Just the other day reports came in that Van Lathan was fired from TMZ after he got quite physical with his co-worker Michael Babcock. At the time details were sparse, but it was clear that Van put his hands on Michael's neck leading to an off-camera issue that grabbed the attention of the TMZ office. Apparently things got heated over politics and Van told Michael off-camera that he'd be in trouble if he "ever embarrassed [Lathan] again."
“Van’s not mean-spirited. Anything that happened is a product of that environment,” a source said of the incident. Now video proof of the whole event has appeared on Twitter from a user who calls themselves a "TMZ superfan." As you can see in the clip below, Van does approach Michael and whisper something in his ear before putting his hand around his neck. Michael tells him to get off but Van continues before walking away leading Michael to get up and deal with things off-camera.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1186793591504551936
Sources did state that Van would not have been fired if he did not get physical. After the ordeal, Van tweeted: "I'm okay. Promise you guys. Seriously."
https://twitter.com/_/status/1186460699188318208
