Perez Hilton: Regrets To Redemption, His Journey Of Transformation

Perez Hilton has been reporting on celebrities and entertainment for 20 years!

During his long career in the spotlight, he's received tons of love, but also lots of hate. He recently sat down with The Blast to talk about some of his career highlights and reveal his biggest regrets.

20 years is a big feat in entertainment. Hilton has seen many come and go during his fun-filled and sometimes controversial journey.

The celebrity blogger started in the industry in 2004, which was a time he said resembled the "wild, wild west." His timing was just right for breaking into celebrity blogging and changing the way it was done.

"It was just curiosity that led me to blogging, and timing, because had it been five years later, I might have been a YouTuber in 2009. If I started five years after that, I might have been an Instagram influencer. Had I started five years after that, I might have been a TikTok creator," he told The Blast exclusively.

"I began and was successful for over a year before TMZ even launched and I was told that it was the success of my website that inspired the birth of TMZ and others like that in the wake of me."

It didn't take long for Hilton to start shaking things up in the industry, but the early days of his career came with a price.

Shortly after breaking into the business, Hilton had angered many with how he talked about celebrities and the "cruel" vibe he had at times. He recognizes that and has some regrets, wishing he could go back and change a few things.

"I have a lot of regrets. I would most importantly change how I spoke about celebrities. I've learned that you can be opinionated and fun and sassy without being cruel," he told The Blast. "And I take full accountability for my words and actions back then. It doesn't matter that it was the norm. It doesn't matter any other possible excuse. It doesn't matter that I was saying what a lot of people were thinking."

He said he would even take this a step further and admit that he knew at the time that what he was doing was wrong, but he just didn't care.

"I was that selfish. All I cared about was the attention and the money I was making," he said. "It was like a drug. Drug addicts know what they're doing is wrong. Alcoholics know what they are doing is wrong or not good for them or for others, but it's so hard for them to stop."

Does Hilton feel his success was fully riding on his less-than-nice attitude toward celebrities? Nope, not at all. In fact, he fully feels he would still be where he is today if he took a nicer approach in the early years of his career.

"I would have been as successful even if I hadn’t been nasty, or mean or cruel. This will sound real cocky but I’m special. I’m awesome. I’m different. I’m great at all the things that I do. And I have an incredible work ethic," he said. 

"I could just have easily been your super fun, sassy, gay best friend. I would have still been successful. I don’t believe I needed to, I mean, yes, listen, doing those things helped, but I didn’t need to do them. I would have still been successful if I had not done them."

Hilton said there are tons of "hypocritical people" who still judge him today for the things he did many years ago.

"And yet, so many of those same people would still seek out some of that content if I was publishing it today," he continued. "For example, something that I don't do anymore but I did back in the day is post celebrity sex tapes or nude photos that leaked and awful things like that. If a Rihanna sex tape leaked, or a Miley Cyrus sex tape leaked, I guarantee you an overwhelming amount of people across social media would be seeking that out to go look at it."

Even though Hilton takes full accountability and has apologized many times for his past behavior, he feels he will always be judged for his past, and he's truly okay with that.

"I’m fully resigned to perpetually being faced with my past. I know that even after I’m dead, things that I said or did, my reputation and name will continue to permeate pop culture in a negative light," he told The Blast.

"I mean, maybe it’s possible things can turn around, but it’s unlikely. I know that most probably when I’m dead people will celebrate that. People will say the world is a better place without him. And they’ll share awful things on social media and it doesn’t bother me. I don’t care, I don’t know those people."

Hilton feels that even the negative comments on his content hold a valuable place. He even said he "appreciates" the negative comments.

"Because if you look at comments as a form of currency, let’s take it old school. Let’s say I post a photo on Instagram of myself at an event and I thought I looked really cute, and somebody leaves a comment saying ‘You look really cute.’ That comment is worth a dollar," he explained.

"But if I post that photo and somebody says, ‘Oh my God you look repulsive. This photo is making me want to vomit,’ that photo is worth $100 because it will do two things. One, it will draw in people who agree with that commenter and they’ll be like, ‘You’re right, he is such a troll. Thank God he looks as ugly as he does.’ And the other thing that will happen is it will also draw in my supporters and people who disagree with that comment and they’ll chime in and support me. So at the end of the day, that $100 comment will have only helped me because it will have gotten more engagement on my post, and at the end of the day that’s what I care about.”

With 20 years in the business, Hilton has done many exciting things. But he's ready for more and has some hopes for the coming years.

"The number one thing I hope to do in the future is be happy. And that’s my number one priority, and I am, but it takes work and constant reevaluation - what’s making me happy, what would make me happier, what’s taking away from my happiness."

Hilton said that happiness is one of the main reasons he relocated from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and he's letting ambition drive him into the future.

"I did my time, 20 years in Los Angeles, and the last many years I wasn’t happy there anymore," he told The Blast exclusively. "I would love to do more. I’m still incredibly ambitious."

Hilton has been on many TV shows, but not consistently, and that's something he really would like to accomplish because while he knows "the power of social media"  he also knows the "power of mainstream media."

And of course, being ambitious, there's more on his career bucket list.

"I would love to do things here locally in my new hometown of Vegas. I would love to open a restaurant, which is a big dream because I have zero restaurant experience but I have a great concept and I’m passionate about it," he shared.

"I would love to do some kind of show in Vegas, a live show, so I’m trying to make a lot of things happen. I would love to write another book. I would love to keep making money. It’s the Joan Rivers model - you just have to keep saying yes."

This story is part two in a multi-part series about Perez Hilton and his 20-year career.