In case you missed it, Perez Hilton got punched gloriously in the face by America's new hero, Polo Molina, who serves not only as the Joseph Welch of our generation, but also as manager to will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. Go figure. Anyway, Perez not only clogged up Toronto's emergency response staff by mobilizing his one million strong Twitter army to call the police on his behalf, but he then released a teary, overly indulgent video in which he described the donnybrook, and here is where the controversy has raged. You see, when will.i.am was allegedly gettin' all up in Perez's toothy grill, the cornered gossip blogger feared for his safety; so he did the best possible thing: he called will.i.am a "fucking faggot." (I didn't censor the word because honestly, there's no reason to soften the awfulness of Perez's actions.) Well, this understandably led to punches being thrown by Polo, and now, two days later, GLAAD has piped up on the side (more or less) of the Black Eyed Peas.
As reported yesterday, GLAAD has officially condemned Perez Hilton's use of the F-word, noting that even though there was not necessarily hate behind its usage, the attack still reiterated the notion that such words might just be okay to use in trying to get a rise out of someone. Surely Perez would apologize, yes? Not so much. In a statement to TMZ, he once again played the woe-is-me card, saying, "I am saddened GLAAD chose to victimize me further by criticizing me for how I non-violently dealt with a very scary situation that, unfortunately, turned violent." Oversimplification, to say the least.
Perez then continued, "While I doubt I will get an apology from GLAAD, nor do I expect one, I would just hope people know how difficult it is to intellectualize a situation and think rationally when a thug disguised as a musician is screaming at your face and intimidating you." So yes, reading between the lines, he's acting as if he deserves the apology, even if he doesn't necessarily expect one.
But wait, there's more.
Perez has now decided to become a crusader against all violence — particular that targeted at him. According to Oh No They Didn't, Hilton's lawyers released a statement saying "Rest assured that anyone who physically assaults Perez Hilton or encourages others to do so because they cannot handle a little criticism will be sued as quickly as I can type... His first amendment rights will not be infringed upon through fear, intimidation or violence."
So let's just get this straight: it's not okay to instigate violence through words UNLESS you're Perez Hilton, in which case you're more than free to use incendiary language and homophobic slurs at will. And by the way, not that I am calling for violence, but if I did, wouldn't that be MY first amendment right too?
Of course, anyone with half a brain cell knows that this is merely just an oversimplification of the situation — much as it is to suddenly take to the internet and claim to be a victim of pure, unfiltered Violence with a capital V. Getting punched does suck, and it's certainly not pleasant. But for Perez to literally sob over what appears to be a very minor bruise when there are millions of others out in the world suffering from violent attacks a hundred times worse, it's just all feels a bit tasteless and offensive.
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On top of Perez's comments being homophobic and incendiary, his repeated use of the word "thug" to describe Polo is nothing short of racist. He is an awful human being.
And, to be technical, the First Amendment prevents government action that prohibits freedom of speech, not actions by private people or private entities. Perez really picked a winner for a lawyer.
You know, at first I kinda felt sorry for the dude, but now my sympathy is completely gone. He's become such a little bitch about this whole situation by whining, releasing that statement, and posting that 12min-long diatribe. Now, if we can just get people to stop visiting his site...
This is hilarious -- he is now employing the Carrie Prejean "I am being attacked for saying my opinion" (about Fergie being Fug which started this whole mess) defense.
Here is my 1st Amendment -- Perez you are a fucktard.
hb
What is the equivalent of "1st amendment rights" in Toronto?
Actually "calling for violence" is not strictly protected by First Amendment rights, in the case where it may result in imminent lawless violence.
See Schenk v. United States (1919), specifically, the famous "clear and present danger" clause:
The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.
What, you didn't have basic constitutional history? (I mean, you didn't KNOW that?)
"Actually "calling for violence" is not strictly protected by First Amendment rights, in the case where it may result in imminent lawless violence."
Also, I'm so confused. Is it OK Perez got hit because he's douchey in general—an asshole to everyone who's essentially made a career out of asking for it?
Or is it OK he got hit only because he called someone a faggot, which suddenly has become the new N-word? (Funny how truly acceptable it was like 48 hours ago.)
In either case, I seem to owe an awful lot of people an awful lot of punches.
Because Perez is such a douche in general, it's highly satisfying that he got punched.
Because Perez said "faggot," it's understandable that he got punched.
Not saying it's necessarily OK that someone got hit, but he's an idiot for putting himself in and then later exacerbating the situation.
Perez is a bitch who can dish it out, but he can't take it.
I think hb said it best.
Right or wrong, I think he is getting all that he deserves: a punch in the face & negative publicity.
I can't get over the fact that I have darker circles under my eyes every morning than Perez has following a brutal assault.
RWD, he probably has a better makeup artist at his disposal than you do...
What's interesting is that this weeks episode of Raising the Bar was about this - whether or not the word faggot was used in a way that the crime became a hate crime. (A black man yelling it to a gay man.) The black man argued it was not a slur, but took offense to the gay man calling him 'homeboy' and thought that was a slur.