Aubrey O’Day and Perez Hilton
This concludes my too long excursion into the life and mind of Aubrey O’Day.
This is the part of interviewing Aubrey O’Day that surprised me: her obsession with blogger Perez Hilton. The one time I “met” Hilton was at a Vegas red carpet where he and a publicist tried to push past me like I did not exist. The publicist was groveling at his feet with sycophantic words while Hilton was striding forward like a conquering warlord off to rape and pillage. At the time, I had never heard the name Perez Hilton, and so I used all of my skills acquired at general-admission, all-ages, hard-core punk shows in the '80s to prevent easy passage, sliding my body into inconvenient places. It slowed them for less than a moment, and it got me a dirty look from the publicist. Hilton did not even glance down at me.
When they passed, Buffet photographer Sarah Gerke ran over to tell me with total excitement that the man was Hilton. My blank stare brought an explanation. Since then, Hilton’s fame has expanded so tremendously that he is well known enough in Vegas to host at nightclubs. This year, in one Vegas weekend, he managed to easily unhinge Criss Angel with a tweet at Luxor and then make national news by upending the Miss USA contest over at Planet Hollywood.I also get that some people hate Perez Hilton. My Vegas colleague (USA Today and New York Times reporter) Steve Friess, I think, falls close to this category, though hate may be too strong a word. Friess at one point believed Hilton had plagiarized him. Friess sent me the evidence, and Hilton replied to me with a copy of his source e-mail for the story. I was totally convinced that Hilton did not plagiarize that story and never wrote an item. But Friess was convinced he had been wronged by Hilton and has referred to Hilton as “vermin” ever since in writing, as if “vermin” was Hilton’s epic simile.
From what I can tell, most of the celebrities who tangle with Hilton want to be in his world and mentioned in his blog. O’Day frequently in our conversation mentioned her friendships with what she called the “other 'It' girls.”
I see Hilton as a satirist and entertainer who offers his views in ways that can be funny or nasty. His readers get what he is about, and so, as with any writer, he fulfills his most important duty by keeping the faith and trust of his readership. And so Hilton has become a celebrity writing about celebrities. In fact, he is a bigger celebrity than many of those he writes about including O’Day. And he should be credited for that. That achievement aside, when we are talking about something like reporting Fidel Castro’s death, I am going to wait for the mainstream news media to confirm that to the world. Hilton is not a journalist whom the Poynter Institute is ever going to give a prize to for his reporting.
This is a long windup to explain that I had no idea of the huge role Hilton plays in “Peepshow” star O’Day’s view of her life and her career. At one point, O’Day seemed to nearly come to tears with me talking about Hilton’s coverage of her: “It has been a struggle. I think everybody wants to be credited to their full potential. It is a difficult thing to receive as someone who is smart and who does care.” She actually credits Hilton with a lot of savvy and intelligence, though in an entirely negative way. “Because I have a mind to and I am not scared of saying it, that can be seen as smart to get people to follow because of fear. Perez Hilton is someone who runs people by fear. You are talking about someone who ruins careers. He is a horrible, negative, downer human being and that is what he has left on the world. He has learned to play on the ignorance of society, because everyone reads it even though it is crap. I think that is smart. What Perez does, he is clever about it.”
Again we get into this area where O’Day and I see things so differently that we have a hard time finding common ground. I get that Hilton has more readers than I do. But “everyone” reads him? Well, maybe if your version of everybody are those who exist in 90210. Nonetheless, when your career is in Hollywood, Hilton’s readers could be seen as a version of everyone who matters for O’Day’s work.
O’Day also accuses Hilton of hypocrisy on a personal level: “When I’ve met him, he is perfectly nice to me. He does not say any of the things he says on his blog. He says, ‘Love you, Kitten. Miss you.’ Then when you see the blog, he calls me skanky or whatever. When I first met him, he said, ‘I’m going to make you famous and you will give me a percentage when you get there.’ It is interesting, because I see his behind-the-scenes relationship with me versus his public printed relationship with me; it is very different. He is marketing off of people’s desire to read sensationalized crap and he is making a ton of money off me. If your goal in life is to have popularity and money, then he is winning. What I see Perez doing is not good morally. He can ruin your career. I think it is a joke. Everyone should ignore him. Everyone should turn their heads on him. But they don’t and it is a complete circle and so he has the power. He has intellect but not morality.”
Talking to O’Day, it is clear she believes Hilton puts himself forward by using her fame as a springboard and is a hypocrite about it. But I actually think the comments she reported Hilton offering to her in person have more than a grain of truth. Her fame appears to owe a lot to Hilton. In fact, the article O’Day referred me to chose the term “fame-ish-ness” to describe her renown. Interestingly, one thing Hilton and O’Day share is a belief in her fame. So Hilton writes about her frequently; he creates for her an illusion that O’Day is a far bigger star than just a former reality cable show contestant from a forgotten group who is now working a three-month contract in a Vegas topless show.
Rather to Hilton and O’Day, this is a woman on top and on the minds of all. And this certainly is more to O’Day’s advantage than Hilton’s. On Twitter, Hilton has almost 10 followers for every one that O’Day has interested in her. And so in many ways, thanks to Hilton, O’Day is brought into the lives of people almost daily who would otherwise be well on their way to forgetting a woman whose 15 minutes of fame has come to an end thanks to no longer being in a cable series or being in that group or having any national platform as a performer. Her job is at “Peepshow” at Planet Hollywood. That is not glamour. That is hard work of the 'two shows a night for the tourists’ variety. In other words, she could well be on her way to being an almost-was or a has-been, if not for the second life of fame the Internet in general and Hilton in particular have gifted her -- a mixed gift though it may be as it comes with lots of needling and snide jokes.
Thanks to the Net and Hilton, O’Day -- now without a television show, a new movie to promote or even a solo disc -- is still getting offers to appear on Fox News to spout off ignorantly about Hitler or anything else. People want to hear what she has to say.
And, in the end, I can’t help wonder whether O’Day knows that a lot of the attention she gets now is from people who know her name because of Hilton. Again, in the article from earlier this year in the Los Angles Times that O’Day suggested I read about her, Hilton is quoted on O’Day: “She’s in on the joke and she plays the game. And it's definitely a game."
Perhaps. O’Day may be playing, but in person, when it comes to the attentions of Hilton, she is not at all playful about it:
“What he does is wrong. I would never want to be known for a total lack of a moral compass, and if he can live with himself being that way and getting success that way and being that way, fine. I would not be able to sleep behaving like him.”
Photo credit: Denise Turscello / "Peepshow"
"...he creates for her an illusion that O’Day is a far bigger star than just a former reality cable show contestant from a forgotten group who is now working a three-month contract in a Vegas topless show. "
"A forgotten group"? Let me remind you that Danity Kane holds the record for the ONLY female group having two consecutive albums debut at #1, one of which was released last year featuring the pop classic "Damaged".
Second, O'Day is far from "forgotten". She graced the cover of Playboy earlier this year, which is an accomplishment; not just every starlet can do that whenever they want to - it has to be offered first, and O'Day is a star who received that offer.
Finally, O'Day is honing her craft and preparing to record her solo debut album with a possible VH1 Reality Show set to premiere in the near future (the pilot tested very well among watchers online).
Although you make a point that Perez Hilton's coverage gives fame to O'Day, it is mostly NEGATIVE. Who wants to be called a "skank", whore, or fat? When that is the only image casting directors or producers have of you, who is going to give you work? Perez is all about HATE and negativity toward O'Day.
O'Day doesn't need Perez to make headlines. She can make them herself because she is interesting and talented. When she has something to say, people WANT to listen.
Posted by: Dibs | October 16, 2009 at 12:03 PM
PEREZ SUCKS IT'S JUST A COPY OF TMZ BUT WITH BAD TASTE
Posted by: LAURA | October 16, 2009 at 12:08 PM
It's sad that you support such a heinous human being that preaches equality for all, yet scrutinizes people who preach for the same cause as him; such as Mariah Carey and Aubrey O'Day. he is the epitome of the reason people hate people such as himself; he's a hypocrite, a nasty person, fake, phony, and just down-right mean. He has nothing else better to do than to wear tacky fashions, support low-grade artists, and talk about everyone who he secretly aspires to be. Look how bad he talked about Britney; then she turns around and employs him for her tour. You should be ashamed of yourself, as an alleged "journalist" (although I use that term loosely after reading your ridiculous article) supporting somebody that is essentially mocking your "craft" by downing other human beings for a half-assed story. Kudos to you, you've done your job for today, huh?
Posted by: Gary | October 16, 2009 at 12:21 PM
no one cares about any of these people except self important superficial FREAKS just like them. GET A REAL JOB!
Posted by: Anna | October 16, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Aubrey is famous because of Danity Kane and all her loyal fans!!....not because of Perez
Posted by: @Marie_Lopez03 | October 16, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Well the first comment is probably from O'Day herself, and the rest of these people don't make sense. Why would they read a whole article about two people they hate? Hilton may sometimes be hypocritical, but who isn't? O'Day would have no career but stripper right now if it wasn't for Perez. I think this article is dead on. Aubrey continues to comment about Perez Hilton and whine about what he says, and all that is doing is giving him more publicity and website hits. Not herself. She just looks like a fool. And to the person who doesn't think you are a journalist, that's ignorant. Just because you are writing about a topic they don't find interesting and important, doesn't mean other people don't, like myself. If you don't like this article, or Hilton's website, then don't read it.
Posted by: Mandy | October 16, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Why is this article so damn long?!
I didn't even bother finishing it.
Neither Perez nor Aubrey are worth that much time.
Also, I was a fan of Aubrey's during the 1st & 2nd Making Da Band. But she turned into a major SKANK. I've lost all respect for her.
Posted by: Lisa | October 16, 2009 at 12:43 PM
obviously, the last post was from O'Day herself. Seriously, she isn't that talented, and has nothing important to say. She is a has-been and is now performing trashy topless shows in Vegas.
Posted by: staysea510 | October 16, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Sorry, I meant to say the 1st post...not the last..
Posted by: staysea510 | October 16, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Dibs- the only reason she is getting Playboy or a VH1 series is because of Perez and the attention he gives her. Do you really think there would have been a pilot without Perez keeping her relevant? She absolutely prays to be in his column or on TMZ everyday as do most reality TV "stars".
Please tell me what headlines she makes without the bloggers? Even the above story was more about Perez and not her and her "career". Like the reporter said without the bloggers she is a chick in a Vegas strip show showing her boobs for cash nothing more.
Posted by: A-rod | October 16, 2009 at 12:48 PM
seems like aubrey wrote that first comment!
Posted by: Clizy | October 16, 2009 at 12:55 PM
I personally don't like Perez Hilton, i think he is a slob of an excuse but unfortunately, i visit his web sight at least twice a day because he keeps me up to date with short clips of the entertainment world. As much as it may hurt Aubrey to read what Perez says about her, what he says is basically what everyone is thinking. When I see O'day, i see a stripper with big bombs. When you take yourself seriously O'day maybe the rest of us will. If you read this i want you to know how grossly disappointed I am with your image change. You totally screwed your career up. To us, your just another Tara Reid. Great career move dummy.
Posted by: Nora | October 16, 2009 at 01:00 PM
Love Perez.. don't really know much about O'Day other than what Perez writes. The kind of proves something. I didn't even watch that MTV show she was on or buy let alone listen to any of their albums. I just know they had the stupidest name in girl 'band' history.. wtf is Danity Kane?
Perez does have a lot of power in the careers of d-list to z-list celebrities, and you have to remember that it's his job.. not his actual personality that is putting these 'celebs' through career hell. From what i've read and seen and heard, Mario is a nice guy.. Perez is just his mean halloween costume that he wears everyday at work.
Regardless, I won't stop going to his site 20 times a day. :)
Posted by: Michelle | October 16, 2009 at 01:10 PM
Perez Hilton needs to disappear.
Posted by: Jen | October 16, 2009 at 01:22 PM
I find it in bad taste for anyone to praise Perez, a man known for bashing women non-stop and even making gays dislike him... and he's one of their biggest representations in the media. Aubrey may not be the most talented person around, but I've yet to hear reports about her going around trashing other people or making herself to be more than what she appears. She wants to be treated respectfully and I see nothing wrong with that. It's something we all want in life. And to those that suggest Perez kept her in the media with his trash pieces, that may be true, but he also helped to create a very negatively charged image of her in th eminds of the majority. Having actually just checked his blog (and having had my eyes bleed), most of his posts were bashing her for the most random of reasons. She walks down the street and Perez is all over her calling her a "skank" or a "ho". Quite eerie. And it's even worse that we, as a society, are generally accepting of people who call women every bad name in the book, but barely say anything negative about men who probably "outwhore" Aubrey in the media and attention category.
The thing about your three articles is that she didn't warrant them, and the majority of it seemed one sided. It felt more like a PERSONAL opinion piece more so than a non-bias (or as little of it as possible), informative piece. I think you should have edited this more and made it 1.5 pages at most.
Also, I'm pretty sure Aubrey got the majority of her deals before Perez kept putting her on blast. I don't think Perez has all that much power because if he did, I don't think we'd still be hearing about BEP after that punching incident. If anything, neither one of them needs to be talked about frequently, and they both need to accept that they need each other to survive in their game of choice. Mutualistic symbiotic relationships and all.
Posted by: Anon | October 16, 2009 at 01:43 PM
I am a Perez Hilton reader. In fact that's how I found out about this article. I find him very entertaining and even though sometimes I find him to be a little bit mean WHO CARES! Aubey O'Day makes more in a night then I did in the last 3 years, though I am a student, that is still rediculous. So what if Perez calls you a skank? You're young, rich and beautiful, why should I feel sorry for you? I'm going to laugh at you because no matter how famous you are you still make stupid mistakes. If you don't like it then you aren't cut out for show business.
Perez is hard working and intelligent. He is a self made man and that's more then I can say for the famous-for-being-famous celebrities out there. He has a cheritable organization advertized on every page. When an actor, perfomer, artist, or musician is actually really talented he gives a shout out. When a celebrity is supporting a cherity he writes about it. It's not all trash talk. He's a hard worker and if anyone deserves to be successful it's him. He's the voice of this generation and I think it's awesome that he de-glorifies hollywood.
Revenge of the nerds!!!!
Posted by: Robin | October 16, 2009 at 01:47 PM
Aubrey O'Day HAD a certain charisma when she was first featured on Making the Band. She was down to earth, hot without being skanky, and seemed like a young woman genuinely interested in forging a career in the music industry [as opposed to fame-seeking.]
Appearances aside, over the past few years, it seems she has lost interest in singing and become more obsessed with making sure that all eyes and ears are tuned to her. Whether it be an inappropriate outfit or no clothing at all, outlandish comments [I'm sorry....Hitler was a genius? Brilliant? Tell that to the the hundreds upon thousands of people who lost loved ones during the Holocaust], or telling any venue that will listen all about her sexual prowess/preferences/exploits.
I don't think Perez Hilton is a fantastic journalist. He's mediocre at best. But what he does is shed light on the incredulous nature, and often, the stupidity as well, of the world that is 'celebrity.' While so many 'celebs' are highly revered as the bar with which to measure 'cool' , Perez Hilton reminds everyone that they are just as criticism-worthy as anyone else.
Bottom line- if you choose to conduct yourself a certain way in the entertainment industry [whether in cahoots with people such as Hilton or not] be prepared for harsh reality. You're not going to be loved and coveted by all. It is the nature of the beast you chose the embrace.
Posted by: Beau | October 16, 2009 at 01:52 PM
Perez Hilton may have lost some weight, but he is still fat and UGLY and yet he loves to talk about how horrible everybody else looks. He picks on people at random probably based on who he likes and who he doesn't like. I can't really figure it out. For instance, in the past he has called Lisa Rinna fat, and while she may have a ridiculous amount of plastic surgery, I don't think anyone could make a serious case for her being fat. On the other hand, he only praises Beth Ditto completely ignoring the fact that she is twice as fat as he was at his fattest.
In regards to O'Day, Perez is completely unfair to her. Maybe she unknowingly offended him one time. I have seen him interview her and he was all smiles and sunshine and then he doesn't hesitate to trash her the next mminute. I'm surprised he doesn't like her. Danity Kane seems to be the kind of group that he likes. Or maybe she is right about him not liking her because she speaks her mind and it isn't what he wants to hear. Perez may be gay, but he tends to be on the conservative side.
If I were Aubrey I would just be slightly more careful when talking to the media. They are just waiting for the slightest slip of the tongue, to take your words and change the context in order to make a fool of you. Just make sure that you know all the facts before you speak so they don't catch you in an uncomfortable conversation that is turned around to make you a sympathizer with Hitler. At that point it doesn't matter that you know your not, and you know what you were saying, and even that you know that you are smarter than them. At that point all that matters is that they are the media and they own your words in any order they choose to distribute them along with all the channels to distribute them on.
Posted by: laurelbay | October 16, 2009 at 02:30 PM
This is ludacris. Aubrey O'Day is an amazing and gifted artist and clothing designer, and dancer and I could go on and on. She came out with an amazing line of clothing called Heart on My sleeve. It's incredible, she has so much energy and likability. She represents the gays, and lesbians and all those who have no voice. She has 2 PLATINUM selling albums with Danity Kane, was the most recognized and famous member of the group, and was a lead role in "Hairspray" the musical on broadway which I saw her play "Amber von Tussle" she was incredible. So, before you go knocking on someone who has done nothing but bust her butt from Arizona to California to New York to Diddy to Danity Kane to wherever she has earned every ounce of respect and fame she gets. She is living the American Dream and anyone who doesn't see her drive and talent can go sit and wallow in their self pity and jealousy. No one says you have to care or even like her, but give her credit and some respect. Luv Ya Aubs, Love Markie Jay
Posted by: Mark Jimenez | October 16, 2009 at 02:49 PM
So she wants to be taken "seriously" and her intellect appreciated? Well, the smartest thing I realized at 25 was that I really didn't know about everything I thought I did. And not that college is a measure of intellect, but: Jodie Foster, Brooke Shields, etc. all managed to get their college degrees and seem not to need to be taken "seriously" or have their "intellect" questioned. If you are going to opine about a subject, let me suggest that you have more than a cocktail napkin's worth of knowledge of the subject. Other than that, she seems lovely.
Posted by: Count Snarkula | October 16, 2009 at 02:50 PM
Perez is great. You know half the stuff he puts out there is exactly wat your all thinking. He just has the balls to say it to the whole world. O'Day is a moron who spouts off about how Hitler was a genious and all that. If you hate Perez for calling her a skank then you oviously are blind because it is just fact. She works at a topless Vegas show!! And who ever thinks Danity Kane is the best and that "Damaged" is a classic is just pathetic. Also, almost every young star is offered playboy, Heidi Montag was on the cover!
Posted by: Meg | October 16, 2009 at 02:57 PM
I think Perez just says what is on a lot of people's minds. Aubrey O'day was the star of making the band and all of the viewers of the show saw a change in her towards the end of Making the Band. In the beginning of the show, it was all about how she was working with the group and being a positive leader. She lost a lot of people's respect when she did that god awful photo shoot for Complex Magazine. Girls like myself admired and respected her so much more for her talent; there was no need to plump up your lips and lick a stripper pole-its not cute and you do in fact look like a whore. Even Kim Kardashian can make posing for playboy look classy. There were so many other choices she could have made while posing nudey that wouldn't be nearly as trashy. I just thought it was trashy and classless. Thats when she lost a lot of her fans. Its annoying that Perez is fake with her cause knowing that he calls her kitten is so corny and two faced. I wish Aubrey would just stop thinking she's Jenna Jameson and focus more on what she's good at...the whole singing acting and dancing thing... its a real shame..and she should be grateful cause the only time I see her name is when Perez posts her stuff up. I would shut my mouth if I was her. Don't bight the hand that feeds you. She should have learned from diddy by now..
Posted by: Noelle | October 16, 2009 at 03:03 PM
Aubrey is hot. That is really all I have to say.
Posted by: skanky o'day | October 16, 2009 at 03:06 PM
Nice finish, Richard.
All these people in one article: Aubrey O'Day, Perez Hilton, Criss Angel and Miss California.
I'm worried though. They'll develop like a cancer in your brain pan cavity if you keep writing about any and/or all of them, turning you all sour and surly and stuff. And it will be irreversible! And most likely this contagion will be transferred by osmosis to the blog reading public. Be like a cheap zombie movie if it goes unchecked. Remember: They won't go down unless you shoot 'em in the head!
Oh my gosh. RUN, RICHARD, RUN! Get away from these people! Quick! Write about something else! Before you take a chance to rampantly pass it around like the swine flu epidemic or something!
You can always come back to report about Ms. Aubrey O'Day when she works the afternoon shift as the featured dancer at Olympic Gardens though....
Posted by: ColinFromLasVegas | October 16, 2009 at 03:26 PM
Perez Hilton has tapped into our neurologically-based tendency to track the alphas of our social group, which has been expanded by the electronic media to pretty much include the whole world.
Unfortunately, he can't write, let alone spell correctly most of the time. Additionally, he is constantly squandering golden opportunities to snark as he doesn't appear to be quick-witted enough to recognize them. And, he is an inveterate hypocrite, playing favorites on a whim and venting his own conflicted feelings about his childhood on those he reviles.
Oh, and I read him three times a day. Like attracts like, I guess.
Posted by: jody | October 16, 2009 at 03:36 PM