Perez Hilton Apologizes, But Misses the Point
6/16/2010 12:12:00 PM
kenmouse
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Celebrity-Gossip
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Miley Cyrus
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Perez Hilton
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When it comes to apologies, Perez Hilton is about as subtle as his writing style. The gossip blogger, who found himself in a media firestorm after posting a photo apparently showing 17-year-old Miley Cyrus' private parts, has released a video addressing the scandal, and he's deflecting all responsibility and taking it quite lightly considering some think he could face jail time for posting the photo.Apologies from celebrities and media figures have become quite common these days. Whether it's Jesse James, Tiger Woods, or even David Letterman, all have come forward and said their piece at one point or another. Call us crazy, but denying all wrongdoing entirely when there's a digital backtrack to your actions is probably not the way to win public support or forgiveness. That old superhero line of "with great power comes great responsibility" holds true when it comes to a high-profile blog, so suck it up, admit you screwed up and move on.
Perez did exactly the opposite.
In the video apology, Hilton -- dressed in a fur coat and seemingly nothing else -- declares that he's addressing the "fake controversy the media is really talking about." He continues, saying that he never posted the upskirt photo that showed Miley sans underwear. "Do you think Miley is that stupid to be out in public without panties?" Perez scoffs. Valid argument ... only thousands of people saw the post in which Hilton did indeed display such a photo.
The video is peppered with quick cuts, near crotch-shots of Hilton himself and done in a tone that in no way reflects the seriousness of what he's suspected of doing: Posting pornographic photos of a minor.
Disregarding his actual posting of said photo, Hilton laughingly jokes about the situation, arguing that he's too smart to post such a thing. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to post a photo of Miley if she's not wearing any underwear down there? No. Sure, I like to be controversial, but I don't want to go to jail," Hilton says.
If it was not graphic in nature, why did Perez's Twitter post -- which he has since deleted but can be seen in this WWTDD.com screengrab (it's just text ... we're not linking to or posting the photo) -- did Hilton blare: Warning: truly not for the easily offended!" That's a pretty harsh warning for something that Hilton declares not that big of a deal.
As for the not going to jail comment ... it's a very possible scenario, Salon.com reports.
"All it will take is an enterprising attorney interested in making an example out of him; he could be prosecuted on the state or federal level -- or both -- with a conviction potentially resulting in a 15-year sentence and lifetime registration as a sex offender," Salon.com writer Tracy Clark-Flory suggests in her piece on the matter.
Perez's "am I so stupid I'd ..." argument is a valid argument ... had he not actually posted the photo, whether it was doctored or not.
Many have speculated that the photo was fake and doctored to make it look like Miley was not wearing any underwear, another notion Hilton leans on during his rant.
"If you look at other photos from that paparazzi set, Miley was clearly wearing underwear. Clearly. The reason I linked to that photo is because I thought she was exiting that car in a very unladylike fashion," he says. Still, Salon and their legal sources say that "there is the potential for the shot to be considered child porn even if Cyrus is actually wearing form-fitting underwear."
So there goes that argument.
Whether any legal investigation on Mr. Hilton takes place is up in the air. One persistent or attention-craving lawyer could easily slap a suit on him, and given his reputation for landing in court thanks to his blog practices, we're sure he has a good media lawyer. Hopefully, though, Perez will admit he messed up and stop joking around about a very serious -- and potentially illegal -- matter.
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