Hey, Perez! Quit The Bellyaching!
Posted by: Amelia McDonell-Parry
Filed in:
celebs
6:00AM, Tuesday June 23rd 2009
Since posting about the alleged physical altercation between Perez Hilton (real name: Mario Lavandeira) and Will.i.am and/or a member of his “entourage” yesterday, I’ve been thinking about some of the details. Supposedly, the fight started when Fergie, also of the Black Eyed Peas, confronted Perez about being mean to her on his site. This led to Will.i.am, along with the band’s tour manager, Polo Molina, calling Perez out later that night at a club, and someone—now believed to be Molina, who turned himself in to the police—punching Perez in the face. The fight escalated from verbal to physical when—according to Lavandeira himself—Perez called Will.i.am a “f*ggot.”
It goes without saying that I am no Perez Hilton fan. Yes, we link to him on this site, usually in our morning celeb gossip roundup, “Star Couplings.” The dude gets the scoop almost better than anyone. But I have said time and time again that outside of his knack for getting the gossip, he is a rather offensive person. His biggest offense? Sitting up on a rather high horse he has no business being within 100 feet of. Really, the high horse should file a restraining order.
I was raised by two dedicated pacifists and have never been in a physical fight in my life. I don’t anticipate ever being in one, lest I need to defend myself. I don’t find dudes who fight sexy and I find war abhorrent. I think whoever did hit Perez should be punished in whatever way is appropriate. I agree with Lavandeira when he says that violence is never OK. You’ll get no argument from me on that.
However.
Why did Lavandeira choose to call Will.i.am a “f*ggot”? He explained in the video he posted on his blog: “I knew that it would be the worst thing I could possibly say to him because he was acting the way he was. I said ‘You know what, I don’t respect you and you’re gay and stop being such a f*ggot.’” How odd that some who has positioned and sold himself as some sort of gay rights crusader would use that word as an insult. This was not a case of Lavandeira “taking back” a word that was intended as an insult and reclaiming its power for the gay community. He called Will.i.am a f*ggot because he wanted to piss him off and it was a cheap shot that made it even clearer just how self-serving Lavandeira’s interest in gay rights really is.
I’ve questioned whether Lavandeira’s true commitment is to gay rights or page views for awhile now—he’s routinely tried to “out” celebrities who he believes should come out of the closet and has exploited real gay rights leaders, like Dustin Lance Black, for the sake of traffic. While he’s expressed his strong belief that gay men and women should be treated equally and fairly, he’s also shown that he has pretty conservative values when it comes to women’s sexuality, routinely calling a majority of female celebrities, including teenagers like Miley Cyrus, sluts and whores, often drawing semen and dicks on their faces, should they show the slightest bit of a sex drive.
Lavandeira has always seemed like someone who was passionate about gay rights because it was his issue, one that affected his own life in a major way. While that’s certainly as valid a reason as any to fight for what you believe in, I always suspected that if Lavandeira were not a gay man, he would not give a hoot about gay marriage, because at the end of the day, Lavandeira’s number one priority is himself, his fame, and making as much money as possible. This incident confirms my suspicions. Perez Hilton is all about drama, above anything else. Calling Will.i.am a “f*ggot,” no matter how offensive he’s deemed the word to be on his “activist” days, was about getting the last word, playing the part of “the Queen of All Media,” and attracting all of the attention. The hiccup? I don’t think Perez counted on getting a knuckle sandwich, and his excessive bellyaching is more about a bruised ego than a bruised face. While I think violence is wrong, I also think pissing, moaning, and crying about getting hit after you’ve called someone “the worst thing” you could possibly think of is pathetic.
Now that Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has called for Lavandeira to issue an apology—which I’m sure he won’t—will the media continue to look to him as a spokesperson for gay rights? I truly hope not.
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Riley
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 06:09 am: [report]
He should stop whining about it for sure. If you are going to try to get a reaction out of someone by insulting them, don’t cry foul when that reaction is a punch to the face.
Jessica Wakeman
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 06:29 am: [report]
I have no sympathy for this man.
msu.umich
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 06:44 am: [report]
I have no respect for, or interest in, this guy whatsoever. (and yes, I realize that commenting on this post shows some sort of interest, but whatever)
TCU1793
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 06:48 am: [report]
Well-said!
keightee
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 06:53 am: [report]
I agree completely. When I first heard about the situation, the first thing I thought is, “but isn’t that word offensive to him as a gay man?!” Glad I wasn’t alone. Great article, Amelia.
Ninaka
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 07:10 am: [report]
Wow Amelia, this was an excellent article. I kept nodding my head in agreement with every sentence you wrote. It still irks me how this guy thinks it’s ok to throw around the word, #&@$% just because he is gay.
thierry3
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 07:14 am: [report]
I have no sympathy for him and he’s a big ole hypocrite. How dare he rail road people for using the term THEN he himself use the term in a derogatory manner.
He taunted the man and the man still didn’t hit him SOMEONE else did. Then he lied to try to tie his beating to the celebrity to sensationalize his hit further.
He’s pathetic.
kw1223
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 07:32 am: [report]
This “man”, and I do use that term loosely, is a disgusting individual. Just seeing his face is enough to make my stomach churn.
bogart4017
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 08:24 am: [report]
You can keep baiting these crazy rappers if you want to. they live on the edge and you will wind up either as a lyric on their next release or a stat. Too many of them don’t mind going to jail behind a felonious assault or worse.
nikkiwikki
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 08:33 am: [report]
I feel zero sympathy for him, and I have zero respect. He is a complete douche. To try to have all of your followers hate somebody for using the f-word as an insult (like that guy from Grey’s Anatomy) yet to use it as an insult yourself is pathetic. Such a double standard, similar to the n-word. He seems to only advocate for gay rights when it suits his agenda. And I completely agree with you about how he outs other celebrities and calls teens and other women “whores” and “sluts.” What a sad human being.
miss game
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 08:35 am: [report]
you should check out PinkIstheNewBlog.com if you haven’t already… I HATE perez hilton, so I can’t in good conscience look at his site. It is just so mean. But Trent does very similar things in a much nicer way.
bijouu
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 09:06 am: [report]
Thank you for writing this! I must admit I Perez’s site daily. When I first read of this altercation on MediaTakeOut, I saw Perez’s video and became upset that a self proclaimed “activist” would use that word in such a derogatory manner!
You’ve captured exactly what I commented to Perez on his site. The whole situation is juvenile, however incensed by Perez himself.
I wish your letter was an open letter to Perez. I never even thought of the hypocrisy of his advocating gay openness, yet insulting a female’s sexuality.
Well written!
nikkiwikki
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 09:10 am: [report]
I am in love with Trent from http://www.pinkisthenewblog.com! He laughs at things that deserve to be laughed at, but never in a mean-spirited way. And he takes seriously the things that need to be taken seriously (such as his coverage on the Chris Brown trial yesterday). Although his site isn’t updated every five seconds like Perez’s, I visit his site on a regular basis because I refuse to support Perez Hilton due to is immature and hypocritical antics. Check it out, everybody!
bellabellabella
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 10:04 am: [report]
100% on board with you. perez is trash.
oh and its dustin lance black, not dustin michael black.
who, by the way, is awesome and totally NOT trash.
Ogbu
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 10:30 am: [report]
I despise this man.
But my boyfriend loves his site so much. Grrrrrr ...
Amelia McDonell-Parry
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 10:36 am: [report]
@bellabellabella Ha! Thank you. I knew that, but this is what happens when you blog while reading a comedian’s (Michael Ian Black’s) twitter.
Jessica Wakeman
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 12:05 pm: [report]
Wah wah wah. To quote a Justin Timberlake pop song, “Cry me a river,” Perez.
SterlingSilver36
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 01:02 pm: [report]
This was an amazing article, Amelia. I think it was this past weekend where I had a minor heart-attack when this weird idea settled in my mind that you weren’t on The Frisky anymore (simply because I hadn’t seen your name connected to any articles). I love your articles so much.
And I agree, Perez is an abhorrant person. I think he decides to be an activist when its convenient for him, when it’ll garner views and supporters, not because he truly believes in what he’s saying. He’s a hypocrite, as shown through many things but one being how he embraces Beth Ditto but denounces Kirstie Alley or any other celeb who gains weight who he doesn’t have a weird obsession with. But I don’t think he deserved to get physically attacked, which was my point in the comments I posted on the preceding article about the incident.
moonblossom
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 01:03 pm: [report]
Amen! Great post!
dlc910
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 01:35 pm: [report]
Love this article - couldn’t agree more.
Amelia McDonell-Parry
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 01:40 pm: [report]
@SterlingSilver36 Aww I love that I have the power to give readers minor heart attacks
I think you’re only seeing less posts from me in comparison to how many posts we’re actually doing. We’ve increased the volume a lot in the last few weeks.
hellosunrise
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 02:36 pm: [report]
although i’m not a very big fan of perez, i do have to say that nobody DESERVES to be hit, no matter what kind of a person they are. great article nonetheless.
I Go To 11
wrote on June 23 2009 @ 02:44 pm: [report]
Perez has always gotten on my damn nerves, and this just proves why. I have no respect for self-serving attention whores like him. Great post!
sylviasma
wrote on June 25 2009 @ 11:37 pm: [report]
Bravo - well written. That pathetic excuse for a man has always been wrapped up in hypocrisy
davidhnaz
wrote on July 11 2009 @ 03:20 pm: [report]
It prove he really is a FAG, would the world ever miss this guy if he just fell off, would anybody miss him, NOT!!!
SueSue
wrote on December 31 2009 @ 10:17 am: [report]
I know I’m late to the show, but whatever. Screw being PC, I say he damn well should have gotten punched in the face…I’ll do you one better and say he deserves to get punched in the face at least once a day for the rest of his life.
MuchoMacho
wrote on December 31 2009 @ 10:25 am: [report]
what a vaj.