Why I’m done with Perez Hilton

Three American Pop Culture icons passed away this week – and forgive me, but all I can think about is how incredibly OVER Perez Hilton I am.

In thinking back over the memories I have of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson, it strikes me that what we consider fame today is very different than the fame of years past. Ed, Farrah, and Michael were all examples of hard-working, talented people who deserved all the acclaim they recieved. (Say what you will about Michael Jackson and the weirdness of his later years, but he was – in his younger days – a musical genius.)

Today’s celebrities are famous, often for no reason. Who are these useless celebrities we now have, from a fake docu-drama on MTV called The Hills? What? They’re not actors. They’re rich kids faking a reality show, and a reality show that isn’t even interesting. Lindsay Lohan hasn’t contributed anything as an actress or singer in years worth watching or listening to, yet she’s way more famous now for being a disaster than she ever was as a performer.

Take Perez Hilton.

Here’s a dude who got noticed for making fun of celebrities, something almost everyone does anyway. Somehow, from that, he managed to ride on the coattails of the famous and make himself surreally famous at the same time – until now, he’s a legit celebrity for no reason. He, like Paris Hilton from whom he took his nom-de-plume, is famous for nothing.

A few days ago, Perez was making headlines after claiming that Black Eyed Peas member Will.I.Am punched him in the nose. Or rather, claiming all this via twitter – because Perez is so stuck on attention that instead of calling the police, he twittered the following:

“I’m in shock. I need the police ASAP. Please come to the SoHo Metropolitan Hotel now. Please.
I was assaulted by Will.i.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke.
Still waiting for the police. The bleeding has stopped. I need to document this. Please, can the police come to the SoHo Met Hotel.
I spoke to my lawyer. I really need to talk to the authorities. Please come to the SoHo Met Hotel. Have called the police. Need them here.
The Toronto police are here now. Thank you. Please stop calling them.” — LA Times

What Perez FAILED to blog about was that Will.I.Am (or his manager, the details are still fuzzy) punched him after Perez hounded him outside a club for a while loudly using a term derogatory to gays. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what the “f-bomb” in question is.

This is the same guy who shouted loudly from the rooftops about respecting the gay community after the whole Miss America thing – where he asked Miss California Carrie Prejean if she believed in gay marriage. Carrie, a Christian, said she didn’t believe it was right. Though it’s not a popular opinion, I hold that if we’re going to be American and declare our right to Freedom of Speech, we do have to let it go both ways (even if we think what the person is saying is stupid, which I do.)

Perez acted like Carrie was the antichrist for speaking against the gay community, and now he TWITTERS his being upset about getting punched in the face for teasing someone with derogatory slurs?

(FYI – The video is available on TMZ. I would have punched him, too.)

Time Magazine has a lovely article about celebrities twitters after the announcement of Michael Jackson’s death. (See here.) Celebs from MC Hammer to Jane Fonda to John Mayer all express their sadness and best wishes. And then there’s Perez, who writes: “Grieving is not entertainment. That does not need to be public. That adds nothing to the story. I won’t be running any pics. Please follow.”  Nice of him to try and make it all about him, huh?

This comes mere hours after he speculated in a now-removed post that Jackson’s rush to the hospital was probably a publicity stunt…

I used to be a loyal Perez follower back in the day. He was fun and catty. Now, he’s turning into a tragic joke – a young dude who thinks he’s hot shit and deserves all the attention he gets. In truth, Perez himself is not that interesting, seems to be a hypocritical douchebag, and has attributed nothing to the world except being mean. The world doesn’t need help being mean.

I’m done with fake celebrities. I’m done with Perez Hilton.

(Edit: Perez, consider yourself Stupidhead #12 on my list. Welcome to the list.)