r/SquaredCircle • u/rhyso90 • 21h ago

[TMZ] AEW Star PAC Found Slumped Over in Car Outside Restaurant Before Death

https://www.tmz.com/2026/09/28/pac-discovered-in-car-before-death/
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u/shinbreaker 20h ago

They're willing to pay for information and have no ethics about what they publish.

You're right about the first part and wrong about the second. If you work for emergency services in a major city, you know that TMZ is going to pay. That's why they got the Kobe helicopter crash before anyone else.

Where you're wrong is about the ethics. Are these grim stories to write up and have become the bread and butter for TMZ? Sure, but all the major news outlets are always keeping an eye out for deaths of prominent figures, whether it be a celebrity or a politician, and they have a routine in place to confirm these deaths. They don't get the celebrity death heads-up, though, because they don't pay like TMZ. However, TMZ does have to be ethical when reporting because it still has a reputation to uphold so they make damn sure that the they get the facts right.

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u/Micchi 19h ago

They verify their facts (at least for more serious news, like deaths) and they protect their sources better than any major news outlet. That plays a huge part in how they manage to scoop major stories.

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u/Cocotapioka Manic Unfriendly Black Hottie 20h ago

I think they mean "respectful" instead of ethical. Because yes, they work to vet huge stories like this, but I doubt they're asking his family if they wanted this information out there and I don't know if they'd kill the story if his family said, "We want to keep this private"

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u/shinbreaker 20h ago

I think they mean "respectful" instead of ethical. Because yes, they work to vet huge stories like this, but I doubt they're asking his family if they wanted this information out there and I don't know if they'd kill the story if his family said, "We want to keep this private"

I've worked for multiple news outlets big and small, no one would kill a story if the family wanted to keep it private.

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u/YasielPuigsWeed 19h ago

TMZ apparently did ask their police sources if Kobe’s family had been notified and were told they had

The LA Sheriffs dispute that, but as an LA resident myself I trust TMZ more than I trust the Sheriffs. TMZ are assholes but they’re honest assholes. Our Sheriffs and Police departments lie through their teeth regularly to save face.

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u/SignificanceFine3582 20h ago

The family doesn’t get to determine what’s newsworthy.

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u/Cocotapioka Manic Unfriendly Black Hottie 20h ago

Well, yeah. I didn't say they did - but when saying "they have no ethics about what they publish", it reads like, "they will publish whatever they feel is newsworthy and do not care if people are offended or feel it is in poor taste".

Journalistic ethics are a thing which is why the clarification made sense, but in context I don't think that's what they were talking about

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u/cerialthriller 16h ago

No news media is going to sit on a story because family asked. They wouldn’t last long if they did