Taking a stand against online critics, Perez Hilton’s sister, Barbara Lavandeira, has broken her silence nearly two weeks after his livestream incident.
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While speaking to Page Six last week, Lavandeira slammed those who were mocking the celebrity blogger’s health struggles.
“The comments calling this ‘karma’ have been especially painful,” she stated. “I wouldn’t wish what my mother, Mario’s children, or our entire family is experiencing on anyone!”
Lavanderia then noted, “I know some people don’t like my brother. Some people even hate him. Mario has publicly acknowledged the harm he caused earlier in his career. In 2010, he went on network television and admitted that the outings, doodles, and other things he did were wrong, and he has apologized repeatedly.”
Although she wasn’t asking anyone to forget or excuse her brother’s behavior, Lavanderia was asking people to “recognize” that he had changed over the past 20 years and had “genuinely tried” to become a better person.
“I don’t believe someone should be reduced forever to the worst things they did in their past,” she said. “Especially when they’ve admitted the harm and genuinely tried to grow.”
Hilton, whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr, has been hospitalized for nearly two weeks after law enforcement was called to his Miami-area home on August 4. During his most recent TikTok livestream, the celebrity blogger was covered in blood.
Hilton’s Sister Said She Saw Him Before His Hospitalization
While continuing to speak to Page Six, Hilton’s sister said she had seen him cut up and bleeding before his hospitalization.
“August 4th will forever be one of the darkest days my family and I have ever experienced,” she said. “That afternoon, Mario was in his bedroom with the door closed and locked, which wasn’t like him. His door was almost always open.”
She further shared, “When I knocked, he said he was fine, but I could barely hear him. After I knocked a few more times and asked him to open the door, he stopped responding. I tried calling his cell phone in case he couldn’t hear me, but he wouldn’t answer. Something just felt wrong.”
After finally being able to open his bedroom and bathroom door, Lavandeira discovered her brother naked, cut up, covered in blood, and holding a box cutter.
“What I can say with certainty is that I didn’t recognize my brother when I looked at him. I saw it in his eyes. They didn’t look the same,” she recalled. “Then a split second later, he smiled at me. It felt like I was staring at someone else.”
Acting quickly, Lavandeira had her brother’s children leave the residence, and she called the police. She placed towels over her brother to help stop the bleeding.
“He had already lost a significant amount of blood, yet he was somehow still able to speak, although his voice was very faint,” she pointed out. “The ambulance took him to the hospital, and I stayed behind to speak with the crisis team that arrived.”