Mario Lavandeira, better known as Perez Hilton of PerezHilton.com, describes his blog as "Hollywood's Most-Hated Web Site." Now I know why he's so hated.
For more than a month I have been trying to set up an interview with "The Gossip Gansta" for our class blog profile. This is an interview, mind you, that he had already agreed to do via our professor, Patrick Phillips.
Lavandeira never responded to any of my e-mails, and in every phone call he said he was "really busy" and gave me a vague period in which to call him back.
Finally, earlier this week, he sighed and said "no" to the interview, claiming that he was, surprise, too busy.
I understand he is legitimately a busy person. He almost obsessively updates his blog and covers events first hand from around the United States, and even the world.
Yet, he also widely publicizes all his interviews and TV shows, which are growing by the day. Obviously, he is not media shy and is not "too busy" for mainstream media exposure.
Apparently, though, "We Want Media" and NYU Journalism does not count as a worthy source of exposure. It's not only disappointing because he already agreed to the interview and had more than a month in which to find 20 minutes of his time, but he is also a NYU alum.
While I love PerezHilton.com for its snarky and unapologetic voice, it's a lot less entertaining when he serves it up cold to a fellow journalist and NYU student. I definitely do not like the man behind the Perez Hilton facade ... but I probably will still go back to the blog for the snarkiness and attitude that has made me a fan in the first place.
Shame on me.
Connie Kargbo @ Sun, 04/01/2007 - 10:10am
Guilty pleasures are addictive!