On the Ellen show today, Perez Hilton promised to stop being mean-spirited and bullying on his web site. It seemed to come as a surprise to him that anyone considered his work in those terms. I’m adopting a wait-and-see attitude. I don’t trust him, yet.
For those who don’t know him, he’s a gay man who about 7 or 8 years ago developed a web site to report on the world of celebrity. What he actually did was gossip, out people who preferred to remain private, insult, belittle, and generally mislead with rumor, innuendo, and, sometimes, outright lies. As you can tell, I’m not a fan. I visited his web site once and vowed never again.
I AM a big fan of Ellen DeGeneres. I think she is one classy lady who has met and overcome the challenges she’s faced with grace, wit, and charm. She makes every single guest feel special and like family. She didn’t make him feel that way. (There is a link to the entire interview below if you’d like to watch it.)
Perez Hilton made it his job to decide who should be out whether or not that person wanted to be out, or whether or not that person was really gay. He also made it his job to be as nasty as possible to anyone he didn’t like or who had the temerity to disagree with him. He is the worst of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons by a factor of ten. He has the power of the media coupled with a foul mouth and sarcastic wit.
It was a fascinating juxtaposition to watch Ellen and Perez talk. To watch her elegance and brand of humor facing his was enlightening. He was totally outclassed, and it looked like he recognized it. At one point he was trying to be glib and say that he wanted his web site to continue to be sassy, and she called him out about it, saying that it worried her because there was still the potential to be mean.
The reason I’m blogging about this is because we have two personalities here. One is trying to solve the problem, and one actually helped create the problem. Although it sounds small, I can’t help but wonder if PH is jumping on the bandwagon. He said the reason he was changing was because he was surprised that so many people considered him a bully and part of the problem. How could any reasonable person who was honest with themselves not know this? How could anyone think that what he wrote could ever be taken in the spirit of “fun”? I’m not saying that a person can’t be honest and say what they think. That’s what I’m doing here, and what everyone blogger does. But there are ways to do that without making the people you’re talking about feel insignificant.
So that’s why I say I’m going to wait and see. Talk is cheap, action speaks.
Remember, Lover is Louder!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?=iUNaRg_AQ10
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