Perez Hilton Sues Black Eyed Peas Manager

LOS ANGELES — Perez Hilton struck back Wednesday with a civil lawsuit filed against the Black Eyed Peas manager accused of hitting him outside a Toronto nightclub.

The celebrity blogger, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, sued the Peas' road manager in Los Angeles for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He is seeking unspecified damages of more than $25,000.

The suit states Hilton is seeking to protect his rights to free speech and claims Polo Molina attacked him because he made critical comments about the Black Eyed Peas' new album. Molina was arrested in Toronto early Monday after he allegedly punched Hilton following a heated argument between the blogger and Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am.

An e-mail sent to the group's publicist was not immediately returned Wednesday. Molina is due to appear in court Aug. 5.

"Perez Hilton was assaulted by the band's road manager because he would not agree to stop writing about the Black Eyed Peas on his Web site Perezhilton.com," Bryan Freedman, Hilton's lawyer, said in a statement. "Whether you love Perez or hate him, he is entitled to his freedom of speech without fear of physical violence. This lawsuit will make the statement that violence is never the answer."

The lawsuit details the events leading up to Molina's alleged attack on the blogger.

The complaint states Black Eyed Peas vocalist Fergie approached Hilton on Saturday and asked why he was writing "mean" things about her and the group. Hilton replied that he was "simply being honest and truthful about his opinions of them," according to the lawsuit.

On Sunday, Hilton claims he was pushed by an unidentified member of the Black Eyed Peas' entourage, who "slammed his shoulder into Hilton's shoulder and thereafter pushed him."

The lawsuit claims Fergie again approached him at an afterparty for the MuchMusic Video Awards on Sunday night and that his argument with will.i.am happened at another party. The lawsuit claims the blogger was trying to leave that party when Molina punched him at least three times.

"Lavandeira sustained injury to his eye and was bleeding as a result of this violent and malicious attack," the lawsuit claims.

His damage claims include medical costs and damages due to "humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress." The lawsuit also claims that Molina is on probation in California for a drunken driving conviction under his real name, Liborio Molina.

Hilton, who is openly gay, said Monday 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 posted about the attack on the popular microblogging site Twitter on Monday, and has since rejected a call by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to apologize for using the term.

The Black Eyed Peas' newest album, "The E.N.D," has proved popular, ranking No. 1 on last week's Billboard magazine's charts for R&B/Hip-Hop albums. Singles from the album have also proved popular in other rankings.

Comments

[Cunningham]

Mario is a talentless d-bag who should be apologizing to both will.i.am and the LGBT community.

[PWM]

You are insulting d-bags everywhere. d-bags have a use!

[jimrs6]

He did get messed up. I mean, look at his hair. I think they have special doctors and rehab for that.

[useyourbrain]

Stop the insanity and stop covering this non-story of a bottom-feeding, low life, made up celebrity. His 15 minutes are up.

Three generations of cultural icons died in the last few days: Ed McMahon from the sixties to the eighties; Farrah Fawcett from the seventies and will live in the minds of all teenage boys who used her poster for "meditation"; and Michael Jackson, a pop idol for thirty years from seventies through the nineties.

Oh, and there's a little thing about the economy, unemployment, health care and Iran. Where on the scale does Perez's problems fit?

[lrfranceschi]

Thank you.

Besides I love how Perez thinks its okay to call other fa***ts, but Im sure if Will.i.am. would have called him the slur, Perez would have him charged with a hate crime.

[OkieIntellectual]

FTA - "Perez Hilton was assaulted by the band's road manager because he would not agree to stop writing about the Black Eyed Peas on his Web site Perezhilton.com,"

Ummm, no he got punched because he was calling people horribly offensive names and practically asking to be hit. I have absolutely no doubt that it was his intention to provoke a physical confrontation so he could take advantage of the publicity.

[beanyfett]

what go around come.........well you know the rest!!!! PH it is called karma!!!!

[JimR]

Can we sue Perez Hilton for crimes against humanity?

[Lisa-G]

I'll join in on that...except that his "crime" is at the bottom of a very long list...

[sandyra]

If you think Perez was vindictive before just wait and see how nasty he'll be now.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

People may strike back. He has shown himself to be more ridiculous than anything.

[tsktsk007]

Perez is suing for $25,000? WOW .....Soooooooo did not see that one coming, LMAO! Guess he has to make a living somehow. Wonder who is next on his list? ha ha

[Lisa-G]

Perez is a creep; agreed. Doing violence against someone for calling a name is worse. Much worse.

[livingthe3rdtestament]

Will.I.am does come off "homo" to me though

[Cunningham]

glad you're gone

[Blurp]

Please Universe... make it go away.

[donasanya]

Mario Lavandeira/Perez Hilton = D-list faux celebrity who will do anything to get into the news cycle. The Miss California incident is no longer news, so he must stir up another "controversy".

[PWM]

Exactly. Although I am no fan of Miss Cal, he did ask her a loaded question.

[smiththomas]

he's proved he is big baby more than once

[werdberd]

Decent companies should not be funding this guy. Let him attack people on his blog..but he should NOT be getting paid for it. Why is he up for a teen choice award? Doesn't his kind of verbal bullying lead kids to suicide? Why is he being rewarded??? It's ridiculous.

[jaylo]

PH engages in verbal violence, and then tries to say it isn't as bad as physical violence. Well, if I read my history books correctly, Hitler never killed one Jew personally, but his written and spoken words incited a world war.

[Lisa-G]

Your example is so out of proportion for this incident. Gross.

[OkieIntellectual]

Okay how about Charlie Manson then. He never actually killed anyone either, nor did he explicitly order his "followers" to do so. Is it a beter example now that we're talking about just a few people (though Sharon Tate was pregnant) instead of 6 million?