Harvey Levin, the founder of TMZ, reportedly removed Kanye West's praise of Adolf Hitler and other pro-Nazi remarks from a notorious 2018 interview in which the rapper claimed slavery "was a choice" for Black Americans. The allegation comes from a GQ investigation published this week, which questioned more than two dozen current and former TMZ staff and raises questions about editorial decisions made to preserve access to high-profile celebrities.

The claim was made by Evan Rosenblum, a former TMZ staffer of 15 years, who said West spoke at length about admiring Hitler before the cameras stopped rolling, only for Levin to have the material cut afterwards. This corroborates similar remarks made in 2022 by another ex-TMZ employee, Van Lathan Jr. GQ also cites other alleged instances of favourable editorial treatment, including TMZ paying $80,000 to shelve footage of Justin Bieber using a racial slur, and continuing to run UFC exclusives despite obtaining footage of UFC boss Dana White in a physical altercation with his wife. West went on to make further antisemitic comments in following years, including a 2025 song titled "Heil Hitler", before apologising in 2026 and attributing his remarks to a brain injury. TMZ had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.