Background and career
Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid photos over which he has added his own captions or "doodles". The blog has received controversy for its attitude, its former practice of outing alleged closeted celebrities, and its role in the increasing coverage of celebrities in all forms of media. Besides blogging, Hilton has written four books, hosts a podcast with Chris Booker, has two YouTube channels, has appeared in various films and television shows, and has acted in two off-Broadway shows. In 2018, BroadwayWorld dubbed him "the original celebrity social media influencer".
Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. was born on March 23, 1978, in Miami, to Cuban parents. He grew up in Little Havana and Westchester, Florida; he attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, an all-boys Catholic school in Miami. Hilton graduated in 1996, and the aspiring actor received a scholarship to New York University in Manhattan, New York.
After graduating from New York University in 2000 and before beginning a career in blogging, Hilton attempted to be an actor. He briefly was a media relations assistant for GLAAD, an LGBT rights organization, was a freelance writer for gay publications, worked as a receptionist for Urban Outings, a Manhattan gay events club, and briefly was the managing editor of Instinct, a gay men's magazine. He says he started blogging "because it seemed easy". Hilton's angle on celebrity gossip includes an unapologetic desire to mingle with and be a part of celebrity culture. He often comments on 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. Although Hilton has an affinity for some celebrities like Lady Gaga and Sophia Bush, he also has a "vendetta" against certain stars, such as Disney Channel star Vanessa Hudgens and Gossip Girl teen actress Taylor Momsen. Miley Cyrus once publicized her personal disapproval of Hilton via Twitter. Some have suggested that Hilton's proximity to the celebrities about whom he writes has led to biased coverage on his blog. For example, he purports to have befriended Paris Hilton, the source of his stage name and frequent subject of his posts, and it has been noted that he rarely reports on stories or rumors casting Paris Hilton in a negative or unflattering light. In fact, unlike most gossip blogs, he often acknowledges and commends her positive achievements. Hilton has been known to speak out publicly against discriminatory behavior of celebrities and other public figures. He 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. In early 2007, Hilton was criticized by The Hollywood Gossip blog for ignoring racist and homophobic remarks made by Paris Hilton. Hilton often promotes his favorite up-and-coming musicians by posting streams of their songs under the "Listen to This" category of his blog. London-based singer Mika's 2007 rise to popular success in North America has been partially attributed to Hilton's frequent support. Hilton and Mika also claim to be friends.
During a Cliché Magazine (June/July 2010) interview, Hilton said that he only started blogging as a hobby. "What set my site apart is that prior to PerezHilton.com, most blogs were mainly online journals and diaries, but that never interested me. I wanted to talk about celebrities because they're far more entertaining." On March 11, 2005, within the first six months of Hilton's blogging career, PageSixSixSix.com, the original name of his blog, was named "Hollywood's Most-Hated Website" by The Insider, catalyzing an initial surge in its popularity which temporarily crippled its server. Hilton 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 Hilton's web traffic claims. Pop singer Fergie confirmed that she is referring to Hilton in her song "Pedestal" (2006), in which she criticizes an unidentified person for making negative remarks about her online. On August 17, 2007, citing exclusive sources, Hilton announced the death of Cuban president Fidel Castro and claimed that he was the first media outlet in the world to break the news. Although Hilton 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 dies. Rumors were further fueled by a road closure in the Florida Keys which was due to a police standoff. Castro appeared in an interview on Cuban television on September 21, 2007, "looking frail but sounding lucid", and mocking rumors of his death. On September 9, 2009, Perez appeared on The Tyra Banks Show and cited his premature reporting of Castro's death as his "one regret". On September 15, 2008, Terra.com named Hilton the "Hispanic of the Year" in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. In October 2014, the popularity of the site was trending slightly down, as PerezHilton.com was ranked by Alexa as the 1,234th most trafficked website globally.
In 2001, Hilton made an appearance in the third episode of the third season of The Sopranos, "Fortunate Son". His character hands over the proceeds of a Jewel benefit concert at Rutgers University, whose ticket office Christopher Moltisanti and Benny Fazio rob at gunpoint. In 2004, a then-206 lb (93 kg) Hilton appeared as a contestant on the "Madonna Style" episode of VH1's reality weight loss show, Flab To Fab. At the time, Hilton had 30% body fat and a 41 in (100 cm) waist. Hilton lost a total of 45 lb (20 kg) in three months and dropped 13 in (33 cm) around his waist, leaving him at 160 lb (73 kg) and a 28 in (71 cm) waist for his 6 ft (1.8 m) frame, and a greatly reduced level of body fat. On July 13, 2007, Hilton announced on the TV show The View that he would 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. Hilton appeared as a contestant on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar, which debuted August 30, 2007. He was eliminated in week six of the contest by judges' vote. On September 29, 2007, he hosted a Best of MADtv episode featuring pop culture parody sketches from previous seasons. He has appeared in music videos such as Simple Plan's "When I'm Gone", The Pussycat Dolls's "Hush Hush", Rihanna's "S&M" and in the video of the Latin music Anahí and Christian Chávez "Libertad". Hilton has appeared in reality shows including Victoria Beckham: Coming to America, MTV Cribs, The N's Queen Bees, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Tori Spelling THS and Paris Hilton's My New BFF. In addition to reality television, Hilton has guest starred as himself in scripted shows such as Privileged. Hilton is a regular on series such as TRL, MuchMusic, and Extra where he appears via satellite from his closet studio to talk about gossip. He co-hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and after Rick Astley did not show up to collect his award for best act ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Perez Hilton collected the prize on Astley's behalf. On June 21, 2009, Hilton was a presenter at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto. On December 2, 2009, he was a guest on the TV show The View. In 2010, Hilton guest starred as himself in the episode Victorious "Wi-Fi in the Sky". Hilton created and presented a British television series, Perez Hilton Superfan for ITV2 in December 2011. On the January 16, 2012, edition of WWE Raw, he was a special guest ring announcer for a Divas tag team match, between The Bella Twins and Kelly Kelly and Eve, stopping the twins' switch place and win. In April 2012, he appeared on Oprah's Lifeclass live at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, along with Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra, talking about how after his "spiritual awakening", he changed his past celebrity bashing ways and that he had found a new purpose. In January 2015, Hilton took part as a housemate on the fifteenth season of the British reality series, Celebrity Big Brother. He became the seventh celebrity to be evicted on February 4, 2015. In August 2017, he was a contestant on Worst Cooks in America Season 11: Celebrity Edition 3. He won the competition and was crowned "Best of the Worst". In December 2020, Hilton was permanently banned from TikTok, where he had amassed 1.6 million followers. He released a video of himself crying, in reaction to the ban, and begging TikTok 'influencer' Charli D'Amelio, who he had criticized, for help in having him reinstated. In December 2021, Hilton was a guest star on Red Table Talk: The Estefans alongside singer-songwriter Gabbie Hanna for a discussion about cancel culture.
Hilton starred as himself in NEWSical The Musical, an off-Broadway musical which had a four-week run, beginning on September 8, 2012. He said, "I am beyond thrilled, nervous and zen about making my New York theater debut. It's gonna be a wild ride in a show that guarantees to put smiles on people's faces. It will be no holds barred pure unadulterated fun. I expect to have the time of my life and look forward to hugging happy theatergoers after each show." Hilton starred as Danny Tanner/Bob Saget in Full House! The Musical, which ran at Theater 80 in Manhattan from September 10, 2015, through November 29, 2015. The musical was a satire on the sitcom Full House that aired on the American Broadcasting Company from 1987 through 1995.
