Warning: This article contains discussion of self-harm which some readers may find distressing.
Supernatural actor Jared Padalecki has apologized to fans after posting a message backing Perez Hilton following the distressing livestream.
Padalecki, who has previously spoken about his own mental health challenges, later deleted the post and issued a public apology.
Hilton, 48, was hospitalized on August 4 after appearing to engage in self-harm during a TikTok livestream. His family released a statement on August 8 indicating that he experienced significant blood loss and will require surgery, with treatment and recovery expected to be a long process.
His original message focused on Hilton’s wellbeing during the incident, but some critics said it did not acknowledge people who claim they were affected by the 48-year-old’s past behavior. Hilton rose to prominence in the early 2000s through his gossip blog, where he became notorious for handing out nasty nicknames, making cruel jokes, leaking intimate details and outing LGBTQ celebrities.
Addressing the backlash, Padalecki wrote on social media, “To give more detail re: my post wishing someone well… I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA about his past.
“I had heard of him. Obviously. 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.”
He then continued with, “That having been said, I TRULY didn’t know ANYTHING about the extent to what he has done. That’s my bad.”
Explaining why he viewed the post as a mistake, he added, “On my life, I have never in my life, not once, looked him up or gone to one of his sites. I simply thought he was a ‘tabloid’ type of sensationalist journalist.”
The Supernatural star said he does not support Hilton’s actions, ending his apology with, “Full stop. I’m sorry if my words caused any harm. And, I hope you ALL are well out there, and taking care of yourselves.”
In recent months, Hilton had been on an apology tour of sorts, reaching out to celebrities including Britney Spears and Khloé Kardashian to apologize for his past coverage of their personal struggles. In a July podcast interview, he described himself as an “attention addict” carrying significant guilt over his former work. In his 2020 memoir, Hilton expressed regret for his approach, stating he saw that he “never needed to be so mean or cruel.”
Since his hospitalization, some of those affected by his past reporting have spoken out about the complicated nature of his crisis. Ireland Baldwin, daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, acknowledged his current struggles while refusing to forget his history, writing on Instagram that Hilton had “publicly humiliated my family for years, sexualized me from a young age, and commented on my weight and body when I was a child.”