Perez Hilton

This article is about the celebrity gossip blogger. For the American socialite, see Paris Hilton.

Perez Hilton
Born	(1978-03-23) March 23, 1978 Miami, Florida, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Gossip columnist, blogger

Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978) is an American blogger and an outspoken gay. His blog is Perezhilton.com (formerly PageSixSixSix.com), which he writes under the pseudonym Perez Hilton. Lavandeira was born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents of Galician ancestry and now resides in Los Angeles, California.

Career in blogging

Before beginning his blogging career, Lavandeira did a little acting, was briefly a media relations assistant for GLAAD, did some freelance writing for gay publications, worked as a receptionist for NYC gay events club Urban Outings, and was briefly the managing editor of Instinct, a gay men's magazine. He says he started blogging "because it seemed easy."

On March 11, 2005, within the first six months of Lavandeira's blogging career, PageSixSixSix.com was named "Hollywood's Most-Hated Website" by The Insider, catalyzing an initial surge in its popularity which temporarily crippled its server. Lavandeira claimed that on July 30, 2007, a seemingly "ordinary day," Perezhilton.com had over 8.82 million page views in a 24 hour period. Other sources dispute the reliability of Lavandeira's traffic claims.

Fergie has confirmed that she is referring to Lavandeira in her 2006 song "Pedestal," in which she criticizes an unidentified person for making negative remarks about her on the internet.

On August 17, 2007, citing exclusive sources, Lavandeira announced the death of Cuban President Fidel Castro, claiming that he was the first media outlet in the world to do so. Although Lavadeira claimed that U.S. officials would be making an announcement within hours, no announcement was made, and no major media outlets verified Castro's death. The Associated Press later determined that rumors were sparked by a meeting of Miami officials who were to discuss the city's plans when Castro passes away. Rumors were further fueled by a road closure in the Florida Keys that was due to a police standoff.

Civil litigation

Lavandeira has garnered attention from lawyers representing celebrities. For example, he was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by attorneys for Colin Farrell on July 18, 2005, after posting a link to Farrell's sex tape on his site. On February 20, 2007, Lavandeira was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Universal City Studios Productions LLP for posting a topless image of Jennifer Aniston that was allegedly "misappropriated and illegally copied" from unreleased footage from the 2006 motion picture The Break-Up.

Bloggers, journalists, news agencies and photographers alike have charged that Lavandeira posts paparazzi photographs and other copyrighted content from their sites. Lavandeira defends his use of this material by claiming it falls under the fair use exception to the Copyright Act. On November 30, 2006, celebrity photo agency X17Online filed a lawsuit against Lavandeira in federal court, seeking over US$7.5 million in damages for copyright infringement. On March 9, 2007, a judge ruled that Lavandeira could continue operating his website while the lawsuit remains before the courts. On April 23, 2007, a consortium of five celebrity photo agencies filed a joint lawsuit in federal district court in California against Lavandeira, claiming more than US$7 million in damages from 25 instances of alleged copyright infringement. Just days later, on April 26, 2007, upon arriving at the Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia to attend the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, Lavandeira was served with a lawsuit by celebrity photo agency PhotoNews claiming C$4,200 in damages for his alleged unauthorized use of a single copyrighted paparazzi photograph of John Mayer and Jessica Simpson.

On June 20, Variety reported that Hilton's web host had dropped his site, upon threats of liability in the cases outlined above. According to Variety, Hilton is running a bare-bones site with a different host. Francois Navarre, co-owner of X17, told Variety, "It's the first victory, and we put a lot of work into trying to get this to happen." He added, "It's a precedent that's huge. When we were talking to Crucial Paradigm they were saying they were not responsible, dragging their feet. We had to threaten them and show them they were liable. His new host is Blogads, and we're contacting them already."

On June 26, Lavandeira posted an open call on his blog to all of X17's photographers, both past and present, if they have not been adequately compensated for working overtime or pictures submitted in the past.

PerezHilton.com

On his website Lavandeira posts gossip items about a variety of celebrities. His posts are usually delivered with an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek and sometimes even cruel slant. He often posts tabloid photographs over which he has added his own captions or "doodles."

Lavandeira's angle on celebrity gossip includes an unapologetic desire to mingle with and be a part of celebrity culture. He thus often describes celebrity awards shows, clubs, and private events he has attended, and posts photographs of himself with the celebrities he writes about under the "Personally Perez" category of his blog. Among others, he purports to have befriended Paris Hilton, the source of his nickname and frequent subject of his posts. Some have suggested, however, that Lavandeira's proximity to the celebrities about whom he writes has led to biased coverage on his blog. It has been noted, for example, that Lavandeira rarely reports on stories or rumors casting Hilton in a negative or unflattering light, and that, unlike most gossip blogs, he often acknowledges and praises her positive achievements.

Lavandeira has been known to speak out publicly against the discriminatory behavior of celebrities and other public figures. For instance, Lavandeira called for the firing of Isaiah Washington from ABC television series Grey's Anatomy for making homophobic remarks and called for his readers to do the same. However, in early 2007, Lavandeira was criticized by the blog The Hollywood Gossip for ignoring racist and homophobic remarks made by Paris Hilton.

Lavandeira often promotes his favorite up-and-coming musicians by posting streams of their songs under the "Listen To This" category of his blog. For example, London-based singer Mika's 2007 rise to popular success in North America has been at least partially attributed to Lavandeira's support. Lavandeira and Mika also claim to be friends.

"Outing" celebrities

On July 26, 2006, Lance Bass officially came out as gay, and Lavandeira received criticism for having been partially responsible. "It upsets me that people think what I'm doing is a bad thing," Lavandeira told Access Hollywood. "I don't think it's a bad thing. If you know something to be a fact, why not report it? Why is that still taboo?" On November 2, 2006, another celebrity often questioned by Lavandeira for remaining closeted, Neil Patrick Harris, revealed that he is gay. After Harris came out, Hilton wrote, "Today is a victory....We are throwing down the gauntlet and issue a challenge to all the closeted celebrities out there: Come out. Come out NOW! Come out in droves!!....We are talking to you Anderson Cooper, Jodie Foster...Queen Latifah...and the rest of you! NOW is the time!!!!!!!!" These celebrities either maintain they are heterosexual or consider their sexual orientation their private business, and none have responded to Hilton's call.

Prominent members of the gay community who have criticized Lavandeira's outing tactics include Arts & Entertainment Editor of The Advocate Corey Scholibo, AfterEllen.com editor Michael Jensen, and Damon Romine, spokesperson for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Kim Ficera, contributing writer for AfterEllen.com, wrote, "I have to question the character of a man who attacks others on such deeply personal levels, without provocation and for self-benefit, monetary or otherwise." She continued, "If he's emotionally incapable of exhibiting even the tiniest bit of compassion for closeted people, if he can't be sensitive to the fact that coming out is a very personal decision and that the process can be difficult for some — especially celebrities — I feel sorry for him. If his juvenile behavior is his shtick, I think it makes him a much more pathetic figure, and one the gay and lesbian community should not support." She concluded, "If we support behavior like Hilton's, we applaud shallowness, arrogance, rage and invasion of privacy, and risk becoming what we despise." Some of Lavandeira's fellow gossip bloggers have also objected to his approach. Trent Vanegas, who runs "Pink Is the New Blog," told Salon, "I do not outright call people gay. I do not feel it is my place, or anyone else's place, to make people come out of the closet. Being shockingly hurtful just to get attention is not my style." David Hauslaib, who runs the gossip blog Jossip.com, stated, "The rationale that he's doing this for the good of that gay community is tantamount to saying that there is a gay agenda. Is this a positive for the gay community? I'd say, 'No.'" Author, screenwriter, and former friend Japhy Grant has also questioned his motives, writing in Salon, "Spreading gossip is just your average pedestrian variety of immorality. Claiming that you're doing it to further civil rights is an outright sham."

When questioned on Midweek Politics about whether reporting on celebrities' sexual orientation incites homophobia by making it news, Lavandeira indicated that he did not believe so. He has said that coming out in Hollywood is not necessarily a bad thing, using Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell as examples: "I know there is some controversy about outing people, but I also believe the only way we're gonna have change is with visibility. And if I have to drag some people screaming out of the closet, then I will. I think that lots of celebrities have an archaic fear that being gay will hurt their career but look at Rosie. Look at Ellen."

Some prominent gay rights advocates disagree. GLAAD spokesperson Damon Romine told Salon, "Media speculation about a celebrity's orientation is not something we support. This kind of gossip can lead some people to the decision to come out, as we've seen recently, or it may drive others further into the closet. People are going to become more guarded and secretive and not less, because they don't want to create any opportunities [for anyone to out them]." Actor Bruce Vilanch said, "What purpose does it serve? These [people like Perez] are professional homosexuals. They are gay people for a living. They have to respect the rights of homosexuals who aren't professional." Jensen of AfterElton.com suggested that Lavandeira's actions put people's careers at risk, because anti-gay bias is still a prominent part of American culture. He continued, "Both as a gay man and a journalist, I question whether the gay community should approve of Hilton's actions....Being associated with someone who publishes photos of panty-less starlets and scribbles dirty notes....makes us look infantile and ridiculous."

Television Show

Lavandeira announced on July 13, 2007, on The View that he will 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.

In addition, Perez is currently appearing as a contestant on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar, which debuted August 30, 2007.

Perez will be hosting a MADtv compilation on pop culture parodies.

External links

• PerezHilton.com, official site
• Mario Lavandeira at IMDb
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• Perez Hilton in Trouble at Variety.com