TMZ founder Harvey Levin visited New York University's Journalism department earlier today, speaking to a couple dozen students about the online gossip biz and looking to recruit some new talent and bare his soul. The crowd was split between eager, résumé-toting undergrads and those hoping to ask just how he lives with himself. "You guys are like high-falutin for me," Levin told the students. "I never went to journalism school." This was the first time Levin's gone the J-school route to find new blood, but he said he plans to also hit up Columbia, U.C.L.A., and U.S.C. as well.

But, really, Harvey was there to gab—and gab he did, dishing on subjects from Britney to Baldwin. His nuggets of knowledge after the jump ...

On celebrity journo ethics
"It's a huge issue, especially with Britney Spears. Her parents are seriously worried that they're going to have to call the coroner soon. And those aren't my words. She has multiple personalities.... It's outrageous that they [U.C.L.A.] would let her go. The paparazzi haven't helped her. We give our cameramen explicit instructions. They're not allowed to chase, break the law, or go on private property."

On starting TMZ
"I said, 'we're gonna cover Britney Spears the way David Gregory [NBC News Chief White House Correspondent) covers President Bush.'"

On releasing the Alec Baldwin voicemail, what he calls one of the biggest ethical dilemmas he's faced
"We had it for two days before we released it, and that one I still struggle with." (Levin went on to say that he eventually decided to release the recording because of the custody battle between Baldwin and Kim Basinger.)

On not putting up the David Hasselhoff drunken hamburger-eating video
"We never did it. Unlike [the] Alec Baldwin [tape], it wasn't part of a court case. It was a private matter. It just didn't feel right to me."

On the paparazzi
"Somebody is gonna die eventually."

Have celebrities always been this crazy, or are the paps making them crazier?
"They've always been crazy. I think in some ways, Hollywood was crazier before [all the paps], because people could sweep it under the rug."

On stuff he hasn't released
"Some of the stuff that has come into my office would shock you. Michael Jackson—some of the documents [he's seen] would shock you. It would have been one of the biggest stories we ever did."

On the site blowing up after breaking the drunken Mel Gibson anti-semitic rant
"I was worried that people would start thinking of us as the PBS of the Web.... I said we'd better get Paris Hilton without her panties up there quickly."

On posting the not-so "fat" pictures of Jennifer Love Hewitt in a bikini, with not-so kind comments
"It got people talking and it was fun."

Why would someone with your talent and education choose to do this?
"I don't think people define their lives by one thing that they do. I just read a book about Einstein...."

On criticism of TMZ
"I'm proud of it. People criticize it, but there is a reason people go to the site: Because we break stories. It's old-fashioned journalism applied to frivolous stories."