Comedian Corey Holcomb says TMZ ruined his career by TMZ posting a video that showed him punching fellow comedian Cristina Payne in the face.
The incident happened in 2024, when Holcomb took a swing at Payne during a heated argument.
TMZ posted the video in January 2026, and it went viral.
Surveillance footage shows Corey Holcomb punching comedian Cristina Payne in the face, an accusation he previously denied
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— Block Topickz (formerly Glock Topickz) (@BlockTopickz) January 23, 2026
TMZ posted the video following another incident involving Holcomb and Anton Daniels during the Jan. 13 episode of the 5150 show.
Tensions flared when Holcomb challenged Daniels to a fight during a verbal altercation.
The two incidents together portrayed Holcomb as a troublemaker and woman abuser. Social media users roasted him for attacking a female.
During the Feb. 4 episode of 5150, Holcomb complained that he can’t book comedy shows because TMZ ruined his life.
Sponsors are also distancing themselves from the problematic radio host.
“You know, I haven’t been working a lot of my gigs. I lost a lot of my gigs. So, by the way, thank you TMZ. I lost another gig today,” he said.
“I’m about to be out here on welfare. Somebody got to explain why I ain’t got nothing no more.”
Holcomb, 56, accused TMZ founder and lawyer Harvey Levin of ruining the lives of Black men in California.
He added: “And a life I’ve been building 30 some years was destroyed because everybody think TMZ is square business. They not square business, homie. That was ran by this lady named Shawn Holley and Harvey Levin. It’s so many brothers in jail right now because of that tag team. And they was trying to get me by pushing the narrative of a gun. And it’s so many people out there. Ain’t nobody see me with no gun.”
So far, TMZ has not commented on Holcomb’s allegations.
