TMZ has faced a lot of criticism for the way it broke the news of Kobe Bryant’s death on Sunday, and much of the finger-pointing seems unwarranted. There was initially a belief that TMZ reported on Kobe’s death before the Bryant family was informed, but we can now safely conclude that was not the case.
When ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne spoke about the tragedy on “First Take” earlier this week, she reported that Los Angeles Lakers executives received a call from Bryant’s longtime brand manager shortly after 11 a.m. local time. The crash happened a little before 10 a.m., and Shelburne noted that the Lakers were informed about it before any media outlets published stories on it. You can hear Shelburne’s comments at the 3:57 mark below:
