Perez Hilton and will.i.am Seek Internet Justice

Update: Apparently, PH did call the cops before he Tweeted. But still, was Tweeting necessary?

If you had just been the victim of a crime, would you call the police before or after you Twittered about it? And if someone had accused you of a crime---of a crime that could result in jail time---would you respond via your attorney or via internet video?

I ask because Perez Hilton claims he was assaulted by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas, and will.i.am denies it... and both of them have taken to the internet to hash it out.

After allegedly being assaulted at an after-party in Canada, Hilton tweeted to his readers to call the cops. Since then, will.i.am has posted multiple videos claiming innocence.

And look... if I had just been attacked by someone famous, I might feel the impulse to instantly to make it public, as a way of getting revenge via bad publicity. And as Chris Brown and others have shown, for celebs accused of something illegal, homemade "innocence videos" are becoming this year's defensive talk show tour.

Furthermore, I know this incident is just the latest in a century-long string of "court of public opinion" flare-ups.

And yet despite all the precedent, this is still unsettling.

For one thing, if a purported victim asks his Twitter followers to call the cops for him, isn't it harder to take his assault claim seriously? No matter what happened, Hilton has already worked the incident to his own advantage, which suggests he's more interested in getting attention than telling the truth.

And as for will.i.am... why should he lower himself to Hilton's level of exploitation? If the charges are serious, then they need to be addressed through proper legal channels. If they aren't, then they shouldn't be honored with quickie online videos.

I don't have all the facts. I wasn't there. But based on what's being presented about this alleged kerfuffle, it seems like two people who are desperate for publicity have tacitly agreed to turn the idea of assault into a viral internet sensation. Once again, real crime has been transformed into cheap entertainment.

What do you guys think?

(photo via Towleroad)

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Comments

[Elizabeth Werner]

This is ludicrous. PH pulled this stunt for PUBLICITY.

He's getting what he wanted. ATTENTION. But not the kind of attention he craved.

Meanwhile, Wills manager has turned himself in and has been charged with one count of assault for punching PH.

He's lucky actually. His cheekbone is not shattered. He does not need reconstructive surgery for the supraorbital bone. He's got a scratch on his cheek.

PH reminds me of a young man I once knew. He was the biggest jerk I've ever met who believed he was entitled to anything and everything he wanted. He drove people away with his attitude and those who remained his friend only did so out of fear (for one reason or another...usually secrets being kept secret) But when this young man died of a drug overdose at 19, no one was sad. No one went "Oh..thats too bad". Even his own mother has the attitude of "He got what he had coming to him"

This is what happens when you dont think before you speak, and you've got to deal with the consequences no matter what they are. Getting punched in the face just happened to be your consequence. I hope you've learned your lesson.

[PorkyDomesticus]

Guess he should stick to insulting beauty queens.

[bonafideinla]

Haven't we heard enough of him? PH is way past shelf life and keeps on giving the gay community a bad name...

[imfedup]

I'd pay to see Fergie kick his arse.

[HuffGeist]

This is all very strange. will.i. am never actually hit him, but was a part of the escalation. Since will didn't actually hit PH, will's manager did, PH seemed to confuse the issue by implying that it was will that did the actual punching. Then PH strangely escalated it by using a homophobic slur? Of all the things to call someone, a Fa**ot comes out of the mouth of a gay person who claims to be knee deep in the fight for gay rights? The only thing that does not seem completely strange is him twittering about it after he call the cops, because he is a major drama queen and his whole life revolves around blogging. I could see him sitting there waiting for the cops and mindlessly and emotionally twittering. I kind of think PH did the thing where you go verbally as far as you can to provoke someone without having any intention of fighting, but this time, the manager obliged him with his fists. It's like saying I dare you to hit me so I can sue and blog about it later. While I'm not gay and not a homophobe, I know that seriously verbally provoking someone can get you a sock in the face and the the courts/law enforcement agencies involved will probably recognize this too. In the end, both parties will just end up looking like fools!

[findingmuse]

i think it's just ridiculous, is what i think. my 8 month old daughter handles conflict more maturely.

[GQTaste]

I assumed this something like this would have happened earlier I'm sad to say. In fact, i'm surprised somebody hasn't put out a hit on the sorry excuse for a human. The way he goes after all those powerful folk it's like I said, I'm shocked it hasn't happened sooner.

[MSNichols]

Ohh....celebrities and wanna be's scuffle outside a bar. How exciting.

[Milash]

I'm sorry, but I have no respect for Perez Hilton. He may have been entertaining at first, but now he's insufferable.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

Looks like slander to me.

[stopplaying]

It’s about time someone popped this loser. Call it what you want, I am glad Will.i.am is responding to him and not let it ride one-sided. Because if this fool gets to have his say, and only his saying until court or whenever, then his words would be the only words focused on and what Will has to say would seem unimportant

[stopplaying]

Its about time someone popped this loser. Call it what you want, I am glad Will.i.am is responding to him and not let it ride one-sided. Because if this punk gets to have his say, and only his saying until court or whenever, then his words would be the only words focused on and what Will has to say would seem unimportant.

[werdberd]

Hahahaha he was twittering!! What a tool. If Ghandi were alive i'm sure even he would think this was a just beatdown.

[devans00]

On the surface, it seems like a drunken fool (PerezHilton) took things too far. In the light of day, he seems to be having some regrets. I feel bad for will.i.am. His name has already been dragged through the mud whether or not he is in fact guilty of doing anything more than getting into PerezHilton's face. Will.i.am is in the position of having to prove he's innocent.

http://dipdive.com/member/iamwill/media/48856

Since most of the events happened late at night after a lot of drinking, I'd just chalk it up to foolishness. Unless someone ends up in jail, that is.
.

[SouthJerseySteve]

I was always told that if it's posted on the Internet, it MUST be true! :-)