Openly gay blogger Perez Hilton, who has a reputation for criticizing and even outing stars, said on Wednesday that he was going to stop being a bully. Appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", the 32-year-old Hilton said he no longer wanted to be seen as a bully and a hypocrite.
"Over the last two weeks, I have been doing everything I can to bring awareness to the issue of teen suicides and gay bullying," Hilton told DeGeneres. "In doing so, a lot of people have called me a hypocrite and a bully myself and a big one. That's not how I want to be perceived and that's not what I want to put out there into the world. 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."
"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...not out people," Hilton said.
Hilton also posted a video on his website explaining his change of heart, which follows the recent rash of teen suicides.
The change could cost Hilton's popular website in traffic and revenue. "Well even if it does, I don't care, because this is really important to me," he said.
Hilton recently launched several new websites including CocoPerez.com, with a focus on fashion; FitPerez.com, a fitness website; and TeddyPerez.com, focusing on animal rights.
"All of these websites are definitely far more positive and that was by design," Hilton said. "I was afraid of making that change on the main site because I have done things for so long a certain way. But this recent turn of events has forced me to make that change. I need to be the change that I want to see in others."