Maclean’s Interview: Perez Hilton

Q: What about her long-term boyfriend?

A: That means nothing.

Q: You touch on litigious celebrities in the book, writing the sentence that you’d never use Jennifer Aniston and “pot” in the same sentence. Do you have a crack legal team?

A: I always obey the law. Sometimes people will sue me to make an example of me but I don’t sit home worrying about it; I’m too busy working. Thankfully they don’t happen too often. And I tend to win them. Just this year I won a lawsuit against Samantha Ronson, Lindsay Lohan’s ex-girlfriend.

Q: It seems there’s no such thing as bad publicity anymore but obviously there are stories people don’t want told. Have people approached you to buy your silence?

A: Not really. They know that they can’t.

Q: You write about celebrities controlling their own publicity by paying for paparazzi coverage. Who’s the shrewdest manipulator?

A: I’d say in the last year—and I have to give them credit—Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag from The Hills really worked it very well in regards to staging their own photo ops and profiting from those pictures. They have eclipsed Lauren Conrad in terms of fame and she’s the star of the show.

Q: Is the global financial crisis affecting what you do? I wonder how long interest in the people who are famous for being famous, like Heidi and Spencer, can continue.

A: I don’t see Heidi and Spencer, a.k.a. “Spiedi,” going away any time soon. They’ve still got a real wedding to plan. And a baby that will no doubt come.

Q: Over the past three years you’ve become famous as the real Paris Hilton with a website, clothing line, radio show and TV appearances. Do you see this as compromising your ability to report on celebrity?

A: No, as much of an insider as I become I will still always be an outsider. It’s just the essence of me being who I am and doing what I do. I’m still not allowed at the Chateau Marmont hotel [in L.A.].

Q: Why ?

A: They say they really value the privacy of celebrities and my presence would upset any celebrities staying there or having drinks there or whatever. There are still a lot of parties I’m not invited to. And you know what? I don’t really care if people don’t like me. The only thing I care about is if they are reading my website.

Q: Why do you think your website is so popular?

A: The fact that I was one of the first definitely helped. I also work harder than everyone else. I do the website by myself, yet I post more than blogs and sites run by big corporations with dozens of staffers. People like knowing that there will always be new content up every time they visit. And they also get the latest breaking celebrity news there first. Plus, I post about a variety of things that keep my readers coming back.

Q: You often proclaim your affection for Canada.

A: I love Canada. They were one of the first to embrace me. I’ve been doing MuchMusic for three years; they put me on TV before anybody put me on TV. I remember those who were supportive from the beginning.

Q: Yet one of your favourite targets is our own Avril Lavigne. Why?

A: My issue with her is that she’s a brat. She’s in her twenties now; she should be a young woman, not a brat. I like to call people out on their s–t and when she behaves like a brat I’m going to say, “Hey, you’re behaving like a brat.” It bothers me that celebrities aren’t held accountable for their actions. I really started to sour on her when she started spitting on the paparazzi. I’m not saying you have to be nice to them. But spit at them? That’s just disgusting, rude, unprofessional. I just had a run-in with her after Christmas and she was hammered. But she was very nice, I think partly because she was afraid of me. I don’t mind if people are afraid of me; I actually like it.

Q: You also took Jessica Alba to task for disassociating herself from her Latino heritage.

A: Yes, I took her to task so much for it that she’s now trying to be a super-Latina. So good for her.

Q: What story or person are you covering most avidly currently?

A: Right now it’s Robert Pattison from Twilight and everything associated with the sequel because people can’t get enough. Any time I write about him or the movie it instantly becomes one of most emailed or commented-upon stories. I definitely like to give people what they want and to feed that hunger. Q: What’s driving the Twilight mania?

A: I’m not the key demographic, but I think it just resonated with women, specifically young women, and that is definitely a large part of my audience.

Q: At the end of your book you make a lot of tongue-in-cheek celebrity predictions. Do you have any for Perez Hilton?

A: In 2009, I see myself at a playground with my kids. I’m not going to have children to make myself more famous but I definitely want to have a lot of children. I’ve come to realize that life isn’t just about working. That’s what my life is right now—work, work, work. And I love it and I’m happy but there comes a point when you want to do more. I want to have five kids.

Q: You and Angelina.

A: She has six. Six might be a bit too much for me, especially if I’m doing it on my own.

Q: Photos of mothers and children are frequently featured on your site. What’s behind the fascination with maternity?

A: People love mothers and pregnancy and babies because it’s not all negative and it gives variety to what I do. It’s not all bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, mean, mean, mean. There are the positive stories and people I like and there are those uplifting newsworthy events. Like Jennifer Garner just gave birth. But some people use pregnancy and their kids to get ahead. As I say in the book: “Sell your first-born.” Even Angelina Jolie does that.

Q: Then you have examples like Katie Holmes who appears to be constantly using her daughter Suri as a photo-op prop.

A: I don’t mind if the child is happy and warm. I just wish they’d put a coat on that kid.