Perez Hilton's family has revealed the frightening extent of the injuries he suffered during his Aug. 4 mental-health crisis-and says the celebrity blogger is only now beginning to confront what caused the breakdown.
Hilton, 48, has remained hospitalized since an alarming TikTok livestream from his Miami home in which he appeared covered in blood and harming himself. According to his brother-in-law Tom, the incident involved lacerations, "a couple of falls" and broken bones, while Hilton's family previously disclosed that he experienced "significant blood loss" and required surgery.
Authorities reportedly treated Hilton, whose legal name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., for his physical injuries and an overdose before taking him to the hospital under Florida's Baker Act. His TikTok account was subsequently banned.
Speaking on the Aug. 24 episode of The Perez Hilton Podcast with Chris Booker, Tom said Hilton had spent much of his hospitalization being treated for his physical injuries. Only within the previous 48 hours had the emphasis begun shifting toward his psychological recovery.
"We are now just transitioning into the mental side of things," Tom explained, adding that psychiatrists had already been checking on Hilton while doctors addressed his physical condition.
The cause of what Tom described as a "mental break" remains unknown. Although some online commentators have speculated about "sepsis psychosis," Tom stressed that Hilton has not received such a diagnosis.
Hilton had previously undergone emergency surgery for a life-threatening case of sepsis. Afterward, he abruptly packed up and moved to Miami, where his mother, sister and close friends could provide support. Although the move was not considered out of character for the famously impulsive blogger, Tom said Hilton regretted it almost immediately after arriving.
Hilton is now lucid, but his family remains uncertain about how much he remembers from the Aug. 4 incident. They have deliberately avoided pressing him for details while he remains physically and emotionally vulnerable.
"I don't know how much he does or doesn't recall," Tom said, explaining that those conversations will happen when Hilton is in an appropriate therapeutic setting.
For now, Hilton has no access to electronics inside his hospital room. He can contact relatives only by making calls from the nurses' station, and he has not seen his three children-Mario, 13, Mia, 11, and Mayte, 8-because minors are not permitted in the section where he is receiving treatment.
The children had reportedly been inside the Miami home shortly before the livestream began. Hilton's sister discovered him in crisis inside a bathroom and left the property with the children and her own daughter.
According to Tom, Hilton believed during the episode that his actions were somehow in his children's best interests. His family has since firmly told him otherwise, reminding him that his children adore him and regard him as a present father.
The crisis has nevertheless produced a dramatic change at home. Three days after the livestream, Hilton's mother, Teresita Lavandeira, sought temporary custody of the children to ensure their safety. She was granted temporary custody on Aug. 18, while Hilton was reportedly given supervised visitation contingent upon receiving psychiatric clearance.
Tom said Hilton still loves the entertainment industry that made him one of the internet's earliest-and most controversial-celebrity gossip personalities. However, his family believes he will need to determine whether he can engage with that demanding world in a healthier way.
There is currently no timetable for his release or return to public life.
For a man who built an empire by exposing the most private and painful moments of other celebrities, Hilton now finds his own darkest chapter unfolding in public. His family, however, is attempting to shift attention away from spectacle and toward survival, treatment and the long recovery still ahead.
