Perez Hilton, the celeb gossip blogger who has built a very lucrative brand based on rampant namecalling , outing of the gays and attacking female stars’ femininity, has posted a YouTube statement admitting regret for being so mean and swearing not to be mean to people anymore.
Perez, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, has been blogging for six years about the sleazier side of celebrity. He cites the recent spate of gay teen suicides as the impetus for, as an example, retiring his cruel nickname for Jennifer Aniston. (“Manniston.”) When Hilton struck out at the bullies who had driven the teens to take their own lives, many people pointed out that his brand of blogging was not all that far removed from the kind of harassment he decried.
The penis-sketching in MS Paint blogger also appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show to further explain his commitment to being friendlier without losing the appeal that has made his site so valuable:
“In doing so, a lot of people have called me a hypocrite and a bully myself,” Mr. Hilton told Ms. DeGeneres. He added, “From now on I really want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem…”
“I’m not going to sanitize what I do,” Mr. Hilton continued. “I still want to be me, and be me, and be sassy, without being vanilla — and also without being malicious and hurtful and nasty.”
Reaction to Hilton’s announcement has been mixed, with many people skeptical that the pledge is just a publicity stunt. (If that were the case, it would be extremely insensitive and callous given the reason Perez cites for his change of heart.) I suppose we’ll have to wait and see if Perez can quit being a mean cow cold turkey. Clip below, are you convinced?