A famous or infamous internet gossip columnist depending on who you ask, Perez Hilton is our guest this week on Nevada Week In Person.

♪♪ Support for Nevada Week In Person is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week In Person.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

A Miami native whose parents fled Cuba for the American dream, his dream initially was to be an actor.

Instead, he'd go on to gossip about actors when he launched the leading celebrity news site PerezHilton.com.

He's the owner and editor in chief of that site, also a podcast host and one of the original internet influencers.

Perez Hilton, thank you for joining Nevada Week In Person.

-Thank you.

-Your real name is Mario Lavandeira, Jr.

-Yes.

It's a mouthful.

-Is that what Mom still calls you?

-No.

She calls me Mario Armando.

-Oh?

-Never just Mario.

Mario Armando.

-But not Perez either?

-No, no.

Sometimes if we're out at an event, she'll say, I'm Perez's mom.

-Okay.

-But never home.

-Okay.

She moved with you from LA and your three kids here to Las Vegas about three years ago.

Why did you make that move?

-You know, I first got to spend a good amount of time in Vegas in 2018, and I have Chippendales to thank.

They brought me out to be their special celebrity emcee.

And being here for that stretch of time and getting to go home to the rental place after the show and getting there in 15 minutes, what is this?

And just experiencing Vegas like a local, that planted the seed.

I almost bought a house then, and I regret not doing it, because in 2018, the homes were still pretty cheap.

Now not as much.

But eventually, it took a pandemic and my therapist.

My therapist is the second person responsible for getting me here.

First are the folks at Chippendales.

My therapist said, If you think you'd be happier there, just do it.

Just move.

I could not give myself that permission.

I felt like I was trapped in Los Angeles, like, I have to be here.

This is where show biz is.

But, no, I'm happier here.

I can still be in LA in 45 minutes, and Vegas is becoming more and more Hollywood-esque also.

-And happier here because of everything we hear about, less traffic-- -That's the main reason.

- --cheaper home prices.

-And actually, I think Vegas is wonderful for young children.

There's so much to do here with kids.

I do more in Vegas with my children, who are 12, 10, and almost 8, than I did in Los Angeles.

It's easier to get around.

There's, there's such a variety of things to do.

-Yeah, okay.

And they've adjusted well?

-Oh, they love it.

They love it.

-You recently posted a video, a family vlog, and your son talked about an experience he had at school that was very touching for you.

He saw a friend getting bullied.

This friend told him, I want to take my life.

And he went and told the counselor and got that student some help.

Why did you choose to talk about that on your website?

-I thought it was an important conversation to have publicly, and I thought that me being very real with my kids in that moment could maybe facilitate a similar conversation in somebody else's home.

And it's important to have these conversations, because it's 2025 and 7th graders, 12 year olds, 11 year olds, are still behaving in a way that is pushing a little kid to think of ending his life.

It's just insane to me.

-How real are you with your kids about something like bullying?

Because you yourself have been accused of being a bully in your own career?

-Yeah.

My kids know that.

And actually, I think it helps them to be able to detach from any negative things that are said about them, because I tell them regularly, you know, your dad in the past has made a lot of mistakes that are very public and has a lot of people that don't like him, and they're like, Well, I don't care.

I like you.

That's what matters.

And I even tell my kids, in the future it might not just be classmates.

It might be somebody that's a friend of yours or that you're dating that might say something hurtful about you.

Somebody else's opinion should not stop you from doing what makes you happy or feeling any negative way about yourself.

I truly don't.

Like I'm 21 years into my career.

Actually, there's one thing, my Achilles' heel.

The only thing that bothers me is when anybody says, Oh, he's so lazy.

-Oh.

-I don't know why.

-Who would say that?

-That's like-- It doesn't happen, but that's like, that would be the biggest insult to me.

You could call me this, that, the other.

Doesn't bother me.

But if somebody calls me lazy, it's like my blood boils because I'm the hardest working person I know.

-And from what I understand, that's always been how you are.

You didn't care what other people thought, even as you were a young man growing up in a Jesuit school, right, and a gay man, at that?

-Yeah.

I always knew that what I was taught and the culture that I was surrounded in was not for me.

I would like to think and hope that Miami is different these days; but back in the 80s and 90s, it was very homophobic.

And not even that, but it was very much group think.

And it might still be that way, because it's one of these pockets of places in the US where the minority is the majority.

It's overwhelmingly Latino.

And even though you're from this country or that country, they share a lot of similar values.

And Latinos are very machista, very religious, but also, I would say, could be narrow-minded.

For example, if I was a heterosexual youngster but told my mom and dad, I want to-- I want to not go to college, and I want to be a professional sculptor... I did not pay money to send you to a Jesuit school for seven years for you to become a sculptor.

-But you wanted to become an actor.

-I know.

Exactly.

-And what were your parents' reaction to that?

-My mom had no choice, because I got, because I was a little bit of a nerd in school and did very well.

I got a full scholarship to NYU, so I was able to leave and pursue my dreams in whatever winding roads and ways I did.

But I've been doing acting lately, so that's fun-- -Yeah?

- --to go back to that.

And who knows what the future holds?

-I see like a comedy show, like a stand-up show in your future.

-I would love to do a Vegas show.

-Yeah?

-Like a hybrid show.

It could be one-man show, live podcast, magic, I don't know, a little bit of everything, razzle dazzle.

-What was the story or the photos that instantly turned you famous overnight that you put on your website?

-Oh, there is.

There is.

In May of '25, 2005, I was the first outlet in the world to put pictures up of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a couple.

-That's what it was.

-And actually, I nicknamed them Brangelina.

-You did?

-Yes, me.

That's-- Like, some people are gonna make fun of me, but I don't care.

I like being honest and vulnerable and real.

I cried when they broke up.

I wasn't even faking it.

I literally was like, this is so sad.

Like, they were always like-- -Did you record yourself crying?

-Obviously.

[laughter] Yes.

It's my job.

-Yeah.

What do you think when you go back to those early, early days?

2005 you're in LA, and you have to work at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf because you can't afford internet at your apartment.

-You know, for many years, I was on what seemed like a nonstop apology tour, because I made a lot of mistakes.

But everybody makes mistakes.

It just so happens that mine are very public, and I had, like, my scarlet P, right?

But while I still have deep regret and remorse and shame for those mistakes, I'm done with my apology tour.

I can now look back and be like, I was a trailblazer.

I paved the way.

Like what we now know as an influencer, that didn't exist when I started in 2004.

Most of the social platforms didn't exist in 2004.

Back then, it was just me, Myspace, and Facebook.

That's it.

And I'm still here, 21 years later, and grateful that I still enjoy what I do, even though I don't want to be working this hard in my 50s.

-And you did tell me off camera your next era.

What are your dreams?

-I would love to be a travel content creator, just explore the world, share it, but also because, like, I'm a naturally curious person.

And to just be somewhere in Italy or India and go to a local bar by myself and just have a conversation with somebody there who has no idea who I am, just be real and in the moment and then document some of it and share it with the world, it seems so fun to me.

But I've got to make sure I can still be healthy, because, Oh, my God, when I travel, it's like, there's no diet.

There's no healthy eating traveling.

But if I'm doing that professionally, I'm going to make sure I get to the gym and eat healthy-ish on the road.

-Which can be part of your blogging, how do you find a gym and such and such.

-Or just walk.

-Yeah, that too.

Okay.

-Walking is wonderful.

-Sometimes-- You can't run in some countries because the dogs will chase you.

-Oh, wow.

-I learned that when I studied abroad in Chile.

Anyhow, I want to read some quotes that you told to BBC after you came out with your memoir in 2020.

You had never thought about putting an autobiography out there before, quote, Because while I have this public persona of being extremely confident, I also am extremely filled with self-doubt, worry, and insecurity.

Where do you stand with that now?

-Oh, absolutely.

It's one of the reasons why, like, it's pretty trendy to have a podcast tour.

-A tour?

-Doing a podcast tour fills me with anxiety because what if nobody shows up?

That would be horrible.

Not horrible.

I would still be very appreciative for anybody that was there, but I still have those thoughts.

I mean, like right now, I'm very comfortable and confident because I could speak and I can do that well.

I'm so Type A. Anything that I can control, wonderful.

But then if there's all the other factors outside of my control, that's where the doubt and anxiety and uncertainty comes into play.

-Okay.

Another one: I reached a point in my private life where I started having these thoughts about changing.

And this was, I think, about a different tone, not as nasty and cruel.

But I was paralyzed by fear that I would lose everything that I had worked very hard to achieve up until that point.

Did that happen?

Have you faced backlash?

-You know, now that it's been many years later, I actually did lose a lot.

I lost a lot of my audience, but that's okay, because back in 2010, that was the right-- It's still the right thing to do.

And I learned you shouldn't say everything you're thinking.

Not everyone learns that lesson.

Not to mention names, maybe somebody with a D and a T, but, you know.

And it's like this last decade, there's been this big push against being woke.

I don't necessarily like the word "woke," but what I do like is mindfulness.

We need to be mindful of other people.

If everyone is just going about their lives completely selfishly, what kind of a country or world are we going to live in?

-And at what point did you become mindful that, I don't need to apologize anymore?

-The point when I realized that this is real.

I don't have to prove anything to anyone.

And there's still those people who, even though I've made this change and I'll still make mistakes, but people still want to see-- People view pain and suffering as entertainment, and people want to see me hurt.

People still want to see me being held accountable or punished for things I said 15 years ago, and I get it.

I get it.

I obviously wish that weren't the case, but I know that nothing I can do will change the minds of many.

Like, even if I donated to charity every single dollar that I have, a lot of those people might be like, or some people might be like, Oh, that's nice.

I still don't like him.

You know?

And that's okay.

I'm just living my life, and I'm happy.

-Happy and living your life here in Las Vegas.

-And I love Las Vegas.

-Thank you so much, Perez Hilton, for joining Nevada Week In Person.