Former credit card connoisseur triumphs Perez Hilton: from big debt to celebrity blog success
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Hilton works long hours posting 30 entries a day to his blog on the entertainment industry. His 19-hour workday typically begins at dawn and includes TV commentaries and radio interviews. He says he slows his work schedule to 10 hours a day over the weekend.

One of the perks of his job, he says, is being his own boss and being very mobile. The downside is not having a life. You won't catch him at too many red carpet events; he says he'd rather blog.

Fighting accusations
Recently, Hilton has had to fight accusations regarding the celebrity photos on his Web site. X17 Incorporated, a celebrity news photography agency, is suing him for copyright infringement. They claim he posted photographs on his Web site that were reproductions of their material.

"Mr. Lavandeira for at least the last six months has willfully been infringing the copyrights to those photographs by reproducing, disseminating and displaying them on his Web site," says X17's attorney, John Tehranian of Turner, Green, Afrasiabi and Arledge LLP.

"We have e-mails of the last six months where my client has repeatedly asked him to stop infringing the copyright of the photographs," he says. "His response has been far less than adequate."

The company is seeking $7.65 million in damages from Hilton.

"We expect that figure to grow," says Tehranian.

Secrets to success
Critics have claimed that it's the celebrity photos that launched Hilton's weblog to success. Hilton attributes the success to the exclusive news he breaks.

"I have stories that you won't find anywhere else that are true that get picked up by the mainstream media," he says. "I also work really hard. I always have new content up. And it's also me. I am what makes it successful, my spin on it, my approach to it. Not anything else."

As for the lawsuit, Hilton at the time of the interview said he had not been served with the legal papers, but said he would defend himself.

"I'll turn this negative into a positive, and I will vigorously defend myself and my rights and freedoms under the law, for me and for bloggers everywhere," he says.

Meanwhile, Hilton is a scheduled celebrity guest on MTV's New Year's Eve special and is currently working on a TV reality show, a book and a radio project.

In the past year, Hilton has been named No. 5 in Details magazine's fifth annual power list of men under the age of 42; appeared in the December issue of GQ and has been a presenter at VH1's Big in '06 Awards.

He has stopped using credit cards and offers this advice to those facing bankruptcy.

"You know it's a good thing. It's opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Face the future with hope."