WARNING: DISTRESSING DETAILS
Perez Hilton has broken his silence with a heartbreaking three-word statement just days after a distressing social media live stream showed him covered in blood and self-harming.
The 48-year-old celebrity blogger, whose legal name is Mario Lavandeira Jr, was raced to hospital on Wednesday after vision of him using a large knife to harm himself inside his Miami home was live-streamed to his huge following.
After days of speculation and concern following his mental health crisis, a close friend of the star has revealed Hilton is now stable, alert, and has since spoken his first words since the incident.
The social media personality uttered three words to his distraught mother: “I need help.”
The source, who says he has known Hilton and his family for more than two decades, told the Daily Mail that he had been with the star just hours before the heartbreaking live stream and there were no signs of what was to come.
“He was acting normal, that’s the thing,” the friend said, telling the news outlet that Hilton had been chatting with sources for future stories that morning.
“He was getting excited about future projects, it had been a good day up to then.”
Just hours later, the Internet would watch as Hilton’s mental health episode played out live on TikTok for more than fifteen minutes.
The footage triggered several 911 calls from concerned viewers.
Officers from Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office were urgently dispatched to his home where they performed de-escalation measures for hours before transporting him to hospital.
The source went on to explain that the blogger is still trying to process Wednesday’s events and the aftermath.
“He’s really suffering. He’s a man in a lot of pain,” the insider said.
“I think right now he’s focused on the physical, but it’s all tied together — no one deserves the torment he’s going through.”
Although the star is now medically stable, the friend expressed worries that Hilton hasn’t quite understood the gravity of the situation he is in.
“He was able to articulate himself (to his mother from hospital) but I don’t think he’s quite self-aware enough yet,” he said.
“He’s still in a dark place as I understand it, just very very sad.”
The family friend is not the first to speak out in the aftermath of Hilton’s public crisis.
A friend of Hilton’s mum, Teresita Lavandeira, said she had been left “devastated” by her son’s mental health struggle.
“She has been crying a lot, she’s frantic — even now,” the friend told Page Six.
“She’s keeping the kids, she’s let the Department of Children and Families know that she’s willing to have them as long as needed.”
The blogger has three children: a thirteen-year-old son, and two daughters aged 11 and eight.
Hilton’s family has since confirmed in a statement that all of his children were at the Miami property on Wednesday, but had fled before the chilling live stream began.
“When it became clear that Perez was experiencing a severe mental health crisis, (his children, niece and sister) immediately fled to protect the children from witnessing any further trauma,” the statement said.
As discussions about Wednesday’s incident continue, his friend had one simple message for critics of Hilton as he continues his recovery: “No one deserves this”.
Lifeline: 13 11 14.
If you or someone you know needs help, phone SANE Australia Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263).
