TikTok banned controversialcelebrity bloggerPerez Hilton on Friday, claiming he violated a number of the app's community guidelines on slurs and hate speech, nudity and sexual content, and bullying.- Hilton disputed TikTok's claims and told Insider he would be willing to do whatever it takes to get his account back. TikTok would not offer specific examples of Hilton's violations.
- Hilton suggested that his ban was due to the influence of TikTok's most popular creators. Hilton has feuded with a number of the app's top influencers.
TikTok banned Perez Hilton from its platform Friday after months of complaints from influencers. But Hilton says he's innocent.
The 42-year-old celebrity blogger best known for his early 2000s online presence has become one of the biggest personalities regularly commenting on and criticizing teen social media stars, expanding his brand to TikTok's fresh terrain. On Friday, the company locked Hilton out of his account which had 1.6 million followers.
In an email to Hilton, TikTok claimed he had violated the app's community guidelines for slurs and hate speech, nudity and sexual content, and bullying. TikTok would not provide examples of the violations.
Hilton told Insider that he doesn't believe he bullied anyone, although if he did he's sorry. He also posted a series of apologetic, tearful videos pleading with TikTok and its top creators to help him get his account back.
—Perez (@ThePerezHilton) December 12, 2020
"If given the privilege and opportunity to get back on TikTok, I will not talk about TikTok creators," Hilton told Insider. "It's shocking to me that they wouldn't give me a heads up or an opportunity to pivot."
Hilton suggested that he believes TikTok's action on Friday was motivated by his feuds with the company's top creators and their fans, who are often provoked by his videos discussing TikTok celebrities.
This year, Hilton feuded with Charli D'Amelio, TikTok's biggest star, whose parents he criticized for letting their 15-year-old daughter dance to "sexual lyrics" while wearing a bikini. At the time, D'Amelio responded that she "will continue to post" when she feels "happy and confident."
The New York Times reported that Hilton has also received scrutiny from fans of A-list
TikTok stuck to the narrative that Hilton was removed for violating community guidelines, not for criticizing creators, telling Insider in a statement that the company "is deeply committed to maintaining a welcoming and supportive community environment. Our Community Guidelines apply to everyone and everything shared on TikTok, and we remove accounts that repeatedly violate our policies."
Hilton's critics say he posted predatory content, but he disagrees
In response to Hilton's ban, some TikTok users celebrated.
A major campaign to penalize Hilton produced videos urging other users to report him for "minor safety" concerns, and some of Hilton's previous comments and videos have received backlash.
Some critics referened a video of him shirtless where he makes a masturbation joke. Previously, he said he'd "seen far worse on TikTok" than the shirtless video he posted.
TikTok is full of highly sexual videos. On Sunday for example, top creator Noah Beck posted a now-deleted video of himself simulating sex with his camera.
Others pointed to a comment Hilton made on a 16-year-old's TikTok that said "All these videos are getting me hard."
@ban._perez_hilton Reply to @finelinevfx Hope that helped!
♬ original sound - ✊BAN PEREZ HILTON!✊
Hilton told Insider that he left the comment on a series of videos attacking him and that it was intended to be a "defense mechanism" against the hate he was receiving.
"Did I respond in the best manner? I probably could have responded better, but I didn't say anything that would have gotten me kicked off any other platform," Hilton said. "Any comment that I've ever made on TikTok I could say on Instagram, Twitter, every other social media app and I would not get banned permanently for it. I would not even get banned temporarily for it."
Hilton also pointed out that his controversial comments and videos were posted several months ago, significantly before his account was banned. He does believe that targeted group efforts against him contributed to his past community guidelines violations, most of which he says were successfully appealed.
"If someone makes a video literally harassing me and calling me the most disgusting names and attacking my appearance, if it's somebody young and well-liked the TikTok community won't report that person en masse," Hilton said. "So they can get away with content that violates the guidelines. But if I'm me, who is instantly the enemy, they're going to report them."
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