between friends

Perez Hilton explains why he thought it was OK to out other gay celebs

Perez Hilton on Red Table Talk
Perez Hilton on Red Table Talk (Photo: Facebook)

Perez Hilton joins the Estefans on the latest episode of Red Table Talk, and the family members take him to task about some of the things he’s written over the years. In particular, how Hilton used to out celebrities on his blog in its earlier days.

Entertainers such as Lance Bass, Wentworth Miller, and Neil Patrick Harris are among those who Hilton suggested were gay, before them announcing it themselves.

Related: A brief, probably incomplete list of all the LGBTQ celebrities Perez Hilton tried to destroy

In a clip released to Facebook—ahead of today’s full show—Gloria Estefan asks Hilton, “Did you feel that because you were openly gay, that was your permission to out people that didn’t come out?”

Hilton nods before Emily Estefan, who is also gay, chimes in, “No that’s just f*c*ked up. I never understood how you as a gay man, could put anybody in that situation.”

“I knew what I was doing was wrong,” Hilton replies, before going on to say that his drug use at the time led to some leaps of self-rationalization.

“I would say things like, ‘I’m just sharing to my friends online, what my friends in private talk about. So why should I treat my public friends any different than my private friends?’”

“They’re not your friends,” Emily responds. “They’re the audiences of these people.”

Perez’s appearance alongside Red Table Talk follows a recent appearance on the show from Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui. The bisexual singer said she felt “violated” in 2016 when Perez tweeted photos of her kissing her then-girlfriend.

“I was outed to the public…” Jauregui said. “My own process was violated.”

Though most of her family already knew she was bi, she said she wasn’t ready to come out to the world.

“I’m Latina, and there was that looming feeling of, ‘What is my community going to think about me?’” she said. “Are they even going to accept me?”

Jauregui later penned a letter revealing she is bisexual.

Related: Perez Hilton insists he’s “NOT sorry” for outing this celeb

Following Jauregui’s comments on Red Table Talk, Perez appeared unrepentant. He said he was merely commenting on a photo that had already been leaked (which he reshared).

“When I apologize for something, it’s because I mean it and am genuinely remorseful,” he wrote in a statement on YouTube. “I am NOT sorry for that tweet about Lauren Jauregui. That was not ‘outing’ her.”

“All I did was send out a tweet talking about the leaked photo,” he added. “I don’t regret that.”

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