett.
The stuff that we talked about in an interview was crazy. It’s just you’re sitting there in that office and you’re like, “I can’t believe these words are coming out of the congressman’s mouth.”
Nothing bad, but he’s just so open about, “There’s blatant corruption here on Capitol Hill.” It’s something he wants to weed out. It was very refreshing to have an interview with a public representative who was just so open about everything.
Cotton: Two words: Shomari Figures.
I actually interviewed him for the first time yesterday, but we’re just trying to meet everyone. And he’s just so cool. He obviously looks like a dreamboat. He told me yesterday that he’s the pound for pound best athlete in Congress and I believe it.
I didn’t know Shomari Figures existed until like a few days ago. And now I do. And now I am punishing myself because I should have known because here’s this amazing guy doing amazing things.
What is the best food that you’ve encountered in Washington so far?
Cotton: There’s this coffee place called Cameo. It’s really good. … The coffee in D.C. hits.
Buhaj: I’m a coffee snob. I can name like 50 coffee spots in LA. I can name probably five or 10 across the city that I’ve been through already. Right off the bat, I’m not saying you guys don’t do it right, but LA just does it better.
Wasserman: The Peruvian chicken in Longworth.
Cotton: I want them to serve Peruvian chicken at my wake one day.
Buhaj: Honorable mention is the Barcelona Wine Bar. There’s actually some pretty good food over there. I was pretty impressed.
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