Boom Boom Pow’d ’09*

23Jun09

Last night, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton was in an altercation with Black Eyed Peas’ member Will.I.Am. However, when the police would reportedly not show up, Perez chose to tweet about it instead. Why didn’t he just keep calling the police from his Sidekick rather than tweeting about it? He knew that tweeting would bring more attention to what happened than simply getting the police involved and he was was right- tweets responding to the situation came pouring in, albeit with a mixed reaction – some of his followers were concerned, others felt that it was deserved.

Not to be outdone by Perez, Will.I.Am. also created a Twitter account for the sole purpose of responding to Perez’s allegations. Both Perez & Will.I.Am also posted videos with their version of events.

It’s interesting that both men took to social media to address what happened (or did not happen) rather than submitting statements to third parties. Perez Hilton has a greater social media presence- he has over a million followers on Twitter and updates his blog regularly. However, Will.I.Am is not a social media newbie either, and uses DipDive, a self-proclaimed “lifestyle” engine. I think Will.I.Am loses a little credibility for creating a Twitter account for the sole purpose of clearing his name rather than interacting with his fans, but he clearly understands social media, as well as what mode of social media will get the word out the quickest.

Check out the altercation for yourself courtesy of TMZ

Regardless of what happened, I believe that in the end, Hilton will have to explain why he used a derogatory slur to insult Will.I.Am when he is gay himself and has championed for gay rights in the past & pushed for former Grey’s Anatomy cast member Isaiah Washington to be fired from the show for using the same word. The altercation itself may lead to a police investigation, as Perez has stated that he is leaving it up to the authorities.

I think there’s too much other stuff going on in the world to really be bothered by Perez Hilton. But he certainly did get the reaction he was hoping for as he is currently a trending topic on Twitter, and yours truly is dedicating a blog post to him. But in my defense, it’s more for the social media content rather than the individuals involved!

*Credit to OhNoTheyDidn’t for the title.

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Filed under: celebrities, news, social media   |  1 Comment
Tags: music, perez hilton, social media, twitter, will.i.am, youtube