Chris Booker, Perez Hilton’s podcast host, took to Instagram Tuesday evening with an update following the gossip blogger’s hospitalization after livestreaming apparent self-harm.
“I am so profoundly sad for Perez and his family and what they’re all going through,” Booker began in an Instagram statement, adding that it’s “truly unimaginable.”
Booker — who co-hosts “The Perez Hilton Podcast with Chris Booker” — noted that he had “spoken only briefly” with Hilton’s family and in the interest of their previous statement regarding privacy, wanted to “honor their wishes at this impossible time.”
“Even the family is struggling to get updates due to the confidential security measures in place at the hospital because of how many people are trying to get information,” the podcaster continued, noting that “any updates will come via PerezHilton.com.”
“As for the shows, (iHeart Podcast and Patreon), it’s all TBD at the moment as our collective focus is on his health. I certainly hope to continue them with my friend when the time is appropriate,” he continued, adding that he will “give updates” on the shows “when the time is right.”
“We’ve done these shows for over a decade now and the support from our listeners has been resounding. He is very loved,” Booker concluded. “I can only hope that he feels it. Heal up friend.”
The gossip blogger was hospitalized late Tuesday evening after a TikTok livestream depicted him seemingly harming himself.
The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office told Page Six that units were dispatched to investigate after they received “multiple calls” reporting “an individual livestreaming acts of self-harm on social media.”
The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office told Page Six that multiple units were dispatched on Tuesday to Hilton’s home after they received “multiple calls” reporting “an individual livestreaming acts of self-harm on social media.”
Without naming Hilton, the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office explained that an “individual has been safely recovered and transported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to a local hospital, where he is receiving medical attention” and that “The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Crisis Response Unit and Licensed Mental Health Professionals are also on scene providing support and resources to the individual’s family.”
The media personality was said to have been “alone” at the time in his Miami home, where his mother, Teresita Lavandeira, and three children also reside.
911 dispatch audio from the incident indicated that first responders had been called to the home due to a “suicide attempt.”
Hilton — who also lives at the residence with his mother, Teresita Lavandeira and his three children — was said to have been “alone” inside the home at the time of the incident.multiple units had responded to the site of a “suicide attempt.”
Surveillance footage obtained by Page Six showed cop vehicles swarming the area, and captured the voice of a police officer repeatedly saying, “Mario, it’s the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, please step out of the house.”
His sister Barbara Lavandeira was seen outside his home on Wednesday, where she was said to have asked how to gain entry into the home as cops guarded the entrace.
Hilton’s family wrote in a statement, “We can confirm that Perez is receiving medical care, and our family’s focus right now is on his well-being.”
Reps for the entertainment podcaster told Page Six that likewise, their “focus remains on Perez’s health, recovery and the privacy of both him and his family during this incredibly difficult time.”
“We are grateful for the outpouring of concern and support from fans, friends and members of the media,” they wrote.
“We respectfully ask that everyone continue to honor his privacy while he receives the care he needs.”
Prior to the apparent mental health crisis, Hilton had seemingly faced a mounting crush of stressors — including a pair of hospitalizations following an ulcer and sepsis, a move from Las Vegas to Miami, and “pretty extreme medical bills.”
“His health struggles this year have been extreme. The sepsis honestly almost killed him,” a source previously told Page Six. “I don’t know if people realize just how traumatic and horrific that was for him, both physically, but also emotionally.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text the Crisis Text Line at 741741.