While the LA County Coroner's Office continues its examinations related to the death of Caset Johnson, and celebrities from Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton to
Lindsay Lohan share their grief online, blogger Perez Hilton has launched a full-scale
Twitter attack on Casey Johnson's wife-to-be, Tila Tequila.
Perez Hilton, who on his blog
describes Casey Johnson as "drug plagued" and having recently "left a stint in rehab" and filed the post under "Drugs", started the tweet attack 14 hours ago from the writing of this blog post.
Perez Hilton believes and has said that Tila Tequila is using the passing of Casey Johnson to promote herself:
@officialtila Tweet away, honey. The more you Tweet, the more your true colors reveal themselves. And they are vile!
about 14 hours ago from web
@officialtila I'm amazed you're not broadcasting live, showing us you're "grieving"! That's totally something trash like you would do!
about 14 hours ago from web
Tila Tequila responded back with a slew of
tweets, starting with this one:
@PerezHilton have some decency! You love poking fun at people who have passed away dont you? First Mocking MJ's Death & now My FIance's?
about 14 hours ago from web in reply to PerezHilton
Which Perez elected to answer back with...
@officialtila You should try and get custody of her daughter. That'd be GREAT publicity, all you crave in life!
about 14 hours ago from web
Tila responds:
@PerezHilton Actually Casey & I were going to do that next. That was my Wife's wish was for me to adopt ava. Ur jus jealous nobody loves u.
about 14 hours ago from web in reply to PerezHilton
And..
Lonely @perezhilton Cant find anyone else to pick on so now he thinks he can pick on me cuz I'm in a vulnerable state with my wife passing
about 14 hours ago from web
But Perez Hilton has to "up" the nastiness:
@officialTila OF COURSE that's what she wanted! Suuuure! Why would anyone believe YOU???? You are a PATHOLOGICAL LIAR!
about 13 hours ago from web in reply to officialTila
@officialTila And I DO have decency. That's why I will NEVER mention you on my site again. I care too much about my readers!
about 13 hours ago from web
@officialTila Go back to grieving and exploiting her death. You're great at being soulless!
about 13 hours ago from web
And Tila continues her tweets in kind:
@PerezHilton oh after watching your bitch crying snot throwing video about how my friend @Iamrealwill punched U..it was 2 embarassing!
about 14 hours ago from web in reply to PerezHilton
Truly a sad individual @perezhilton first u Mock the death of Michael Jackson and now this? U seriously need God. Wait. God Rejected you.
about 14 hours ago from web
And it went on for some time this morning, with Twitterers taking sides. But this is one place where Perez Hilton's best move would have been to leave Tila Tequila alone. The death of a loved one is sacred ground, even in the blogosphere.
While it's certainly true that Tila Tequila has done some questionable things over the past year (and surely didn't have to call 911 on Paris Hilton
in the matter of Casey Johnson's dog) it does not give Carte Blanch for the kind of attack Perez Hilton has leveled on her.
Moreover, there's a certain way a man should talk to a woman, and that way should not stop because Perez Hilton is gay.
The "news" here is that the exchange is a path-breaking moment in New Media. Seeing how far Perez Hilton stretches the bounds of decency without being hit with a defamation lawsuit is interesting. It's not an approach bloggers should adapt at all, regardless of whatever traffic it produces.
Has Perez been sued? Yes, and for $25 million in the case of
Wargo v. Lavandeira but that was dismissed. The reason is that the plaintiff, Diane Wargo, had claimed that Perez did not have the right to print an email she wrote which contained homophobic slurs. As a result of the posted email, which contained Wargo's place of work, address, and contact information, Wargo claims she was fired from her job.
Wargo sued Perez Hilton, aka Mario Lavandeira and 25 anonymous comment posters. The case was dismissed after several motions because of lack of "personal jurisdiction": the lawsuit was filed in Ohio, but because Perez Hilton does not transact business there, the lawsuit was considered invalid.
In other words, Perez prevailed on a legal technicality.
Even with that, while it's true that celebrities are public figures - and anyone that attracts "Internet chatter" is called a limited purpose public figure - the law does not mean that you can just tee-off on someone as Perez has done.
Moreover, as one who's lost six friends over the past two years, the most recent funeral on Tuesday of this week, the key word is always sympathy. If Tila Tequila's destiny is to have a larger audience because of the death of Casey Johnson, so be it. That may very will be God's will; Perez Hilton has no power to reverse the outcome. Indeed, his tweets just helped it along.
Related topics:
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I disagree that the tea-baggers and others referred to in Hart's Huffington Post OpEd today, 
