The founder of the gossip website TMZ says it is “stupid” to criticize celebrities like Kanye West and Steve Harvey for meeting with President Trump.
“I guess the solution is that nobody should see him; it should be a boycott,” Harvey Levin told the conference of the National Association of Broadcasters on Monday. “That is so stupid.”
Levin, who featured Trump in a recent documentary called “Objectified,” also defended his hour-long meeting with the president last month.
“It is hilarious to me and kind of sad, that I was in the waiting room in the West Wing for a half hour before I walked in there. And probably saw a hundred people including reporters. So, nothing happened until a week later and then people were furious that I got in there and actually I was in Washington for something different and went in there,” Levin said.
The TMZ founder, who says he has known Trump for over a decade, says the two discussed future opportunities and other television projects. He also said he didn’t shy away from sharing his disagreements with the president.
“I’m not sure some of the stuff he does is stuff he believes,” Levin said. “I went in there and I voiced an opinion on some things and why would you not get in that game. If you disagree, the solution is to boycott? I mean the guy has already shown in the last three weeks he’s changed his mind on five things. So if he’s willing to change his mind why would you sit on the sidelines and bully people who go in there.”
Levin also bashed what he perceives as the media’s pretense of objectivity in covering the Trump administration.
“When you pretend like you’re objective, but you’re not, and you are angry and you are trying to kill and bully, I think that is killing [them]. And I don’t think they know it yet, but I think some of the trusted names in news are not trusted anymore because of this,” he said.
Watch Levin’s full remarks:
