Perez Hilton has sparked an outpouring of concern after he was filmed engaging in alleged self-harm in a TikTok livestream.
The celebrity blogger, 48, was rushed to a Miami hospital on Tuesday after officers received multiple calls from concerned fans watching the stream, the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office told the Daily Mail.
Clips taken from the video, which the Daily Mail will not publish, appeared to show Hilton covered in blood while brandishing a knife.
It’s a tragic turn of events for Hilton, who this year vowed to work on himself and turn around his complicated legacy, after reflecting on his troubled past and ‘finding God’.
In March, Hilton nearly died after battling sepsis – a result, he said, of taking flu medication on an empty stomach that triggered a cascade of health problems.
He revealed that God presented himself to him during his near-death experience, exclusively telling the Daily Mail at the time that it had inspired him to reflect on his ‘very public mistakes’ that had brought him ‘great shame’.
Perez Hilton’s complicated legacy explained as fans fear for his health and wellbeing after he was hospitalised following a distressing knife livestream on TikTok
Hilton, real name Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. made his name in the Noughties, starting a gossip blog under his professional title, Perez Hilton
Indeed a quick Google search of Hilton and the negative stories far outweigh the positives.
Hilton, real name Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. made his name in the Noughties, starting a gossip blog under his professional title, Perez Hilton.
His site quickly became the go-to for all sources of celebrity gossip – yet in his pursuit to publish exclusives and sensational stories – Hilton confessed that he didn’t care who he hurt.
While he is credited with being a pioneer in the age of blogging, he polarised celebrities and readers, with Mila Kunis famously calling him the ‘first person that created ugly news, that literally just spread filth’.
She added: ‘It was just mean, and so it allowed people to be mean,’ saying, ‘the whole concept of trolling really didn’t exist’ prior to his blog.
Hilton rejected this charge, saying in response: ‘Did Mila Kunis never read Us Weekly or National Enquirer or Star magazine?
‘All of those existed before I ever did, and they did the exact same thing. Maybe I was the first to do it online, and therefore, I’m a pioneer!’
However, it soon became apparent that he had favourites and vendettas in celebrity circles.
Paris Hilton, who is said to have inspired his name, for example, never featured negatively on his site.
Meanwhile, it was open season for Britney Spears during her 2007 breakdown, with Hilton cashing in on merchandise mocking the mentally unwell star.
He famously branded the singer an ‘unfit mother’ and in the wake of Heath Ledger’s accidental overdose he sold T-shirts with Ledger’s face on and the words: ‘Why couldn’t it have been Britney?’
Hilton later apologised for his actions in the wake of the #FreeBritney movement, saying on GMB: ‘I regret a lot or most of what I said about Britney as I’m sure Piers [Morgan] would if he were here about things he’s said in the past.’
The blogger also claimed that he has grown over the years, adding: ‘Thankfully, hopefully, many of us get older and wiser.’
It soon became apparent that he had favourites and vendettas in celebrity circles. Paris Hilton, who is said to have inspired his name, for example, never featured negatively on his site (pictured with Paris and Lil’ Kim in 2006)
Hilton, who is openly gay, also received backlash for outing stars he claimed were closeted homosexuals.
When NSYNC member Lance Bass came out as gay in 2006 he claimed Hilton had ‘bullied’ him into the confession.
Bass told the Ricki Lake show in 2013 that he was frightened to come out in the Nineties because he feared it would have ‘completely ruined’ his boyband.
He explained: ‘Two years before I came out I was really bullied on the internet by bloggers, that’s when Perez Hilton just started and was just really malicious against me.
‘So, because of the bloggers like him hounding me, all the other magazines started calling me and saying, “Look, we know you’re gay, you can write the story with or without us, but we have to write it.”
‘I decided to go with People [magazine] and I think they did a great job. I had 24 hours to decide if I was going to come out or not, and within 24 hours it was on the stands.’
Hilton also stated that Matt Bomer, Neil Patrick Harris, Clay Aiken and Wentworth Miller were gay before they came out publicly.
Defending himself at the time, Hilton told Access Hollywood: ‘It upsets me that people think what I’m doing is a bad thing. 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?’
Hilton added that coming out in Hollywood is not necessarily a bad thing, citing Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell as examples, and continuing: ‘I know there is some controversy about outing people, but I also believe the only way we are 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.’
Yet Hilton had a change of heart in recent years, writing in his 2020 memoir, TMI: My Life in Scandal, that he regretted his actions.
‘I regret that I thought it was OK to out celebrities,’ Hilton wrote. ‘That is something I no longer believe.’
He explained that it was the backlash to his 2010 involvement in an LGBT campaign, It Gets Better, that enabled him to see the error of his ways.
‘The response I got truly shook me to my core,’ he told the BBC. ‘Almost every comment said, “You’re a hypocrite, you’re a bully, you’re part of the problem.”
‘I knew a lot of people didn’t like me before then, but I was living in my own little bubble.’
Hilton also received backlash for outing stars he claimed were closeted. When NSYNC’s Lance Bass (pictured) came out as gay in 2006 he claimed Hilton had ‘bullied’ him into the confession
Hilton also revealed that his ‘cruel’ stories came from a place of his own insecurities.
He explained: ‘I’d never put much thought into writing an autobiography before, because while I have this public persona of being extremely confident, I also am extremely filled with self-doubt, worry and insecurity.’
In his book, he reflected on his two-decade long career, penning: ‘I have a ton of regrets, particularly because I now see that I never needed to be so mean or cruel.
‘One of the many things I regret is that I hurt so many people by giving them nasty nicknames, and above all that I was unkind to the children of celebrities…
‘I reached a point in my private life where I started having these thoughts about changing. But I was paralysed by fear, that I would lose everything that I had worked very hard to achieve up until that point.
‘Over the last 10 years, it’s been this ongoing process of making constant changes, finding out what the line is, and making mistakes along the way. I’m not perfect, I’ve had slip-ups, even in the last 10 years.’
While Hilton was on a path of righting his wrongs he suffered a setback in March this year when he was hospitalised with sepsis.
Hilton – who is father to son Mario, 13, and daughters Mia, 11, and Mayte, eight, via surrogacy – also had to go under the knife after doctors discovered a dangerous blood clot in his leg.
After an ultrasound, it was revealed Hilton had a deep vein thrombosis, with the star saying: ‘I am so thankful to God that we caught this early because if that blood clot had gone to my lungs or my heart, it could have been real bad.’
Hilton had shared his past health crisis on social media, saying: ‘My stupidity landed me in the hospital for 21 days. It was the worst and best thing that’s ever happened to me.’
He was taken to the hospital after an ulcer left him unable to walk.
In March, Hilton nearly died after battling sepsis and told the Daily Mail at the time that it had inspired him to reflect on his ‘very public mistakes’ that had brought him ‘great shame’
The star said he had the flu for a week and took his medication but did not take the medication with food.
‘Because I have been taking all of this medication without food for a week, I developed an ulcer then a perforation and then Sepsis. People die of Sepsis.’
After he was discharged from hospital, Hilton laid bare his ‘very profound, very real experience’ of divine intervention during his hospitalisation.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘It was God presenting Himself to me, and then doing something that I could only describe as a miracle to heal me… I was still unwell, and then God did something.’
Hilton added that his professed exchange with the Almighty allowed him to change his mindset about his rollercoaster 22-year career.
He explained: ‘To have this experience with God and to know that God loves me, and God forgives me, it was very healing, because I then forgave myself.’
Hilton added that he still harbored guilt over ‘all of the mistakes – not even mistakes, they were awful decisions that I made’ in his ‘enfant terrible phase’ as a celebrity blogger, when he ‘knew what I was doing was wrong and I didn’t care’.
‘It’s like if you’re a drug addict, and you’re stealing from your parents’ money to buy drugs,’ he said.
‘You know what you’re doing is wrong, and you don’t care. You just want that hit. And that was truly what I was doing.’
For Hilton, the ‘most powerful drug’ was the ‘attention’ he garnered as an online gadfly,’ as he confessed, ‘I didn’t care who I hurt in the process’.
Yet he said now he intends to lead a ‘smaller, quieter, happier life’.
As a result, he no longer bothers to respond to ‘nasty comments’ on social media, opting instead to instantly block the people who post them.
‘Prior to my hospitalization, I used to think all attention was good attention,’ he said. ‘And while I acknowledge that that is still the case for a lot of people – like the Kardashians! – I am more interested in protecting my peace.’
Hilton – who is father to son Mario, 13, and daughters Mia, 11, and Mayte, eight, via surrogacy – vowed to lead a ‘smaller, quieter, happier life’ following his near-death experience
While Hilton had vowed to live a ‘quieter and happier’ life, he tragically made headlines again this week after his distressing knife livestream saw him rushed to hospital.
Hilton was alone at his home at the time the video was filmed, deputies have said.
The video has been taken down and Hilton’s account has since been suspended by TikTok.
Hilton’s condition now remains unclear. The Daily Mail has reached out to Hilton’s representatives for comment.
The blogger’s representatives, Golden Artists Entertainment Co-CEOs Dante Rusciolelli and Rebekah Kochan, told TMZ in a statement: ‘We are aware of the concerning content circulating online involving our client, Perez Hilton.
‘At this time, we have not been able to make direct contact with him, despite our ongoing efforts to reach him.
‘Our primary concern is Perez’s health and well-being, as well as the well-being of his family. Until we have confirmed information, we will not speculate or comment further.
‘We appreciate everyone’s concern and ask that his privacy be respected during this time.’
Fans and friends of the blogger have taken to social media to share their support for the star and send him well wishes, while everyone is hoping that he will pull through and be able to continue on his path of redemption.
If you or someone you know needs help in the US, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.
If you are in the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123 for free.
Read the full article here
