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OMG! Perez Hilton Expands His Unlikely Empire

By Lev Weinstein,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 23, 2008 2:22 PM CDT

(Newser) – In three short years, Mario Armando Lavandeira—you may know him better as Perez Hilton—has transformed himself from shy recluse to celebrity gossip maven, with his website generating millions in revenue and page views. With TV specials, his own fashion line, a tell-all book due next year, and, soon, a boutique music label, Hilton appears to be just getting started. David Browne profiles his unlikely, and legendary, rise in Wired.

"I want to be the gay Latino Oprah," exclaims the much-loved and much-reviled blogger, who sees himself as "still, in many ways, the ultimate outsider." (But a well-paid one. Ads on his home page cost $54,000, and his only employee is his sister Barby.) When Hilton notes with envy that Ryan Seacrest uses a helicopter, Browne concludes, "It's not hard to imagine Hilton taking off in a chopper himself one day, heading skyward as the rest of us scratch our heads, wondering how he ever got up there."

Blogger Perez Hilton arrives at a fund-raiser in Los Angeles.
Blogger Perez Hilton arrives at a fund-raiser in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Gossip blogger Perez Hilton poses on the press line at  a Los Angeles function.
Gossip blogger Perez Hilton poses on the press line at a Los Angeles function.   (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
Perez Hilton plans to have his own record label soon.
Perez Hilton plans to have his own record label soon.   (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)
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The fact that they attack me on my own Web site and leave all these negative comments keeps my head in check. I'm happier this way than if I was universally adored—like Reese Witherspoon. - Perez Hilton

Nothing coming out of my label will be crap. But if it were , it would just be a single. If there's one crap single that has the potential to make a shitload of money, I'd release it." - Perez Hilton

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