Gay groups are outraged that celebrity
blogger Perez Hilton used an anti-gay slur against a recording artist
and are demanding an apology.
Hilton, who is openly gay, called Black
Eye Peas frontman Will.i.am a “f*cking f*ggot” during a
confrontation after Monday's MuchMusic Video Awards show in Toronto.
In a video posted at his website
PerezHilton.com,
the celebrity blogger explained the altercation. “And that is when
I made the split-second decision – that I was gonna say what I
thought was the worst possible thing that thug [Will.i.am] would ever
want to hear. As I was standing my ground – without being violent
or physical, which I would never do, I told him, ' And you know what?
I don't need to respect you and you're a fag. You're gay and stop
being such a faggot.'”
Hilton later tweeted: “I was
assaulted by Will.i.am of the Black Eye Peas and his security guards.
I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke.”
In fact, Reuters reported that Liborio
Molina, the manager of the Black Eye Peas, has been charged with
assault. Hilton alleges he was punched in his right eye “two or
three” times.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) called on Hilton to apologize for “exploiting
anti-gay attitudes.”
“These are vulgar anti-gay slurs that
feed a climate of hated and intolerance toward our community,”
Rashad Robinson, senior director of Media Programs at GLAAD, said in
a statement. “For someone in our own community to use it to attack
another by saying it is, quote 'The worst possible thing that thug
would ever want to hear' is incredibly dangerous. It legitimizes use
of a slur that is often linked to violence against our community.
And it sends a message that it is OK to attempt to dehumanize people
by exploiting anti-gay attitudes.”
Hilton, who has climbed to the top of
the celebrity blogging heap with a controversial take-no-prisoners
blogging style that has left stars fuming, called the attack
“unprofessional.”
“Well, it was only a matter of time,”
wrote Elizabeth Snead at her blog The Dish Rag. “But we
always thought Courtney Love, Mickey Rourke or Carrie Prejean might
do the dreaded dirty deed.”