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Profiles
In Conversation with Perez Hilton what a lot of people were thinking. That and hehurt? The irreparable damage he did? many others were unnecessarily cruel and I “I don’t necessarily think that apologising William Foxton interviews Perez Hilton on the price of fame, was being purposefully hurtful. This is why is enough,” he says candidly. I don’t believe in a redemption arc for Perez “I will apologise sincerely if I believe I did shame, and blame. Hilton.” something wrong and when I don’t, I won’t “I knew at the time what I was doing was apologise for it. I’m not sorry for everything I erez Hilton is saying sorry. “That never interested me,” Perez tells me. wrong and I didn’t care. I did it anyway because did,” he continues. 17 years since the rise and fall of Instead he drew from the British tabloid I was being rewarded for bad behaviour. Like What isn’t he sorry for? his controversial blog, this near- model, known for its bite. you see now with Jake Paul or Logan Paul. “I’m not sorry for creating something out of universally loathed gossipmonger “The British press can [be], and often is, They’ve both been cancelled numerous times, nothing,” he replies, “Nothing was ever given turned businessman and doting father of three extremely vicious,” he tells me, “I’m sure but in 2021 Jake and Logan Paul are bigger to me.” is now offering a heartfelt apology to those he Meghan Markle would agree. Or Caroline than ever, making more money than ever, Perez also remains unrepentant for a recent believes he has hurt. Flack.” and being rewarded for their continuous bad TikTok scandal he’s been embroiled in. Perez But are we ready to According to Perez’s behaviour. It’s as if I created the blueprint for was banned from the platform in December of forgive him? And does vision, celebrities Paul brothers,” he says. last year, after a comment he left on a video he care if we don’t? “It’s a constant struggle. weren’t just like us. thePerez likens his obsessive reporting to an TikTok star Charli D’Amelio had posted. In There was a time They were much worse. addiction, previously stating in an interview the video, D’Amelio, 15, is shown dancing in I absolutely sometimes when this once And so whenever for BBC HARDtalk in November 2020, that “I a bikini to a remix of Brockhampton’s Sugar. significant contributor there was a celebrity was a full blown addict. And while my drug of Perez met with backlash from D’Amelio’s to the cultural lapse back into old Perez.” slip-up or an infamous choice was not drugs or alcohol, I was fully and extensive fanbase, after questioning whether conversation was fall from grace, Perez severely addicted to attention.” the dance was appropriate, given the sexually everywhere, fanning was there, ready with a It’s an addiction his followers shared. “When explicit nature of the lyrics. the flames of celebrity discourse wherever salacious headline and a scathing take. Brittney Spears was at her wildest, people were “I’m not sorry about that. At all,” he says he went. Some loved his ‘tell-all’ approach to It was this radical choice of content that glued to my website” he writes in his 2020 when I bring the incident up, “because I was celebrity gossip. Most despised his vitriolic made Perez a household name, at least memoir. This was a two-way relationship. not slut shaming anybody. I was not body take-down of those in the limelight. Everyone among the celebrity obsessed. His notoriety Perez Hilton didn’t exist in a vacuum. Even shaming anybody. I was not even trolling.” knew his name. skyrocketed in 2007, which he terms “the Year now, as I read his old posts, I can’t help but “Me asking [if it was appropriate] is not Perez Hilton, or Mario Armando Lavandeira of the Girl Gone Wild.” The year of Brittney feel compelled by the narratives he constructs. inappropriate. Me asking that is not bullying. Jr as he was known before taking on his Spears’ breakdown, Lindsay Lohan and Paris There’s something very clickable about his A year and a half later, I think perhaps what I infamous alter ego, helped to usher in a new Hilton’s very public court dramas, the release portrayal of celebrities on the verge of a public should have done differently is directed that age of celebrity gossip. In doing so he became of Kim Kardashian’s sex tape, 2007 was a breakdown. question at her parents, one of the most hated men in the world. gossip’s dream. Why does he think like ‘is it appropriate “Nobody was doing what I ended up doing,” The chaos that ensued in Hollywood, we found his content so “I’m not trying to erase my that her parents haven’t Perez tells me at the beginning of our call, paired with Perez’s biting commentary, was irresistible? deleted this yet?’”, he “the celebrity magazines back in 2004 would a winning combination. Perez made celebrity “Because it makes past. I’m not pretending it says. just use their websites as a landing page to get gossip enticing. And addictive. your life seem D’Amelio’s fans people to sign up for subscriptions to the print “I pandered to people’s basest instincts, didn’t happen.” wonderfully boring,” he retaliated. Some made edition. They wouldn’t break news on their their DNA,” he tells me, “Most everybody I tells me, “everybody’s life videos attacking Perez. sites.” know, if they’re driving their car and they see a is messed up. Like I said, Perez’s provocative Perez revolutionised the model, creating car crash, they’re going to slow down and look nobody is perfect. But when you are reading response to one such video, commenting “all a blog that allowed him to break news in and see what happened. That’s just who we are these wild, shocking stories, regardless of these videos are getting me hard”, came under real time. At the press of a button he could as human beings. We’re curious people.” whatever drama you have, you might say… fire. The creator of the video was a minor. report the latest celebrity scandal, offer up his In the heyday of his online empire, Perez well, at least I’m not so and so or at least I’m “I don’t regret that either. A, I didn’t know opinion on the most recent faux pas or fashion controlled the narrative of Hollywood. The not that person ....” that girl was a minor. B, that person had made mishap. heroes and the villains, the victims and the There’s a certain hypocrisy, Perez notes, in multiple videos attacking me. So instead of The way he spoke about celebrities also vixens, the crazies and the Brittneys, he was the way we respond to celebrity gossip. responding with hate, I responded in a dumb, differed from his contemporaries. He recalls a ruthless. Nobody was left unscathed. “Let’s say there’s an Adele phone hack and shocking way. I thought it was better than time when celebrity discourse centred around His early blog posts are difficult to read photos or sex videos of her leaked. A lot, if saying something negative to this person who their relatability. Magazines like US Weekly, now. There’s a scathing 2009 post about Lily not the majority, of people online are going had made so many videos hardcore attacking led by pioneering figures such as Bonnie Allen. The title reads Lily Allen + Motherhood to be looking it up to try to see that,” he tells me.” Fuller, would post photos of celebrities taking = Disaster!!!, accompanied by an image of the me, “and even some of the people that might I can understand the sentiment, though I out the trash. The overriding message was singer, cigarette in hand. Perez has drawn a secretly look it up, publicly, they will criticise question whether it’s ever wise to cause such that these people were just like us. coughing baby onto Allen’s stomach. In the any outlet for publishing it and criticise any outrage for the sake of it. final line, he asks “Can’t person for viewing that content.” “I have nothing to lose or nothing to win,” you stick to intoxication Perez reached a turning point in 2010 he tells me, “In the minds of people, they view instead of moving following an altercation with the manager me a certain way, that’s how they will always on to procreation?” of the Black Eyed Peas, Polo Molina. Molina see me and, like I said, I still make mistakes. Jennifer Anniston is punched Perez, after he used a homophobic Everybody makes mistakes.” frequently referred to slur against will.i.am. Documenting the But isn’t the usual response to at least as “MANiston”, with incident in his memoir, Perez writes: “‘I need feign some sense of shame in the face of cruel remarks about to make some changes,’ I said to myself. I cancellation? her appearance and really meant it.” After years of online cruelty, “Here’s what makes me different,” he relationship status. Perez’s reign of terror had finally come to an interrupts, “Most celebrities that are getting Most of his targets were end. hate will ignore it. I always engage. If you go women. It would be remiss to claim Perez has been to my Twitter today, and you scroll down, and Spears was a incident-free in the years following. Though yesterday as well, you’ll see I retweet the hate. particular favourite. he maintains any mistakes he makes nowadays I was doing the same thing on TikTok. I engage Unflattering paparazzi do not have the same malice behind them. because I know that doing that will get even photos of the singer “Since 2010, I have made mistakes, but it’s more attention.” are plastered across never been my intention. My thought process So he’s fine playing the villain in the eyes of the blog. One caption has never been…I want to say something his critics? reads: “this mess is still really bad about so and so. Or do something His response is characteristically in self-destruct mode.” really terrible to get a reaction out of them provocative. “I never said I was fine with it, but Another shows an or the public. Back to the addiction issue, it’s I will continue to play that part until I don’t image of Heath Ledger, a constant struggle. I absolutely sometimes have to anymore. I don’t have ‘FU’ (“Fuck posted shortly after lapse back into old Perez. You”) money in the bank.” I should probably sit and Perez is committed to staying in vogue. “I carry not just regret but think about things more And, for the large part, he has. While many of often but this does not the names associated with him have faded into deep shame.” excuse my behaviour,” he obscurity, his has endured. This is, he claims, tells me. due to his self-professed “unhealthy work Speaking to Perez, ethic”. Recalling an earlier comment about the the impression he gives is one of genuine Paul brothers, I can’t help but feel as though his death. The caption repentance. He speaks openly about his past there might be something else at play. Perez reads: “why couldn’t it mistakes and takes accountability for them. has gone to lengths to apologise for his past; be Brittney?” “I’m not trying to erase my past. I’m not the question of forgiveness is another matter. In the wake of pretending it didn’t happen. For me, I think “I don’t even need to be forgiven because I the #FreeBrittney that shows how awful I was back then. And still have a career, and I’m still making money, movement and a rethat’s who I’m not anymore,” he says. and I’m still chatting with you right now,” he evaluation of the way “I carry not just regret,” he tells me, “but tells me, “Whether people like it or not, Perez we treat those in the also deep shame.” is forever. I’m not going anywhere.” public eye, how does he He can understand why people find it To be forgiven is to be forgotten. Perez isn’t feel about the words he difficult to believe his remorse, but this won’t ready to let that happen. And, with our wrote? stop him from apologising. commitment to cancelling him, our collective He pauses for “That is one of the many things that I outrage at every scandal he embroils himself a moment, before can and do to try and clean my karma of the in, and our morbid curiosity to see what comes tentatively saying, “I past and of the present because I still make next, neither, perhaps, are we. think that is clearly mistakes,” he tells me. lacking in compassion. But what does this mean for the people Image Credit: Sarah Orbanic At the time I was saying
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