Monday, Jun. 28, 2010

Perez Hilton

Mario Lavandeira's oasis of gossip has always lagged behind competitors on the big scoops, but in the past year it has skewed too foul and vulgar even for the celebrity-obsessed set. The recent flap over a tweeted Miley Cyrus photo, which many believed depicted an exposed 17-year-old stepping out of her car — in fact, it didn't — was the icing on the cake. Lavandeira, who proudly boasted about the stunt and said he'd post the Cyrus photo again in a second, has made it clear time and again that he considers all publicity to be good publicity — and takes pride in being the pundit who pushes the envelope and sparks the scandal. Clearly there's a huge online market for celebrity takedowns — within reason. But Perez Hilton crossed that threshold a long, long time ago.