TMZ Goes to Washington: Charlie Cotton on Launching TMZ DC & Covering Politics Like Never Before

What happens when celebrity-style coverage meets Washington politics? In this episode, TMZ DC Co-Managing Editor and reporter Charlie Cotton breaks down the brand’s expansion into the nation’s capital and how they’re reshaping political news coverage. From insider access to viral moments, Cotton explains how TMZ DC plans to cover lawmakers, power players, and breaking stories in a way traditional outlets don’t. Plus, what this means for media, transparency, and the future of political reporting. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to entertain mea show where we cover all
things entertainment from Sokal to the silver screen. I'm Heather Brooker.
If you're chronically online like i am, you may have
noticed that there is a new addition to the press
corps in Washington.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Right here.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
New members of our press court. Here Jacob Blosserman with
TMZ DC.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
We have two questions.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm going to ask the first, and my colleague blast
the second. You know I've heard you talk a lot
about Sorry, we'll see. Okay, you heard that right. TMZ,
the website that built its empire breaking celebrity and pop
culture news in Hollywood, is now taking that same fast,
aggressive approach to Washington. The new TMZ DC aims to

(00:48):
cover politics with the speed, access, and edge. The brand
is known for interviewing congressman, senators, political power players, and
even as you heard, they're the Secretary of Defense Pete
hag Seth. Joining me now is Charlie Cotton to talk
about why TMZ is headed to DC and what it
means when politicians start getting covered like celebrities. Hi, Charlie,

(01:11):
thanks for joining us.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
No, absolutely, it's a pleasure, first time call, A longtime listener.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
There you go. So I have to say, I've been
really enjoying the videos that I've seen of you and
the new TMZ DC team out in Washington. You know,
TMZ has sort of built its brand on Hollywood. Why
move to Washington now? And why does this moment make
sense sort of politically and culturally.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, I think now is the right time. In fact,
it's kind of overdue, to be honest. You know, the
right time might have been years ago, because people just
want greater transparency out of their elected officials. These are
public servants. We pay their wages, we pay their gas there,

(01:59):
you know, we pay for their life. And so why then,
is like TMZ all about covering Kim Kardashian and Sabrina
Carpander and whoever else and like trying to get interviews
with them out on the street and you know, talking
about their love life or what's happening. Why is there
so much scrutiny on these people with little, no power

(02:23):
when the most powerful people in the country we don't
know Dearley squad about well.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
And yeah, speaks to a lot of the fearless style
that TMZ has sort of become known for over the years.
So I have to ask you, are you covering these
politicians like you would cover these celebrity encounters on the street,
or is there a different approach that you're going to
be taking if you see a senator or congress person

(02:48):
or even a secretary walking down the street.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Same treatment, I think, same treatment, like and that's and
that's a respectful treatment. Like I've been working for TMZ
for thirteen years. Most of that time, most of that
time I've been at Lax, walking around Lax with a
camera in my backpack, trying to find a celebrity to
talk to, and I when I find one, I'll go

(03:14):
up to them. I'll ask permission. I'll sort of like
say what I want to know, what I want to
talk about, and if they say no, then I take
that as an answer and I go no worries at all,
I'll catch you next time. And you know, that's part
just being a good guy, in part tactics, because if

(03:34):
you show them respect, next time they see you, they
will show back to you. Maybe you've got a better
chance of getting an interview next time.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Now finding that you have to like get caught up
on the news of the day and in order to
have questions to ask them.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
I kind of try to blend all of it in
the same interview, Like I'll always kind of start with
almost a humanizing, fun silly question, whether it's celebrity or politician,
and then try to sort of ask more hard news
type stuff. So I've been like my reading digest, my

(04:13):
website digest has changed, like I'm now sort of like
reading Politico and The Hill and I wouldn't have searched
those sites before. But I'm still like looking at all
the main sort of celebrity hub websites too, including TMZ
dot Com of course, trying to see if there's some

(04:34):
sort of crossover pop culture political thing that we could
ask about, Like has Kanye West been banned from another
country while he continues to sell out Sofi Stadium and
made millions and millions, Like that's maybe we could ask
a politician about that, Like why as America so accepting

(04:54):
of you know, supposedly reformed anti semi Why we're so
accepting when other countries aren't. Maybe that's a good question
to ask the politician.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Now, do you know all of their faces yet or
do you still find that you're going Now, okay, is
that somebody or who is that? Or you know, because
there's so many members of Congress and they're not all
of them are in the public eye as much as
like celebrities coming in and out of lax are definitely.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
I mean, it's actually kind of funny that I tweeted
out a picture of my cheat sheet that I'd printed
out with all their faces and names and what districts
they're from, and everyone was like half the people online
were like clowning me, kind of like amateur hour, and
other half is going, you know, it is amateur hour,

(05:44):
But isn't this what you'd want someone in there a
few days on the hill to be doing. So I've been,
I've been studying, but the best way to learn is
just by interviewing them.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
You had a very entertaining, to say the least, encounter
recently with our K junior that went viral, so let's
play that for everybody.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Hey man, I just got one question, in all seriousness,
what is your fascination with road killed and dead animals?
I know you've you've done a few things, notably with
a whale, with a bear, with a raccoon more recently.
I just want to know what the fascination is sir anything, okay,

(06:28):
thank you, thank you sir.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
So what happened there? Were you expecting him to respond
in some way?

Speaker 2 (06:35):
So we got him on the way in and we
asked about a raccoon penis. He'd just admitted to cutting
off in some I don't know where he admitted it,
but he admitted it. And then I got him coming
out of the hearing and I asked him sort of
like what's your fascination with roadkill? Like why do you

(06:56):
do you've been? I think he cut the he got
a whale, he did something with a while, he did
something with the bed. Oh, he took the bed to
Central Park and yeah, then he cut the penis of
a raccoon or something. So I he didn't he didn't
reply to me, But I mean, if you've seen the shot,
it's kind of a meme, just like it's him walking
there and there's a lady next to him trying to

(07:18):
stop USLF laughing. So yeah, just doing that sort of
stuff is crazy for like little old me from Australia.
Like then you just face to face with RFK trying
to ask him about like roadkill, It's just like what
is this?

Speaker 1 (07:32):
So what is going on Honestly though, That's part of
the beauty I think of TMZ is that you guys,
more so than the traditional press, can get away with
questions like that. When the traditional press tries to, you know,
they have they're a little more stuffy, a little more formal.
They have to ask their you know, pre prepared questions
and that sort of thing. That's sort of the charm
of TMZ and the fast and loose kind of style

(07:54):
that we love. But let me ask you this, there's
a lot of powerful players in Washington. Are you afraid
that you're gonna ask somebody the wrong question or push
somebody or someone's not gonna like what you're doing? Are
you Is there any fear there?

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yes, I am worried that, you know, I don't know,
I'll say the wrong thing or offend the wrong person
or because I'm kind of just like an open book
sort of no filter, that's the right term. Like I
just kind of just say what's on my mind. And
that's why I've got fire at tmzs because that's what

(08:31):
the boss wants, and he wants just authentic interviews, not
not trying to be anyone by besides yourself. But so
I am. It is on my mind that I might
say the wrong thing at some time, like I've often
I've often thought that, like if I ever get the
chance to interview Donald Trump, like my first question might
be like if I ask the wrong thing, are you

(08:52):
going to deport me? Like, I don't know, you never know.
These are powerful people, and like I'm here by the
the grace of the United States government and I hope
it stays that way. So yeah, it's on my mind.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Well, Charlie, I want to encourage you to keep asking
the tough but interesting and entertaining questions that you guys
always do. It certainly is fun to watch, and I
know that there's probably a lot of traditional journalists that
are very jealous of the fact that you get to
be so free and open with your questions. And best

(09:29):
of luck with TMZ DC. People can get more information
at tmz dot com. Will be watching.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
Thank you, Heather, it was very nice meeting you and
talking to you, and I appreciate your support.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
That's going to do it for this episode of entertain Me.
Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. Also,
feel free to share it with your friends, spread the word.
I'm Heatherbrooker and as a quick reminder, I have some
stand up comedy shows coming up. I'd love to see
you out there. That Netflix is a joke. Festival is happening.
My show on May third at the ice House Comedy

(10:01):
Club is going to be a hoot. Would love to
see you there. Tickets are available at ice Housecomedy dot
com or on my website Heatherbrooker dot com. Also have
a show coming up May twenty second. Would love to
see you there as well. That one's gonna be a
wild one. Thanks again for listening. You can listen anywhere
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