One celebrity reaching out to another during a medical crisis would seemingly be seen as a sweet and caring gesture.
Yet when Jared Padalecki did just that to hospitalized blogger Perez Hilton, the former “Supernatural” star’s fans felt far differently.
A Message of Support
GettyCelebrity blogger Perez Hilton was hospitalized on Tuesday after a disturbing livestream on TikTok that appeared to indicate he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Over the weekend, Padalecki reached out to Hilton via social media.
Given that Padalecki has candidly discussed his own mental health struggles, he took to X to send Hilton a message of support and encouragement from the perspective of someone who’d walked in those shoes.
“Hey @PerezHilton. Just wanted to reach out and let you know that you’re in my thoughts,” Padalecki wrote in his post, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.
“This ‘being human’ is a strange thing. Exhilarating. Exhausting. Fast. Slow. Wonderful…. And… at times… awful. I hope you are trying as best as you can to be kind to yourself right now,” Padalecki continued.
“Please surround yourself with the love and support that all humans deserve,” he added. “This too shall pass. You got this.”
Unexpected Backlash
Surprisingly, Padalecki’s heartfelt post was not well received by his fans. In fact, the message was hit with a tsunami of comments reminding him that the blogger (whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr.) came to fame via insulting and degrading blog posts about various celebrities — including Padalecki.
The following day, Padalecki deleted his post and then issued another — this time insisting he he was unfamiliar with Hilton’s notorious past, or even that he himself had once been one of the blogger’s targets.
“I didn’t know,” the actor wrote on X. “It’s been brought to my attention. I’m sorry.”
Padalecki then offered further clarification in a follow-up post, explaining he was vaguely aware of Hilton’s past, but also was not the kind of person who held grudges.
“I had heard of him. Obviously,” Padalecki tweeted. “I had heard that he hadn’t exactly ‘been kind’ to me in the past. So, my thought is always to give grace and forgiveness to those who may have tried to ‘harm’ you… in my experience, it usually works out better than holding a grudge or wishing punishment on someone else.”
Complicated History
When Perez Hilton first launched his blog in 2004, he quickly built up a following by establishing a nasty tone that insulted and mocked celebrities.
At that time, he revelled in a mean-spirited attitude that resulted in a huge online following that loved his salacious reports about stars, often saddling them with insulting nicknames.
He also grew notorious for outing closeted gay celebrities, including Lance Bass and Neil Patrick Harris.
A Change of Heart
As the popularity of his blog grew and his profile heightened, Hilton eventually became a celebrity himself.
That was likely why he made a huge U-turn in 2010, vowing to stop bullying celebrities.
“I’m going to do things differently on my website than I have in the past,” Hilton said during a appearance that year on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” reported Australia’s ABC News.
“I’m not going to call people nasty nicknames. I’m not going to go the mean route,” he added. “I’m going to force myself to be funnier or smarter … not out people.”
