Tiffany Haddish had a run in with a TMZ reporter on Sunday, and rather than answering his impromptu questions, she made a video of her own explaining why she felt he was out of line.
Haddish posted the video on Instagram, explaining the encounter to her 2.5 million followers. Behind her, the SUV was full to the roof with suitcases, and three other women were riding in the car with her.
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“I fly into L.A.,” she began with no shortage of curses and harsh words. “TMZ is standing there, like, with the camera, wanting to take a picture. We got ump-teen thousand bags, alright? The man is standing up on a pillar, watching me and my girls — all of us — load this SUV up, this Escalade up, all by ourselves.”
Haddish’s friends were laughing, and she betrayed the flicker of a smirk a few times, but for the most part she maintained a deadly serious expression.
“As soon as we finish, he’s going to come over and be like ‘can I ask you some questions.’ If you don’t get the f– out my face asking me some g–damn questions!” she raged. “I would have stood there and talked to your a– for thirty, forty-five minutes! I would have told you everything, I would have told you the f– bit Beyonce!”
Haddish went into a firestorm of curses, speaking through the camera to the reporter and saying “I know your mama raised you better than that!”
While Haddish seemed to be at least partially making a joke out of the uncomfortable encounter, she maintained her anger in the caption.
“TMZ is out of order for that SMH,” she wrote. “What is wrong with men today you can stand there and watch us women load bags and not help Weak.”
Within a couple of hours, TMZ had responded to the video. The outlet re-posted the clip, explaining the situation in their own words.
“Truth is … our camera guy was just doing his job — which doesn’t include loading luggage — but there’s always room to lend a helping hand,” TMZ conceded.
“Sorry Tiff … but just one more thing — where was the Skycap?”
Over the course of its history, TMZ has rubbed plenty of stars the wrong way. Their up-close-and-personal style can be a lot to handle, especially for the stars who are caught off guard at airports or other random public places. At times, it is no less stressful for the viewers, some of whom shy away from the confrontational footage.
In the past several years, many other stars have called the outlet out for their aggressive attempts to get quotes. Chris Brown posted a picture of TMZ founder Harvey Levin back in 2014, along with some harsh words for the journalist.
Kanye West also had a run-in with TMZ reporters in 2013. When he was approached at the airport, a frustrated Yeezy got protective of his personal space.
“Don’t. Talk,” West repeated slowly several times. “To me, or to anyone I know. Or anyone that anyone knows.”
Afterward, the cameraman continued following West and asking questions from behind. The footage cut out suddenly when West lunged for the camera. The outlet still ran the angry footage, and West was still criticized for his response.
