Openly gay celebrity blogger Perez
Hilton refused Tuesday to apologize for using an anti-gay slur,
adding that he was the victim in Monday's altercation with Black Eyes
Peas' frontman Will.i.am.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) called on Hilton to apologize for calling
Will.i.am a “f*cking f*ggot” during a confrontation after
Monday's MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto.
"I am saddened GLAAD chose to
victimize me further by criticizing me for how I nonviolently dealt
with a very scary situation that, unfortunately, turned violent,"
Hilton said in a statement. "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. I am just very fortunate and grateful that nothing
more serious happened to me."
In a video posted at his website,
PerezHilton.com,
the celebrity blogger discussed the altercation at length in a 13
minute video rant. “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 by Toronto police. Hilton alleges he was punched in his
right eye “two or three” times.
“These are vulgar anti-gay slurs that
feed a climate of hatred and intolerance toward our community,”
Rashad Robinson, senior director of Media Programs at GLAAD, said in
asking for Hilton's apology. “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 was also criticized by
singer/songwriter John Mayer in a Twitter exchange: “Perez Hilton's
video statement is so long that by the end of it his cut healed.”
“That's real funny!,” Hilton
replied. “Ha ha! And I'm sure you also think I 'deserved' to get
get hit!”
“Mario, you are human,” Mayer
tweeted back. “I call upon Twitter to be kind to you.”
“I'm not human! I'm a monster! Good
night, John Mayer.”
“Good night Perez, you dumb s*it,”
Mayer said.