Final Piece on Perez Hilton



Post MMVA 2009 incident in Toronto

In June 2009, Hilton alleged in a video blog that he was assaulted by the Black Eyed Peas’ operation manager Polo Molina following the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards after-party where the Black Eyed Peas’ front man will.i.am was DJing. Hilton reported in his video that he was “clocked” in the eye by Molina. will.i.am also released a video statement in which he claimed he had approached Hilton regarding derogatory comments made by the blogger concerning bandmate Fergie and the group’s latest release The E.N.D.. During the incident, Hilton called will.i.am a “faggot” (Hilton later admitted in an interview with The Advocate that he originally considered using the word “nigger” instead) in order to get a reaction out of him, and it was at this point that Molina allegedly attacked Hilton. will.i.am claimed the attacking party was a fan, although Molina has been detained and will appear in a Toronto court concerning the incident. Hilton would later file a civil lawsuit against Molina, seeking an unspecified amount over $25,000 US to cover medical costs and as compensation for the “humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress” that Hilton suffered as a result of the attack.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called upon Hilton to apologize for using an anti-gay slur against will.i.am during the incident, saying “We have reached out to Hilton and asked him to apologize . . . and we would ask media outlets to avoid repetition of the slur in their coverage of this story.” Hilton initially refused to apologize, saying, “I am saddened GLAAD chose to victimize me further by criticizing me for how I non-violently dealt with a very scary situation that, unfortunately, turned violent.” On June 25, 2009, however, Hilton did apologize, stating “I am NOT apologizing to GLAAD...I am apologizing to the gay community, to anyone who was hurt by my choice of words, and to all the people who have ever emailed me to thank me for all that I have done to fight for gay rights over the last few years.” In addition, he pledged to donate any money won in the lawsuit against Molina to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. In a statement released on its website, Judy Shepard, Chair of the MSF, declined the gift, saying that “because the lawsuit presumably involves the physical attack prompted by Mr. Hilton’s admitted use of an anti-gay slur, the Foundation will be unable to accept any funds obtained in such a manner.”

Hilton received little sympathy in the media over the incident, a fact he addressed in his video blog. John Mayer made comments ridiculing Hilton and the incident on his Twitter page, resulting in a volley of insults between the two. Gawker viewed Hilton’s public apology with scepticism, being of the opinion that it was just an attempt to rebuild his “brand” and a possible attempt to prevent Canadian authorities from filing criminal charges against him for his use of hate speech during the Toronto incident.

Michael Jackson death controversy

On June 25, 2009, shortly after Michael Jackson had gone into cardiac arrest, Hilton posted an article about the star’s illness, claiming it was a publicity stunt. Hilton’s original post featured sarcastic comments such as “Get your money back, ticket holders!!!!” and “Jacko pulled a similar stunt when he was getting ready for his big HBO special in ’95 when he “collapsed” at rehearsal!”, in response to Jackson’s recently sold out tour through March of 2010. Upon realizing Michael Jackson’s death was not a hoax, Hilton immediately deleted the original news post and replaced it with a shorter message that linked to a story at entertainment news site TMZ, which said the singer had in fact gone into cardiac arrest. Hilton has received backlash for the incident, becoming entangled in a Twitter argument with Pete Wentz about the situation.

Miley Cyrus upskirt picture controversy

On June 13, 2010, Hilton posted a Twitter message linking to an upskirt picture of Miley Cyrus, which allegedly showed the singer without underpants. Since Cyrus was still underage at the time, Hilton could arguably face child pornography charges for distributing the image. The site that has been linked removed the picture in question. He did, however, respond to the accusations by claiming that the controversy was “fake” and that Cyrus did wear underwear in the photo in question. Hilton didn’t re-post the photo for proof. Instead, he linked to another image of Cyrus, supposedly taken on the same occasion, to prove that she had been wearing underwear.

Television appearances

In 2004, a then- 206 Ib. Hilton appeared as a contestant on the “Madonna Style” episode of VH1’s reality weight loss show, “Flab To Fab”. At the time, Hilton had 30% body fat and a 41” waist. Hilton lost a total of 45 Ibs. in three months and dropped 13” around his waist, leaving him at 160 Ibs and a 28” waist for his 6’0” frame, and a greatly reduced level of body fat.    

On July 13, 2007, Hilton announced on the TV show The View that he would star in his own reality television show on VH1. The series of six one-hour episodes, titled What Perez Sez, aired its first part on September 11, 2007.

Hilton appeared as a contestant on MTV’s Celebrity Rap Superstar, which debuted August 30, 2007. He was eliminated in week 6 of the contest by judges’ vote. On September 29, 2007, he hosted a Best of MADtv episode featuring pop culture parody sketches from previous seasons. He has appeared in music videos such as Simple Plan’s When I’m Gone, The Pussycat Dolls’s Hush Hush; Hush Hush and Felix da Housecat’s We All Wanna Be Prince. Hilton has also appeared in reality shows such as Victoria Beckham: Coming To America, MTV Cribs, The-N’s Queen Bees, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Tori Spelling THS and Paris Hilton’s My New BFF. In addition to reality television Lavendeira has guest starred as himself in scripted shows such as and Privileged.

Hilton is also a regular on TV Series TRL, Much Music, and Extra where he appears via satellite from his closet studio to talk about gossip.

He co-hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and after Rick Astley did not show up to collect his award for best act ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Perez Hilton collected the prize on Rick’s behalf.

On June 21, 2009, Hilton was a presenter at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, Ontario.

On December 2, 2009, Hilton was a guest on the TV show The View.

In 2010, Hilton guest starred as himself in the episode “Wi-Fi in the Sky” on Victorious.

Music

Radio

Hilton premiered his nationally syndicated radio show, Radio Perez, which included updates from his blog, on May 5, 2008. He has also appeared on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Most recently on January 8, 2009.

Discography

Hilton has a song called “The Clap”, which is about Gonorrhea. The song is composed and produced by Lucian Piane.

Other appearances

Special appearances

* Hilton appears in Britney Spears’s tour, The Circus Starring Britney Spears. Hilton appears dressed as Queen Elizabeth I.

* Hilton appears in the 2010 Vengaboys video “Rocket To Uranus”.