What Perez Hilton Cares About

The gossip blogger says he's most concerned with equality and justice—and he says his friendships with celebrities help further his pet causes.

Question: What causes do you truly care about?Perez Hilton: I believe -- the two causes I believe the
most in are equality and justice, and whatever I interpret that to be
per day.  You know, it could be something as simple as, "Oh it sucks
that this girl in Mississippi couldn't take her girlfriend to prom." And
I'll write about that.  In fact, Constance McMillan, I wrote about that
story in my Web site a lot.  And I had the opportunity to invite her to
my birthday party and I thought that would be even a little bit cooler
than going to prom because she got to meet a lot of cool celebrities and
have a fun time in Los Angeles.
Question: Does dwelling in celebrity minutiae affect the causes you
care about?Perez Hilton: Absolutely.  It affects it in a positive
way.  For example, at one of the Prop 8 protests, I helped organize a
lot of celebrities gathering together to lend their fame to the cause.  I
still remember it, you know.  I got Kelly Osbourne to show up, I got
Pete Wentz to show up, Mark Hoppus, Emmy Rossum, Eliza Dushku—a lot of
people that I know because I live in Hollywood and have relationships
with these folks.  They came out, we all met up together, we all
marched, and that was a great thing because their celebrity helped. 
They got their pictures taken, it ran in magazines and it furthered
along the conversation.
Question: Does part of you want to become a serious
journalist?Perez Hilton: I have no desire to be a serious mainstream
journalist or commentator.  In fact, I don't take myself seriously.  I
take what I do seriously, but myself, I just like to have fun, which is
great and it's one of the reasons why I can do a lot of different
things.
Recorded April 29, 2010

Question: What causes do you truly care about?Perez Hilton: I believe -- the two causes I believe the
most in are equality and justice, and whatever I interpret that to be
per day.  You know, it could be something as simple as, "Oh it sucks
that this girl in Mississippi couldn't take her girlfriend to prom." And
I'll write about that.  In fact, Constance McMillan, I wrote about that
story in my Web site a lot.  And I had the opportunity to invite her to
my birthday party and I thought that would be even a little bit cooler
than going to prom because she got to meet a lot of cool celebrities and
have a fun time in Los Angeles.
Question: Does dwelling in celebrity minutiae affect the causes you
care about?Perez Hilton: Absolutely.  It affects it in a positive
way.  For example, at one of the Prop 8 protests, I helped organize a
lot of celebrities gathering together to lend their fame to the cause.  I
still remember it, you know.  I got Kelly Osbourne to show up, I got
Pete Wentz to show up, Mark Hoppus, Emmy Rossum, Eliza Dushku—a lot of
people that I know because I live in Hollywood and have relationships
with these folks.  They came out, we all met up together, we all
marched, and that was a great thing because their celebrity helped. 
They got their pictures taken, it ran in magazines and it furthered
along the conversation.
Question: Does part of you want to become a serious
journalist?Perez Hilton: I have no desire to be a serious mainstream
journalist or commentator.  In fact, I don't take myself seriously.  I
take what I do seriously, but myself, I just like to have fun, which is
great and it's one of the reasons why I can do a lot of different
things.
Recorded April 29, 2010