Friends of Perez Hilton say they believe his recent battle with sepsis may have played a role in the mental health crisis that led to his hospitalisation this week.
Hilton experienced a severe medical scare earlier this year, spending 21 days hospitalized after the flu progressed into an ulcer, a perforation and then sepsis.
He described the ordeal in emotional detail on social media at the time, recalling fluid buildup in his lungs, a heart episode that required medication, and a secondary infection that prolonged his recovery.
“The sepsis just kept working and my body kept falling apart,” he said in a March video, adding that his final week in the hospital “was hell” as he waited to get home to his children.
That earlier health crisis is now being viewed by those close to him as a possible contributing factor in Tuesday’s incident, in which Hilton appeared distraught and injured during a TikTok livestream that friends and industry contacts feared, at first, might be some kind of hoax before realising the situation was real.
Chris Booker, longtime co-host of The Perez Hilton Podcast, said simply, “I’m so profoundly sad for Perez and his family and what they’re all going through.”
Former America’s Next Top Model winner Adrianne Curry, who has had a complicated history with Hilton, echoed the same sentiment, telling one outlet, “He used to be terrible to me, but I hear he’s been on a redemption arc. I wish him the absolute best.”
Police were called to Hilton’s Miami home after the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office received multiple reports of the livestream.
Deputies confirmed he was alone inside and worked to de-escalate the situation before he was safely taken to a hospital, where mental health professionals also provided support to his family.
In a statement posted to his website, Hilton’s team confirmed he “is receiving medical care, and our family’s focus right now is on his well-being,” and asked for privacy during his recovery.
Hilton, 48, whose legal name is Mario Lavandeira, built his early career in the 2000s through a celebrity gossip website known for its sharp, sometimes cutting commentary, and has spoken in the years since about trying to move away from that persona.
He is a single father of three children, all under 14, born via surrogacy.
