Capitalizing on a seemingly endless public appetite for celebrity gossip, Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. started blogging under the pseudonym Perez Hilton (taking his nick-name from socialite and professional celebrity Paris Hilton). Rocketing to fame in a matter of months, he soon launched PerezHilton.com, where he claims to receive upwards of eight million page views daily.

Content tends toward the juvenile, but Perez has gained a huge audience by posting celebrity photos with catty comments; some are even adorned by his “doodles” of genetalia, horns, drug remnants or other objects. Controversy surrounds Hilton, not just because of the nature of his comments, but also because of accusations of illegally copying photos from other sites and a habit of “outing” celebrities he suspects of being gay.