Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Tells TMZ She Wouldn’t Do Judge Judy’s Job

Look. It’s not okay to harass the elderly.

That being said — there really is nothing more delightful than watching a paparazzo chasing down Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, shouting, “I LOVE YOUR WORK!”

Early Wednesday morning the celebrity gossip site TMZ posted a video of an unnamed reporter jogging through Reagan International Airport in pursuit of Ginsburg, who was flanked on all sides by suited security guards. Their exchange went like this:

Paparazzo (gasping, seemingly in exhaustion from chasing the 85 year-old Ginsburg): Justice Ginsburg! I saw your work, I love your work, I still do!

RBG: -Silence-

Paparazzo: Justice, would you ever change your career with Judge Judy if you had the opportunity? Do you love Judge Judy?

Ginsburg: (Apparently unable to leave the bate) I haven’t — I don’t like television.

Paparazzo: Would you ever exchange careers for at least a year with her?

RBG: No.

Paparazzo: Love what you do!

—Scene—

So civically inclined is TMZ, that the article accompanying the video on their site points out that with a salary of $251,000, Ginsburg makes a tiny fraction of Judge Judy’s annual $47 million. In fact, Judy Sheindlin, (the Judge herself,) recently won a court case that alleged that she was being overpaid. Responding to yet another dogged TMZ reporter in a comment RBG would surely approve of, Sheindlin said, “I’m happy that the judge said that not only can women never make too much money, but since we never question what guys earn, why would anybody question what I earn?”

Enjoy 30 seconds of TMZ/RBG crossover here.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.