People: Hilton may be hot, but Perez is burning
You’re hanging with Perez Hilton, waiting for him to say something vile.
The catty Cubanito from Miami is making a splash with his celebrity gossip Web site, www.PerezHilton.com.
Hilton (real name Mario Lavandeira), 28, likes to call himself the “Queen of Mean.” But he can also be quite star-struck – a fame basher obviously obsessed with fame.
Take this giddy post about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the Golden Globes:
“Angelina is even more stunning in person. And Brad was so touching, guiding his babymomma along the way. One day we will exchange words. But this was good enough for now!”
Then there’s namesake Paris Hilton and her sister, Nicky. Everybody knows he has mad love for Paris and Nicky.
It’s all so junior high. But the popular Web site – Hilton claims more than 3 million hits a day – has made him something of a celeb himself.
He’s been featured on “20/20” and “Good Morning America,” appeared on MTV’s New Year’s Eve special and scored a small role as himself in an episode of “Dirt,” the new F/X series staring Courteney Cox as a tabloid editor.
Hilton came up with his name after a night of clubbing on South Beach:
“We went to three or four places, and every time we tried to leave, somebody told us, ‘Wait, don’t leave yet. Paris Hilton is coming.’ They just wanted people to spend more money on drinks.
“I wanted to meet her. But after a whole night of this, I said, ‘Please. Paris Hilton is not showing up. Maybe Perez Hilton will.’
“And I instantly loved the name. It’s what I’m about, satirizing yet celebrating.”
He calls Paris, who’s on his speed dial, a mentor.
“She gets it,” he says. “She’d rather be talked about than not talked about.
“I mean, she created this successful brand for herself, and there’s a bunch of models and whatever trying to be like her, but they can’t. … I look at her as an inspiration.”
There are celebs he doesn’t exactly idolize. Like Britney Spears.
“Britney confuses,” he says. “I loved the old Britney. But I don’t think that’s the real Britney. I think what we’re seeing now is the real Britney.”
The openly gay Hilton, who lives in West Hollywood, does most of his blogging from a corner table at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
He says Nicole Richie went there to confront him once.
“She was like, ‘Call me anorexic to my face,’ ” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘Girl, Perez is just a character. Let’s hug it out.’
“And we did. I was worried for a second, because she had her posse of gays with her.”
What he does, he says, is “like dancing the tango. Sometimes you step on toes.
“But these people are aware of what we all do for a living. They know it’s important for both dancers to keep on dancing.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Conrad Bain (“Diff’rent Strokes”) is 84. Comedian David Brenner is 62. Singer Alice Cooper is 59. Country singer Clint Black is 45. Singer Natalie Imbruglia is 32.