Celebrity.
Big Mouth WHEN IT COMES TO REALITY WE ALL HAVE OUR ENEMIES: THE FLIRT WHO IS ALL OVER YOUR PARTNER, THE BOSS WHO MAKES YOU WORK STUPIDLY LONG HOURS, THE BANK MANAGER WHO DENIES YOU THE LOAN. BUT IF YOU THINK YOU’VE GOT IT BAD, THEN YOU HAVE OBVIOUSLY NOT BEEN FAMILIARISED WITH PEREZ HILTON. POW!ZINE DELVES INTO THE REASON WHY THE MAN WHO CHILDISHLY SPRAWLS SUSPECT STAINS ON CELEBRITY IMAGES, IS THE MOST FEARED BLOGGER ON THE NET. ONE
image sourced from Stefanie Marsh at timesonline.com
“AFTER MARRYING SO YOUNG AND TO SOMEONE OF A QUESTIONABLE SEXUAL ORIENTATION, WE KIND OF FEEL A BIT BAD FOR LEANN. SHE PROBABLY HADN’T GOTTEN LAID IN YEARS!”
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ario Lavandeira was –and still is- a chubby, bright haired and very camp character who in 2004 sat in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, with his laptop and set up a simple blog to express his musings about the celebrity world. Five years later he is now only known as his alter ego, Perez Hilton, the sharp-tongued, viciously honest celebrity in his own right. But how and why does this simple man from Miami put the fear of God into his celebrity peers?
PerezHilton.com for all yet to be converted, is a blogspot for non-celebs aka us normal folk, to see unedited and highly controversial, pure bitchiness about our ‘friends in the limelight’. Many of us indulge daily in the guilty pleasure that is gossip but PerezHilton.com is not quite like the other celebrity sites, he gives it to you straight, and normally with a few incriminating images. So how did this blogspot become the homepage of many gossip lovers? Well, back in 2004 when it all started, Perez’s constant updating and candid opinions earned him a lot of attention from the media, print and online publications, labelling him as fame hungry with his cruel accusations; the Insider even dubbed his site as “the mosthated in Hollywood” (which Perez now proudly displays as his tagline). Pagesixsixsix.com was his original blog but after the New York Post filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement, 2005 saw him take on the persona of Perez Hilton – in dedication to Paris Hilton, the girl famous for doing nothing at all. By promoting his site on others such as Friendstar, within a year PerezHilton.com had thousands of hits. Not that it was something new, gossip sites were around but most depended on blind items rather than the whole truth or in Perez’s case, own opinions; this gave him a niche in the market to fully conquer, and boy did he. Now selling advertising on his site for £52,000 a week and with his own clothing line and reality show, Perez has effectively become the first
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millionaire to emerge from the blogosphere. But money does not buy you friends, the power to tell the world your dirty little secret however, does. Perez follows the big names in the US to the little reality stars, he also checks up on the other side of the pond for some dirty gossip, too. He has received a lot of criticism for being biased now he is a celebrity himself, Paris Hilton - his namesake - for example receives a lot of bad press, but he makes sure he keeps in her good books by praising her for the inane things she might ’achieve’. Also rocker spawn, Kelly Osbourne and singer Katy Perry are both close friends with the blogger and therefore get kind nuggets of dedication within his pages. But with his cutting remarks and pictures scrawled with white to represent, well whatever you like: semen, urine, cocaine, Perez has gained a fair few enemies. Not that he cares. In an interview with Wired when magazine he stated that he would rather be hated, “I’m happier this way than if I was universally adored – like Reese Witherspoon” Over the last few months Chris Brown has been taking a tongue lashing from Perez for the accusations circling that he physically abused his girlfriend Rihanna. Perez talked about the couple on his site by naming Brown as, “Chris Beat Her Down Brown”, as well as drawing his famous white splodges all over pictures of the singer. Actress Jennifer Aniston is repeatedly referred to as “Maniston”, with Perez insinuating and often claiming that she bares resemblance to a male. Others who have felt his burn are Bruce Willis’ daughter Rumer –with many digs about her looks, and Disney actresses, Miley Cyrus constantly accused of being a slut and Vannessa Hudgens who is hated by Perez purely because she is dating his crush, Zac Efron.
star, Neil Patrick Harris came out in 2006 after Perez’s constant claims that he was gay. Other stars include LeAnn Rimes’ husband former dancer, Dean Sheremet; especially after reports earlier this year that she was having an affair. One post about the alleged affair from his site PerezHilton.com said, “After marrying so young (at 19) and to someone of a questionable sexual orientation, we kind of feel a bit bad for LeAnn. She probably hadn’t gotten laid in years!” This somewhat childish behaviour might seem like it would be a small insignificance in the lives of the rich and famous, but if Lily Allen can take time to fight back on her Twitter then maybe Perez is really getting under their skin. Victoria Beckham even confronted him on her reality show, Victoria Beckham, Coming to America; the programme shows her and Perez in a coffee shop talking about some of the things he has said about her on his site, “I think I might have called you an alien… or robot with really big boobs.” Even after this insult, Posh Spice continues to flirt and laugh with the blogger, almost like she would do anything to keep him on her side. After all, what we have to remember is Perez is very popular in the online world. On 24th February 2009 for example, he announced that he had received 13.9 million hits on his site, that’s in one day. With this statistic in mind along with his brutally honest opinions and insider knowledge, Perez seems to have a great hold and influence on the general public, in the States and in the UK. Ultimately, with this power of the keyboard, he can make or break a celebrity, and in some cases out them, too.
ON 24TH FEBRUARY 2009 HE ANNOUNCED THAT HE HAD RECEIVED 13.9 MILLION HITS ON HIS SITE, THAT’S IN ONE DAY.
One celebrity that has had a long running feud with the blogger is British singer, Lily Allen. Perez goes by association and the singer is well known for being friends with the notorious Lindsey Lohan; with this ammunition he accuses Allen of being on drugs as well as a drunken wreck. The pair have even had a slanging match across networking site, Twitter. But don’t think Perez will stop at just slagging off women. He is also infamous for outing celebrities. N’sync member, Lance Bass came out as homosexual after Perez posted a numerous amount of blogs that the singer was seceretly in the closet. Also, How I Met Your Mother
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“Marilyn Manson’s homewrecking girlfriend, the almost 20 years his junior Evan Rachel Whore, attends a screening of The Life Before Her Eyes, Tuesday in NYC. You will never be Dita Von Teese, bitch. Never. Stop trying!” Perez talks about Evan Rachel Wood
“Lily Allen Is A Twatter!” Keeping it simple about Lily Allen
“Nick Carter is totally getting fat again! The chunk-prone Backstreet Boy was kicking it at Chroma in Washington, D.C. this past weekend. He and that guy “friend” sure look chummy!” About Backstreet boy, Nick Carter
POW!ZINE ‘s FAVOURITE BITCHINESS FROM PEREZHILTON.COM
“Look at the way she’s straddling him in public. That Disney skank!” About a picture of Vanessa Hudgens and her boyfriend –and Perez’s crush- Zac Efron
“Zac’s fug faced beard girlfriend” Description about Vanessa Hudgens again
“Here’s Avril Lavigne looking like she rolled around in the clearance section of a Hot Topic and then, finding Amy Wino’s signature beehive in a dumpster, decided to dye it blonde and wear it out.” About singer, Avril Lavigne and her outfit
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Curtis Jackson is bargain basement as Rapper, Curtis Jackson is bargain basement as Rapper, 50 Cent First dandy musician was Adam Ant, then he labeled himself as Prince Charming, actually he’s Stuart Leslie Goddard Vincent Damon Furnier opted for a girls name as rocker, Alice Cooper The late playboy bunny, Anna Nicole Smith might have been born Vickie Lynn Hogan but she’s no relation to Hulk! Model, Agyness Deyn was born Laura Hollins. Since being in the spotlight her mother and sister have both changed their last name to Deyn, I wonder why?! Singing legend, Beyoncé Knowles has always used her original name whilst in the spotlight, but now she’s so famous she created herself an alter ago in the form of, Sasha Fierce Actress and model (plus beau to John Corbert aka Aiden from Sex and the City!) Bo Derek is plain old Mary Cathleen Collins Paul David Hewson was nicknamed Bono by his childhood friend, it’s loosely translated from Latin for ‘good voice’, wonder why he decided to hold onto it?!
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images sourced from smeefmusic.wetpaint.com, mordechai7215.blogspot.com
EVERY SUPERHERO HAS AN ALTER EGO, SUPERMAN WAS CLARK KENT, BATMAN WAS BRUCE WAYNE EVEN WONDER WOMAN WAS PLAIN OLD DIANA PRINCE. BUT BACK TO REALITY THERE ARE A FEW CELEBRITIES OUT THERE WHO FEEL THAT THEY TOO NEED ANOTHER PERSONA. TIME TO UNCOVER TO THE REAL IDENTITIES OF THESE CELEBRITIES!
images sourced from tomjacksononline.blogspot.com, mordechai7215.blogspot.com, askmen.com, edopter.com
Boy George was George Ala O’Dowd before Culture Club got famous Tara Leigh Patrick is now the glamour model Carmen Electra The late actor, Cary Grant might not have been quite so alluring with the name, Archibald Alexander Leach Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre shortened her name to just Cher – thank god! Would Demetria Gene Guynes been able to land herself a toyboy like Demi Moore did? Heather Sweet seems to sum up innocence, a far cry from the Burlesque temptress, Dita Von Teese Elton John is less of a mouthful than, Reginald Kenneth Dwight Three guesses why Eric Clapton lengthened his last name from just Clapp? Ever heard of Farookh Bulsara? That’s because you know him better as front man of Queen, Freddie Mercury Long tongued, Kiss front man, Gene Simmons might not be such a charmer with the name Chaim Witz The glamourous sounding, Ilynea Lydia Mironoff may have been too much for actress, Helen Mirren Jamie Foxx makes the ladies swoon but would Eric Bishop have quite the same effect? FRIENDS actress, Jennifer Aniston Grecian last name is actually, Anistopoulou, what a mouthful! Joaquin and River Phoenix changed their last names to something more original and less embarrassing than Bottom! Would John Wayne be able to pull off the moody and rugged look with the name Marion Michael Morrison? Clare Woodgate might not be able to do ‘man-eater’ quite as well Sex and the City star, Kim Cattrall Brian Warner might now have a woman’s name but he can still pull of ‘scary’ as musician, Marilyn Manson
Could Norma Jean Baker do ‘sexy-on-an-air-vent’ like Marilyn Monroe? MC Hammer’s love for big trousered fashion might not have worked on Stanley Kirk Burrell Natalie Portman’s Israeli roots gave her the last name, Hershlag, probably not the most desired surname! Cornell Haynes Jr might not have been able to pull off the plaster-on-face fashion like Nelly Do you think Alecia Moore’s favourite colour was Pink? Dana Elaine Owens must have thought herself royal when she picked Queen Latifah as her stage name Richard Starkey must have thought a lot of himself with the name, Ringo Starr Do you think Orville Richard Burrell was trying to tell us something when he renamed himself, Shaggy? Who would have thought the exotic sounding Shania Twain actually sounds like she’s more suited to the cobbles of Coronation Street with her birth name, Eilleen Edwards? What made Cordozar Broadus favour a pet when it came to his stage name, Snoop Dogg? What an unfortunate last name actor, Timothy Allen Dick had, no wonder he’s now just Tim Allen Singing legend, Tina Turner rolls off the tongue slightly better than, Anna Mae Bullock Tom Cruise did not change his name much but he did drop the Mapother IV title from the end; this one gets weirder every day! The feminine, Lesane Parish Crooks does not quite suit the late, Tupac Shakur I wonder why Leslie Hornby’s stage name, Twiggy Lawson takes inspiration from a tree? Robert Van Winkle sounds like something out of a nursery rhyme, actually it’s the birth name of Vanilla Ice Do you think Mark Vincent got his inspiration for stage name, Vin Diesel whilst filling up the car?
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