This isn’t personal…just principled.
Mo’Kelly is calling you out Perez Hilton, are you in or are you out? No pun
intended.
Back in 2009, Mo’Kelly received an email from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, mocking two of my commentaries regarding him and the Carrie Prejean/Miss USA Pageant controversy in 2009. At that point, Hilton seemed unaffected by his role in the perception of the Gay Rights movement or the perception of his work more broadly. It was a seeming contradiction given his outspoken stances, to blithely and blindly proceed without conscience to his impact on issues he championed.
Perez Hilton Isn’t Ready for Gay Marriage in America
Perez Hilton Created Ant-Gay Star Carrie Prejean
But we’ll come back to that in a moment.
Remember when the Chris Brown/Rihanna saga dominated the news? Hilton’s stance was clear.
From his website…
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Chris Brown Apologizes – FINALLY!
Chris Brown has just released a statement, owning up to his actions in February and apologizing for severely beating then-girlfriend Rihanna.
You know what this smells like???
Like shit!!!!!
After you watch his apology (above), it’ll be clear to anyone with half a brain that he’s just trying to salvage what little he has left of a career.
Lame. Lame. Lame.
http://perezhilton.com/2009-07-20-chris-brown-apologizes-finally
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Then…remember when Michael Jackson passed away unexpectedly and the poorly conceived tweet by Chris Brown’s momma?
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Chris Brown’s Mom Apologized For Tweet!
That family has issues!
After Tweeting the phrase “Michael Jackson died so that Chris Brown could live!!!” Chris Brown‘s mother, Joyce Hawkins, got a lot of shiz in response.
And we completely understand why! So, she finally decided to apologize for the crazy ass comment.
Hawkins said:
“I’m so sorry that the tweet I sent yesterday was misunderstood. What I meant to say is that Chris has always been inspired by Michael Jackson’s music and his career. I’m sorry I offended anyone. The statement meant Chris would carry on Michaels [sic] legacy.”
Oh geez! Let’s not get carried away.
http://perezhilton.com/2010-09-10-chris-browns-mom-apologized-for-tweet
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Perez Hilton’s record is clear and unmistakable as it relates to homophobia generally, domestic violence and Twitter foolishness specifically. His history of criticizing any and all things Chris Brown has also been well-documented.
But wait, there’s more.
The bad blood between Brown and Hilton eventually made its way to Twitter back in March of last year.
Then something changed…
Many Hilton supporters would point to his appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show in October of 2010 where Hilton pledged to be “nicer” in the wake of a spate of teen suicides linked to gay bullying as the turning point. Hilton argued that he was going to both change the tone of his website and work towards becoming the solution.
Over the last week and a half two weeks I’ve been doing everything I can to bring awareness to the issue of teen suicides and gay bullying. And in doing so, a lot of people have called me a hypocrite, and a bully myself and a big one. And that’s not how I want to be perceived and that’s not what I want to put out there to the world. And it was a big wake up call that so many people saw me that way.
So from now on I really want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem and I want to be the change that I want to see in others, so I’m going to do things differently on my website, than I have in the past. I’m not going to call people nasty nicknames, I’m not going to go the mean route. I’m going to force myself to be funnier or smarter or just do things differently. Not doodle inappropriate things and not out people.”
Perez Hilton is definitely a hypocrite and here are the reasons why.
Hilton had absolutely NO commentary (nice or otherwise) to offer on the latest Twitter transgression and apology of Chris Brown. Although Hilton noted the incident on his site, he left it up to his readers to decide as to its importance.
Really Perez? Gay bullying? You can comment on the strength of Brown’s latest CD on your site, but no comment on homophobic rant by the same artist?
http://perezhilton.com/2010-12-29-chris-brown-goes-homophobic-on-his-twitter-page
Really Perez? Gay bullying? Advocacy blogging? Becoming part of the solution?
Mo’Kelly didn’t know that social justice commentary ever went on holiday break like the American public school system.
Given Perez Hilton’s frequent and public stances against all artists and behavior even remotely homophobic in nature, it was beyond odd. His documented history in regards to Chris Brown makes it doubly odd.
Mo’Kelly gets it…Hilton wants to be “NICE,” but a “nice” website and inconsistency in message are two different things. Hilton must be consistent in his message irrespective of methodology, or needs to remove himself from the advocacy blogging business altogether. He can call himself “Perez Hilton, the Diet TMZ” but refrain from any other social justice commentary in the future. If Hilton can not or will not address the larger and obvious issues which set the tone and frame the homophobia debate; then it’s absolute hypocrisy to do so at any later date or presently claim to be a social justice advocate.
And why is the social justice advocate for African-American issues the one having to make this clear for the Gay Rights advocate (SMH)?!
Mo’Kelly is calling you out Perez Hilton, are you in or are you out?
If Hilton is to be part of the “solution” for the GLBT community then abject silence on the obvious displays of homophobic behavior does a disservice to any and all issues related to Gay rights. Straddling the line hurts his supposed cause.
For all the many comparisons between Gay rights and the modern Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century, silence was never an option in the Civil Rights Movement. And in part, this is why Mo’Kelly doesn’t like the comparisons in the first place. Once again, it’s the luxury of “choice” which most clearly delineates the two. Not the argument that homosexuality supposedly is a “choice” but the choice to either fight or not involve oneself in the fight or live openly as a member of the community.
Hilton would do well to continue to avoid going the “mean” route but it is hypocrisy to then have nothing to say (nicely or otherwise) on the issues and incidents which most frame and affect the debate.
Having nothing to say in a social justice sense on the Chris Brown Tweetfest is absolute hypocrisy.
Hilton has long compared the Gay Rights movement to the Civil Rights moment and quote Dr. King ad nauseam (which irritates Mo’Kelly to NO end). Mo’Kelly is here to tell Hilton, he can’t have it both ways. Advocacy requires speaking out, even when it’s impolitic, unpopular, politically inexpedient and generally unsafe. If Perez Hilton is a Gay Rights advocate, then he should act accordingly, consistently…nicely or not. Otherwise his voice means nothing, irrespective of how often he eschews vulgar doodling or supposed mean-spirited commentary.
Message still trumps methodology and absence of message renders methodology meaningless.
At the top of this piece, Mo’Kelly explained how Hilton mockingly emailed Mo’Kelly regarding his previous commentaries. Last week when Mo’Kelly emailed him back requesting a formal statement on the Chris Brown incident…
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Silence.
Unacceptable Perez. You built an empire under the pretense of advocacy blogging, wrapped in celebrity reporting. If you’ve walked away from social commentary altogether, that’s fine, but don’t jump back in the water down the road when more convenient. You’re allowed only one epiphany in life, not two. Those are the rules. Two or more smack of brazen disingenuous behavior.
Perez, you’ve been called out. This isn’t personal, just on principle. Either you’re in or you’re out. Make the choice.
(And Mo’Kelly didn’t even have to use any “nasty nicknames” or “vulgar doodling” to make his point.)
The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. For more Mo’Kelly, https://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at [email protected].
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