TMZ got one of the biggest scoops in its existence when it obtained the video of former NFL running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee Janay Rice in an elevator in Atlantic City. The celebrity gossip site reportedly paid over $100,000 for the two videos that effectively ended Rice’s career.
According to a report by The New Yorker Magazine on how TMZ works, the site first paid $15,000 for a video that showed Rice dragging an unconscious Janay from an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. The video was posted on Feb. 19, 2014. Initially, the NFL only suspended Rice for two games because of the incident.
On Sept. 8, the full video of what happened inside the elevator went viral after TMZ posted it. The site paid nearly $90,000 for the video, according to the New Yorker’s sources.
After the video was posted, there were questions about whether the NFL had seen the video or not before it was leaked. The NFL denied that it ever saw it before it was released, but a law enforcement source told the Associated Press that it was sent to the league in April 2014.
The NFL suspended Rice indefinitely for the incident, but he was later reinstated. Still, no franchise signed him for the 2015 season.