Web surfers around the globe gasped when Perez Hilton tweeted a revealing photo of Miley Cyrus. But the momentum started changing Thursday, as Miley’s camp apparently expressed its support and Perez went on the media offensive.
When Hilton initially posted the photo of 17-year-old Miley Cyrus, wearing a short skirt and stepping out of a car, there were some who speculated what sort of legal jeopardy the pundit may have put himself in. Hilton later said the photo was a fake: “”Do you think I am stupid enough to post a photo of Miley if she is not wearing any underwear down there?” Hilton said in a video posted to his website.
But midday Thursday, some of the drama seemed to be abating. E! News was citing a source close to the Cyrus family that parents Trish and Billy Ray had no intention of filing a criminal complaint against the blogger.
Only a couple hours later, Hilton was blasting the sponsors that had pulled ads from his web site in response to the scandal. “I find it odd that an advertiser would choose to pull an ad off my site because the photo in question, which was not pornographic and showed a fully clothed Miley Cyrus, was not posted on my website or even linked from my site,” Hilton told EW in a statement, referring to the ad for the TV show The View that was pulled down. “I look forward to addressing this…when I appear on Joy Behar’s HLN show this evening.”
That statement certainly doesn’t have the tone of someone worried about going to jail – or losing all his sponsorships.
It shall be interesting to see what Perez has to say about the situation – moral, legal, and economic – in his appearance tonight. The Behar program airs at 9 p.m.