TMZ is managed by Harvey Levin, an entertainment lawyer (?) in Los Angeles who was the former exec producer of "Celebrity Justice." It's starting to be known for creating its own news (an example is that totally fake crocodile-tears Paris Hilton interview from last week).
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001656883
TMZ was launched last December by AOL.
[Talk about a spectacular flameout. Mel is toast.]
I still maintain it is the God-given right of every mega-celebrity to have one free total-meltdown incident. Mel was wayyy overdue!