Hilton’s family said that they expect him to remain in treatment for several weeks
Over a month after Perez Hilton livestreamed acts of self-harm and received inpatient medical care after being hospitalized following an overdose, his family shared an update on his health and addressed rumors online.
In a Sept. 14 message posted to his website, his family said that the celebrity blogger entered a residential treatment program, where is expected to remain for several weeks. “This was an important next step, but there’s still a long road ahead,” read the statement. Hilton does not have access to his phone or laptop and has limited contact with family and friends so that he can “focus fully on his mental health and recovery,” per the update.
His family also criticized “false reports” about Hilton’s health. “Perez has not lost ten years of his memory, does not believe it’s 2016, and is not confused about where he is. He is lucid and communicates clearly with his family. He does not have stitches and is not covered in gauze,” they stated. “No family member, and no one authorized to speak on Perez’s behalf, provided these false claims.”
Hilton was hospitalized on Aug. 4 following a TikTok livestream from his Miami home in which he engaged in self-harm. An incident report stated that a fire rescue team “began treatment on scene for multiple lacerations and an overdose” before the blogger was hospitalized under Florida’s Baker Act. His family said in a later statement that Hilton was receiving inpatient treatment “under the care of a dedicated team of medical and mental health professionals.”
Hilton was living with his three children in Miami at the time of the incident. The family said that his children remain in the care of their grandmother.
“Perez has spent years acknowledging, apologizing for, and genuinely trying to grow from the things he said and did earlier in his career,” read the family’s most recent update. “The internet has a way of preserving old versions of people, even when the person behind them has changed. No one has to forget his past or accept his apologies. But we hope we can all agree that celebrating someone’s suicide attempt crosses a line.”