LOS ANGELES, June 26, 2009

Perez Hilton: Sorry For Using Gay Slur

Openly Gay Celeb Blogger Apologizes For Saying A Discriminatory Word During An Altercation With Peas Frontman Will.i.am

  • Perez Hilton arrives on the red carpet at the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, Sunday, June 21, 2009.

    Perez Hilton arrives on the red carpet at the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, Sunday, June 21, 2009.  (AP Photo/The Canadian Press)

(AP)  Perez Hilton is saying he's sorry for using a gay slur.

The openly gay gossip blogger apologized Thursday for unleashing the word during a nightclub altercation Monday with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am that resulted in the band's tour manager being charged with assault for allegedly punching Hilton.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation had been pressing Hilton to apologize.

"I am sorry," Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, posted Thursday. "And I mean it. No one is forcing me to write this. I am not feeling pressured to say this. I am speaking out because I realize that the last few days have been more hurtful to me and many others than the repeated blows I suffered to my head in Toronto this past weekend."

Hilton originally said he called will.i.am the gay slur at a Toronto nightclub after the musician told the gossip blogger not to write about his band on his Web site. Peas' tour manager Alfred Molina was arrested after he allegedly punched Hilton following the argument. Hilton later posted about the incident on the microblogging site Twitter and in a tear-filled video on his site.

The 31-year-old blogger sued the Peas' tour manager on Wednesday in Los Angeles for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hilton is seeking unspecified damages of more than $25,000.

He wrote Thursday that he would donate any money won from the lawsuit to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which seeks to support diversity programs in education.

"It is important and appropriate that Perez Hilton apologized to the LGBT community and his audience for his use of anti-gay slurs," said Rashad Robinson, GLAAD senior director of media programs. "GLAAD will continue our work to educate the public on the harms of anti-gay slurs that feed a climate of hatred and intolerance against the LGBT community."

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by tomsj2 June 28, 2009 3:33 AM EDT
Isn't it time for Perez Hilton to get a job? I mean, a real job - like flipping burgers. Something he's qualified to do?
Reply to this comment
by HGOODGUY June 27, 2009 10:35 PM EDT
YOU HAVE TO FEEL BAD FOR PEREZ HILTON.

NOT ONLY DID HE "***** SLAPPED" BUT I UNDERSTAND THAT HE NOW HAS A YEAST INFECTION!!!!
Reply to this comment
by mutnauq4842 June 28, 2009 4:22 PM EDT
Oral candidiasis is easily treated-but you don't usually think of it as a sexually transmitted disease.
by rushlimpdrug June 26, 2009 12:22 PM EDT
Good-bye skum bag.

Don't know anything about you other than what
Cbs has written, but I hope your "followers"
leave a trail of dust as the leave your little
compound or reetardation.
Reply to this comment
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