Perez Hilton Called Will.i.am A "F*gg*t" Pre-Fight

TORONTO — Police have charged the tour manager of the Black Eyed Peas with assault after he allegedly punched celebrity blogger Perez Hilton outside a Toronto nightclub. Hilton said he got into an argument with band members Fergie and will.i.am at the Cobra nightclub early Monday morning and was punched outside by Polo Molina, the band's tour manager. They were at the club following a Sunday night video awards show.

Molina turned himself in and has been charged with assaulting Hilton, Toronto Police Constable Tony Vella said. Molina is due in court Aug. 5.

Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, complained about the incident on the microblogging site Twitter. He tweeted at 4 a.m.: "I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke."

Hilton, who is openly gay, said in interview with The Associated Press that he called will.i.am a "faggot," a gay slur, inside the club after the musician told the blogger not to write about his band on his Web site.

"He was like 'You need to respect me.' He was in my face. He was obviously trying to intimidate me and scare me," Hilton said. "I was like 'I don't need to respect you. I don't respect you and I did say this, and I knew that it would be the worst thing I could possibly say to him because he was acting the way he was. I said 'You know what, I don't respect you and you're gay and stop being such a faggot.'"

Will.i.am said in a video posting on dipdive.com that he came to Hilton with respect and was called a "faggot."

Hilton, who was at the club with Lady Gaga, said he then left the club and was punched from behind. The pop stars and the blogger were among celebrities in Toronto for the MuchMusic Video Awards on Sunday night.

A spokeswoman for the Black Eyed Peas declined comment.

Comments

[Charmed]

So it's okay for a gay person to call somebody a F*gg*t but it's not okay for others to call a gay person this name......­.because of course they would be homophobic.

[AngelFace43]

Same as it's okay for black people to call one another the "n" word, but not for anyone else to. I'm sorry, but in today's world some words are perceived as so hateful or derogatory that NO ONE should be using them with impunity.

[hoppybunny]

Its called redirection: taking something that could be a threat and embracing it so wholly that it loses its power. It's a viable tactic that's simply overused, but viable nonetheless.

[foxbat]

Actually, it's not the same. Blacks calling each other "n*gger" and doing it as a term of affection/­endearment or a way to negate the negative conotations of the word, where both parties are OK with it, might be acceptable. But if it's meant with malice and disrespect, then it doesn't matter whether both people are Black with regard to the term n*gger, female with regard to the word b*tch, gay with regard to the word f*ggot" or anything else. Disrespect is disrespect. Perez's word was used, by his own admission, with disrespect.

[whatameye]

Also when women playfully use the "B' word with one another, but oh the misogyny when a man uses it.

[Wilderthansome]

Its not okay to use that hateful language anywhere, anyone, anytime. If those are the best words you can use then go back to school, get a dictionary and growup!

[Usama]

It seems like libel like what Perez writes should be grounds for legal action. Cruise successfully sued newspapers which claimed he was gay and proved their libel injured him. It seems William should be able to pursue the same course. I also dont see how dafamers and denigrators like Hilton can protect their income from libel suits.

[rudyinbama]

Not too many years back, I remember a judge tossing a case saying it is not defamation to be called gay.
Cruise has had a great career for someone who can barely act.

[Ellyllon]

After careful consideration, I don't think Perez is, perhaps, the best spokesperson for any cause related to gay issues.

[RicanNewYorker]

You are right my dear he is not the best spokesperson for the gay community at all. He's setting the gay community back many, many decades.

[hoppybunny]

Why? Its our choice whether to hold him as a paradigm of his sexual persuasion, why not condemn males in general for his purile behavior? Or petty people like him, or all the idiots that make his site successful? It's just one of his lifestyle choices, has he set the community of fat ugly people back too?

[sandyeggo]

who is lamer, PH or the overly bred jon and kate? fame is a dangerous drug.

[starlitangel913]

Seriously? This guy needs to go away--pronto.

[rudyinbama]

That's God's punishment for publishing those Lance Black photos and dragging us all into that Prejean mess.
Nobody elected you America's gay spokesperson.
You're practically Bruno.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

Seems like a fighting word to me. He uttered it, it is not protected speech, and he got into a fight. "Fighting words are categorically excluded from the protection of the First Amendment … [because] their content embodies a particularly intolerable and socially unnecessary mode of expressing whatever idea the speaker wishes to convey” (Antonin Scalia)."

Even worse, he then turned around and liked about will.i.am., which is slander/defamation and not protected speech. I hope will.i.am. sues Hilton.

[zenwhenicanbe2]

"Fighting words are categorically excluded from the protection of the First Amendment � [because] their content embodies a particularly intolerable and socially unnecessary mode of expressing whatever idea the speaker wishes to convey" (Antonin Scalia)."

Nice work! Thanks for posting that quote, I believe it identifies a particular sentiment that can be difficult to express in one's own words.

[BigSlick674]

I understand the GLBT community wish very much to disown Mario

[ACMallet]

It's LGBT. Lesbians get top billing.

[ramal]

Lesbians are GAY WOMEN, dear.

[Uppity1]

Seriously, what did Perez Hilton expect? It's actually surprising he can show his face in any showbiz setting anymore, given the offensive nature of much of the content on his website. He writes the ugliest stuff about celebrities and often defaces their photos with vulgar illustrations. What goes around comes around, it's all karma.

[eternalkerri]

um, just to let you know.

this guy is definately not welcome on our gay softball team.

seriously.

[jlab]

You should definitely use your gay spellcheck.

[sandyeggo]

bada bing!

[Simmadown]

I wonder what Dustin Lance Black is thinking right now.....

[viragovenus]

Perez said, "I did say this, and I knew that it would be the worst thing I could possibly say to him." The sad thing is, Perez has learned that society thinks of him as the worst thing one could possibly be. Of course, this is not true anymore of many straight people, but people who have been through the kind of discrimination Perez has feel that they never know when the f-word will be turned on them. The homophobia in society has resulted in a lot of self-hate for Perez. Otherwise he would never use the f-word as a pejorative.

[tgig]

ummm...why is mario still getting airtime?

[marklittleboy75]

Hey Mr. Hilton. I'm not surprised this didn't happen sooner. First it was all the outcry from the Miss USA Pageant. You are in the field of spreading malicious, lewd and un-newsworthy gossip. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. While I agree with you that "violence is not the answer", you provoked members of the Black-Eyed Peas by your own comments. Save your comments for your website. Kudos to Will.i.am.

[Angelus2007]

The hypocrisy is nobody care Perez called Will.i.am the 'F" word, but if it was the other way around, everyone would be up in arms that Will.i.am is homophobic.

[OverIt]

Not true. I posted this earlier:

Since Perez started an ultimately successful campaign to get Isaiah Washington fired from Grey's Anatomy for calling a castmate that same vile term, perhaps we should follow in his example. . . demanding that all of his advertisers remove their ads from the Perez Hilton website because of his insensitivity and bigotry to the LGBT community.

[BigSlick674]

Perez need to take responsibility for starting the verbal abuse.

[BBC9nch]

especially here on this site. you bet!

[Cakey4814]

Isaiah Washington was fired for using the "f" word and is still being blacklisted but it's okay that Perez uses it? Oh yeah..defi­nitely a double standard here.

[steamboat]

If I'm not mistaken, Washington has also made some anti-jew remarks in his day. But regardless, I notice folks like you don't mention Don Imus being fired. Oh yeah..defi­nitely a double standard here.

[ClaeDulls]

hipocrisy, maybe. you're right that there's no outrage. but without saying so i think most people's comments reflect the sentiment, "he had it coming." perez hilton is bad for the human cause.