Van Lathan is a podcast host of “Van Lathan’s The Red Pill,” and a former senior TMZ producer whose ticket to fame was his high-profile disagreement with Kanye West’s “slavery was a choice” comment, broadcast live on national television.
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Early life and family
Van Lathan is of African American descent and was born on April 16, 1980, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA to parents Terry and Christal Ellis; he has a younger sister, Ebony Rage Lathan. Even as a young child, he was known for his outspokenness and confidence in expressing his opinions. In one of his TV interviews, he said it was his mother who made him feel like it was okay to be who he wanted to be, and his father who demanded he be “someone”. a”.
TMZ fires Van Lathan after heated row over policy http://dlvr.it/RGkgsY
Posted by Baller Alert on Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Schooling
No specific details are available regarding his academic records except that he graduated from college in 2003 majoring in political science and creative writing.
Career
First steps
After college, Lathan began her career as a guide for the popular TMZ Celebrity Tour, driving tourists to iconic Hollywood locations while riding a custom TMZ bus. He was part of the team that developed the concept for the tour, which covers a 30-mile area around Beverly Hills and Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
more success
In 2011, TMZ founder and host Harvey Robert Levin was impressed with Lathan’s work and decided to include him on the TV show. He started at the bottom doing camera work in the field, tried his hand at sports journalism, then worked his way up to become a senior producer.
Confrontation with Kanye West
Van Lathan became an overnight sensation in 2018, when American rapper, record producer and entrepreneur Kanye West asked TMZ TV staff if he was thinking and feeling free when he made the infamous comment ” 400 years of slavery was a choice” live on national TV.
Lathan stood up and started to verbalize his disappointment with Kanye’s statement and said, “While you’re making music and you’re an artist and you’re living the life you’ve earned from being a genius , the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives. He said the African-American community had no choice. He was clearly incredibly upset and discouraged that Kanye “has turned into something that isn’t real.” Lathan received a lot of love and support as he spoke passionately and eloquently about his opinions. The live TV showdown with Kanye opened more doors for Lathan, with many television and radio appearances.
The Red Pill Podcast
Bursting with ideas and opinions, Van Lathan decided to produce his own weekly podcast in addition to the TMZ show he was doing. The television business limits the topics that can be discussed, and therefore the podcast is the perfect place for Lathan to convey his opinions with more diversity. The “Van Lathan Red Pill” is aptly named, as it was inspired by the concept of the red pill in Keanu Reeves’ hit movie, “The Matrix”, which references being woken up by the brutal realities of the world we all live in.
TMZ Termination
In October 2019, Van Lathan was fired from TMZ after having a heated political debate with fellow actor Michael Bobcock; the argument in the newsroom was removed from the TMZ Live broadcast.
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TMZ fires Van Lathan after heated row over politics – Written by: @RaquelHarrisTV argues with fellow #MichaelBabcock. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Page Six reports that the verbal altercation happened about a week and a half ago when the two appeared on “TMZ Live” together and had a form of disagreement around the policy. Footage of the two arguing has not been released, but sources say the subject has become an issue between them. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Sources say Lathan confronted Babcock in the press room after the segment ended and told him there would be trouble if he ” never bothered [Lathan] like it again.” People familiar with the incident say Lathan met with TMZ’s legal team and was suspended, then a few days later he was let go, Page Six reports. An insider explained that TMZ executives often use the site’s high-pressure work environment to stir up employees and pit them against each other in order to earn high marks.”Van isn’t mean. Everything that happened past is a product of that environment,” an insider said. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Sources continued to defend Lathan, saying he played a significant role in the TMZ’s success over the past few years, and they were shocked that he was fired. The incident. Lathan, Babcock, or TMZ commented. But Lathan tweeted in response to the headline news, saying saying, “I’m fine. Promise guys. Seriously,” Lathan wrote of the argument.
Apparently Lathan confronted Bobcock telling him not to embarrass him anymore. There had been much speculation as to why he was fired immediately – one theory was that Lathan smothered Bobcock during the argument. Another was that Harvey Robert Levin was a Trump supporter, and Lathan was very critical of the president. No official statement has been released by TMZ. Lathan has just assured his followers via his social media accounts that he is fine.
Currently, people can watch him via his weekly podcast, “Van Lathan’s Red Pill.” He recently joined Bill Simmons’ media company called The Ringer and is developing new shows with them.
Private life
Van Lathan may be outspoken and generous in sharing his opinions, but when it comes to his personal life, he is very private. It’s unclear if he’s single, married, or just in a complicated relationship. He occasionally mentioned his father and mother in his interviews, but with few details. His opinion often did not sit well with his father, and there was a time when he was not on good terms with him. Her mother, on the other hand, is very supportive, not only with her life choices but also with her chosen career.
Interesting facts
Lathan is very active on social media, regularly using Twitter and Instagram to raise awareness of social issues and communicate with his followers, but he rarely mentions his family.
He has around 130,000 followers on Twitter and around 430,000 on Instagram.
He enjoys watching mob movies and TV series. He loves Al Pacino’s ‘Scarface’, but thinks ‘The Godfather’ is better quality. He also prefers “The Wire” to “Breaking Bad”, but he definitely thinks “Soprano” is much better than both.
Appearance and weight loss
Van Lathan has black hair and black eyes. He went through a weight loss journey that continues to inspire many people. He had an epiphanic moment when he felt his heartbeat race just because he was struggling to get out of his car.
He weighed himself in a Walmart store using a 300-pound scale only to watch it do a 180-degree turn and stop at 50 pounds. Not convinced of the scale’s effectiveness, he went to a GNC store to weigh himself again. He was found to weigh about 365 pounds (165 kg) and was 1.9 m (6 ft 4 in) tall, he was overweight. He decided to do something and today, having adopted a healthy lifestyle, he weighs around 185 pounds (83 kg).
Net Worth and Salary
Being in the entertainment business for quite some time now, he has amassed quite a sizable net worth estimated at the start of 2020 at over $2 million. Some sources speculate that his annual income is at least $80,000, especially now that he produces and monetizes his own podcast.