celebrity gossip

Beginnings in blogging

Lavandeira began his career as a writer for gay magazines, and started blogging "because it seemed easy"[1]. When PerezHilton.com became the first publication to post photos of the then-unconfirmed lovers Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Lavandeira's blog saw a surge in popularity and eventually began averaging 700,000 readers per day [2]. Since then, Lavandeira has become widely accepted by the mainstream media and his many devoted readers, making him one of the most successful gossip bloggers on the internet. Much of his success can be attributed to the celebrities that have befriended him such as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Courtney Love, though Lavandeira assures fans that he will divulge gossip about celebrities without discrimination[3]. Lavandeira says revealing secrets about his celebrity friends "is like a dance...Once you figure it out, it's okay" [4].

The title of Lavandeira's original blog - pagesixsixsix.com - led to a suit by the New York Post for brand infringement due to its similarity to their "Page Six" gossip column. Later, Lavandeira was sued by Colin Farrell for posting a link to his sex tape. Lavandeira told the Star that when he claimed that Clay Aiken was gay and had hired escorts, he was bombarded with death threats by Aiken's fans who also posted much of his personal information online [5]. Despite the downsides of his high-profile life, Lavandeira insists that he is living his dream and will continue to travel to many different cities, states, and countries in pursuit of fresh gossip.

Outing of celebrities

Since September 2005 Perez had been posting articles on the speculation around Lance Bass's sexuality. In July 2006 Bass officially came out as gay, and Lavandeira received heavy criticism for having been partially responsible for the outing. “It upsets me that people think what I'm doing is a bad thing,” Perez 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?” When asked by David Pakman on his respective radio show, Midweek Politics about the so-called outing of celebrities, he claimed that he "doesn't out, he reports on the private lives of public people. In addition, he claimed that Lance Bass was already "outed," but he simply reported on a new relationship of his.

When questioned on Midweek Politics about whether or not reporting on celebrities' sexual orientation incites homophobia by making it news, he indicated that he simply didn't believe so. Perez went on to say that coming out in Hollywood is not necessarily a bad thing, he used 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... if I have to drag some people screaming out of the closet, then I will. I think that lot of celebrities have an archaic fear that being gay will hurt their career but look at Rosie. Look at Ellen.”[6]

His views on the appropriateness of outing celebrities are at odds with the mainstream gay media. In an August 2006 MTV interview, an editor from Frontiers magazine, responding to questions about Perez, said "he does the sort of thing that drives real journalists nuts. There's no facts, no basis in reality...outing people is just not cool."

Other celebrities whom Hilton frequently claims are gay, bisexual, or lesbian include Matt Dallas, Clay Aiken, Jeremy Piven, Queen Latifah, Wentworth Miller, and Star Jones' husband Al Reynolds.^{citations needed]}

Content

On the website Hilton posts gossip items about a variety of celebrities and people of note. His gossip is usually delivered with a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek or sometimes even cruel slant. Often he posts tabloid photographs over which he has photoshopped his own captions or "doodles" of a humorous nature.

Hilton's angle on celebrity gossip is his unashamed desire to mingle with and be a part of celebrity culture, and as such he is often invited by the very celebrities he mocks to attend awards shows and private events. He purports to have befriended Paris Hilton, originator of his namesake and frequent subject of his posts.

Criticism

Critics have derided Hilton's often transparent attempt to weave gossip out of intentional misinformation. For instance, Hilton posted the song "Come on and Get it (Up in 'Dem Guts)" on his website, stating it to be a new single released by singer Fiona Apple. In fact it was a comedic song Apple contributed to for inclusion in the television show Dog Bites Man. His postings have also been panned for their purportedly biased nature; for example his blog has given considerable exposure to stories alleging that Mel Gibson had made disparaging comments towards Jews, yet has never addressed persistent rumours regarding Paris Hilton uttering racial epithets or the commercial failure of her new album, Paris. He has also been known to use celebrity photographs without proper licensing or permission from the photographer.

Television appearances

Lavandeira can also be seen in media outside PerezHilton.com, such as on VH1 and E!. He is also developing his own reality show, which he considers "a hybrid" of The Real World, The Surreal Life, and Punk'd[7]. He tentatively estimates that it will air in 2007. Lavandeira has also recently begun producing podcasts. He appeared on the Howard Stern Show on June 27, 2006 and Tom Green Live on September 14, 2006. He recently appeared on MTV Canada in September 2006.

External links

• PerezHilton.com
• Mario Lavandeira on the Internet Movie Database