Perez's Half-Assed Apology

Formal public apologies have been rampant the past few years in the world of politics and now it's trickling down to celebrities. In response to the altercation between Perez Hilton and will.i.am, specifically Perez's use of the word "f*ggot" as an insult, he issued this apology last night on his website. It starts off with what seems like sincere regret.

"People make mistakes. I have made many in my life, but this past week I have made more than I can count on one hand. I am sorry. And I mean it. No one is forcing me to write this. I am not feeling pressured to say this. I am speaking out because I realize that the last few days have been more hurtful to me — and many others — than the repeated blows I suffered to my head in Toronto this past weekend. I have been filled with incredible sadness and regret."

But from there on out, things quickly go downhill:

"The 'F' word will never be uttered from my lips again. Just as others use the 'N' word to insult and hurt — or as part of their everyday speech — I challenge them to remove it from their vocabulary as well."

Back-tracking and making excuses for his use of the "F word" isn't really an apology after all. Besides, the whole incident already had racist undertones, with Perez referring to the BEP entourage as "thugs" and seemingly exaggerating — or at least being overly dramatic — in his statement video about his fear of them during and following the incident. Now, comparing LGBT oppression to that of African-Americans in this here half-assed apology is problematic on so many levels, too deep to delve into here.

Finally, apologies are taken to a whole new level with Perez saying he refuses to apologize to GLAAD because he has taken great offense to the statement issued by them in which they said, "We have reached out to Hilton and asked him to apologize for promoting this anti-gay slur, and we would ask media outlets to avoid repetition of the slur in their coverage of this story."

Now Perez says, "While I doubt I will get an apology from GLAAD, nor do I expect one, I would just hope people know how difficult it is to intellectualize a situation and think rationally when a thug disguised as a musician is screaming at your face and intimidating you," and "I am just very fortunate and grateful that nothing more serious happened to me."

Again, the use of the word "thug."

Apologies are no longer anything but a politically correct attempt at saving face.