Perez Hilton is the stage name of Cuban-American blogger, columnist and television personality Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., who gained notoriety for his celebrity gossip blog PerezHilton.com. Soon after he started the blog, it became one of the most hated websites for his unapologetic endorsements of certain celebrities and unreasonable criticism of others. He is just as famous for his gossip-mongering as he is for the numerous lawsuits against him by several paparazzi photographers and celebrities, who claim that his fame and fortune is built upon the work of others as he very often uses copyrighted materials without taking permission. Even though he has been very vocal about gay rights as a gay person himself, he has drawn the ire of many gay rights activist for his controversial comments and behaviors, including his attempts at ‘outing’ gay celebrities like former 'N Sync member Lance Bass and actor Neil Patrick Harris. Perez Hilton, who claims to have created an empire through his eponymous blogging website, record label Perezious Music, fashion website CoCoPerez.com and bestselling books among other things, intends to become “the gay Latino Oprah”.