Perez Hilton has proved to be one of Hollywood’s most controversial figures since launching his gossip blog in the early 2000s.
The NYU graduate, who named himself after Paris Hilton in her heyday, has faced furious and well-deserved backlash after a string of scandals.
From forcibly outing LGBTQ+ celebrities to interfering with high-profile deaths, Perez had enough controversy to fill his own memoir, though he has since apologised for various mistakes throughout his career.
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From upskirting a 17-year-old Miley Cyrus to wishing Britney Spears dead, Perez has struck up a fair number of feuds with Hollywood’s elite over the years.
Daily Star takes a peek into his biggest scandals to date.
Forced outing
(Image: Getty Images for Heidi Klum)
For years, Perez shared private information about numerous celebrities’ sexualities – and was slammed for forcibly outing them.
Celebs including How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris have been outed by the problematic blog over the years.
And Fifth Harmony star Lauren Jauregui was outed by the site when she was just a teen, explaining to the Red Table Talk podcast: “My own process was violated.
“I’m Latina, and there was that looming feeling of, ‘What is my community going to think about me? Are they even going to accept me?'”
Hilton, who is gay himself, has blamed his drug use for his behaviour, admitting in 2021: “I knew what I was doing was wrong.”
He also faced feuds by outing celebs like American Idol star Clay Aiken, NSync star Lance Bass and Mean Girls actor Jonathan Bennett.
Black Eyed Peas fury
(Image: Getty Images)
In June 2009, Hilton claimed he had been physically assaulted by the operation manager for iconic band Black Eyes Peas at an awards afterparty.
He claimed he was struck in the eye by Polo Molina.
But Will.i.am explained he had approached the gossip blogger over derogatory comments he’d made about his bandmate Fergie.
During the incident, Perez dropped a gay slur towards Will.i.am and told The Advocate that he debated using the N-word instead.
Afterwards, Molina was detained and appeared in court, with Hilton filing for more than $25,000 (£20k) for medical costs and compensation.
The charges were later dropped.
Miley Cyrus upskirt snaps
(Image: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.com)
Back in 2010, Perez had the public fuming when he tweeted a link to an upskirt picture of a 17-year-old Miley Cyrus, which appeared to show her without underwear.
With Miley still an underage teenager, it was suggested child pornography charges could be raised against the blogger, though he claimed the controversy was “fake” and that she was wearing underwear.
In a video reaction posted after it all kicked off, Perez could be heard claiming: “I think now it’s okay for Miley to be a little sexier. Because she’s almost 18, you know, so it’s okay for Miley to show her boobs and expand, uh, her horizons.”
Britney Spears row
(Image: @ThePerezHilton/Twitter)
One of Hilton’s biggest scandals came back to bite him – and he has publicly apologised for the incident since.
He smeared the reputation of Oops… I Did It Again songstress Britney Spears during her mental health crises, often harassing the star.
In 2008, after the tragic death of Hollywood legend Heath Ledger, Hilton had a cruel response.
He had a t-shirt made up which read: “Why couldn’t it be Britney?” alongside a picture from Brokeback Mountain – even going on to sell the shirts on his website.
(Image: Getty Images)
In response to the Free Britney movement, Perez added that she would have been “dead” if not for her conservatorship, telling The Sun: “If she didn’t have a conservatorship in place, I would be concerned that Britney would be dead, truly.
“There are certain things that I don’t agree with though. If she’s under this conservatorship because she needs to, why should her dad be the one calling the shots and making money off of it?”
Perez later said he “carries deep shame and regret” for the remarks he made – but for Britney’s fans, it was too little, too late.
Michael Jackson’s death
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
When Michael Jackson passed away in 2009, Hilton faced fan fury after claiming the whole thing was just a publicity stunt.
The singer went into cardiac arrest in June that year, when Hilton blogged about his illness being faked, claiming it was to promote his sell-out tour.
Hilton’s original post read: “He pulled a similar stunt when he was getting ready for his big HBO special in ’95 when he ‘collapsed’ at rehearsal!”
The original post was later deleted when Hilton realised Jackson’s death was not a hoax.
TikTok ban
(Image: Getty Images)
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In December 2020, Hilton was seen crying after his TikTok account was banned – and begged social media star Charli D’Amelio for help.
He explained: “The reason that TikTok gave me for permanently banning my account without any warning is ‘multiple community guidelines violations’.
“I am feeling numb, and I don’t want to seem overly dramatic, but I feel like my world is crumbling. This feels like a death to me.”
In a video message, he added: “Please, Charli D’Amelio, please message me back on Instagram. Please. Please help me. I know you don’t owe me that, but I beg of you. I beg of you. I grovel.”
He and Charli didn’t have the most solid foundation to start off on, after he criticised her for posting a bikini video when she was 15.
In response, Charli’s fans launched a petition which gained over 228,000 signatures to have him banned from the site.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
