After being abruptly fired from TMZ last month, Van Lathan announced that he is joining Will Packer‘s new show, Central Ave.
This makes Lathan the newest on-air personality on the show, which airs on Fox Television stations in eight markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Detroit.
The announcement was made via Central Ave’s Twitter account.
Our new ‘Central Ave’ team member @VanLathan hits the ‘Ave’ to find out what people are saying about @Kaepernick7 potential NFL come back and @JohnLegend being named @people magazine’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’. #johnlegend #ColinKaepernick #vanlathan https://t.co/nx34pwcYrB
— Central Ave (@centralavetv) November 16, 2019
Lathan worked for TMZ since the inception of the program and gained notoriety when he vigorously pushed back against Kanye West while on the air in May 2018 when Kanye stated that “slavery was a choice” during a live taping of the TMZ Live show.
The former TMZ personality had recently been let go after getting into a high-spirited confrontation with Michael Babcock, reports The Daily Beast. After having a disagreement over politics, it’s been reported that Lathan confronted Babcock in the newsroom after the segment and supposedly threatened Babcock if he “ever embarrassed [Lathan] like that again.”
Lathan had previously talked to Jemele Hill on her podcast, “Jemele Hill is Unbothered,” to discuss what’s next for him as well as the perception of the incident. Lathan also produces his own podcast, Van Lathan’s The Red Pill.
Central Ave is seen daily and hosted by BET’s Julissa Bermudez and Olympic track star and five-time gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross. It airs from Atlanta and features segments produced in New York and L.A. The show is co-produced by the team of Will Packer Media and distributor Debmar-Mercury and is in the midst of a five-week test run.
Debmar-Mercury co-president Mort Marcus on the addition of Central Ave, as posted on Broadcasting + Cable: “There’s no need for another Extra, Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood. We believe there is room for another entertainment magazine but it needs to come from a different point of view.”