Perez Hilton Was Hospitalized for 'Severe Depression' Before Disturbing Self-Harm Incident, Sister Reveals

Perez Hilton's sister, Barbara Lavandeira, said that the celebrity blogger was severely depressed before his graphic livestream.

Hilton, whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., posted a viral livestream on TikTok saying he was "livestreaming acts of self-harm on social media."

Authorities responded to his Miami home after receiving calls from concerned fans and took him to the hospital for medical care. The video was later removed from the social media platform.

In an interview with Page Six on Thursday, August 13, Lavandeira said, "He told us that a few days earlier, he had felt empty, hopeless and like he was a burden on everyone."

"He then admitted that one night when he couldn’t sleep, he had taken the remaining painkillers from his surgery in March," she continued, adding, "He said he just wanted to sleep."

At the time, she thanked her brother for being "strong enough" to open up about his struggles to his family and "told him that he needed proper psychiatric help."

Although she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter, she was visiting her brother at the time with her child. She revealed that after their conversation, Hilton "agreed" that he needed help, and they went to the hospital.

"He went voluntarily," she said, adding, "After several days of evaluation and treatment, the facility determined that he could be discharged."

"That weekend, Mario seemed so much better. He looked better, too. We spent time together as a family, and he started looking up coping mechanisms and grounding techniques he had learned during his short stay [in the hospital]," she remarked.

Lavandeira stated that Hilton "returned to his regular therapy sessions" on August 3.

Even on the day of his livestream, he reportedly "completed an intake call for an intensive outpatient program." She also revealed that he was "supposed to begin outpatient group therapy the following week."

"Later that same afternoon, our lives changed forever," she added.

She also claimed that multiple factors could be attributed to her brother’s possible suicide attempt, as he had been dealing with mental health struggles for some time.

"There could have been so many things involved, including severe depression, the lingering effects of his hospitalization and sepsis, not sleeping, possible medication reactions and the combination of prescription and over-the-counter medications he took that day," she pointed out before adding that she was still "trying to make sense of it."