perezhilton

Perez Hilton is the nom de plume of celebrity blogger Mario Lavandeira, who created the wildly popular celebrity tabloid site, PerezHilton.com. Lavandeira, an openly gay man of Cuban ancestry, is as much a celebrity as he is a blogger and uses his status as the top tabloid blogger to mix and mingle with those he gossips about, often blurring the line of journalism.

Hilton/Lavandeira has managed to parlay his power and influence into an incredibly lucrative career using the subconscious power of the name Paris Hilton, the heiress-turned-celebrity. Not so coincidentally, Lavandeira has been accused of showing favoritism by not reporting unfavorable stories about Paris Hilton in exchange for use of his site name, though nothing has ever been proven.

Perez Hilton has become a lightening rod for a variety of issues related to reporting on celebs, including his overzealous need to "out" possibly gay or lesbian artists and actors. Famous outings include former N'Sync member Lance Bass and actor Neil Patrick Harris, who both came forward to admit being gay after pressure on Perez's site.

Perez, who has also been sued by several photo agencies for appropriating their exclusive celeb photos, differentiates his site from the fast growing number of celeb blogs by doodling and scribbling sophomorically  (i.e. penises, hearts, cocaine dribbles) on the images he posts.

Lavandeira has made numerous television appearances, including the VH1 series, What Perez Sez.