I could express an opinion... or I could just post excerpts of the various, acutely emotional and expletive riddled video blogs and let you decide for yourself... As today has been somewhat hectic, option B is most attractive.

Before all that, here's some background info (which is all still a bit hazy at present, what with all the "he said, he said" accounts being bandied about). Perez tweeted that he had been assaulted by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas at the Much Music Awards after party in Toronto, Canadia. The band's manager, Polo Molina, handed himself into police after admitting to hitting Perez. Molina was forced to do so after the authorities said none of the band would be permitted to leave the country until someone owned up.

We're still not sure who started it (like it matters) as TMZ's video footage of the verbal spate starts mid-caterwaul. They're banging on about "respect" and the usual shite, the climax of which comes when Perez says: "you're not a f**king artist... you're a f**king f*ggot." Then the fists make an appearance, but it's too scuffly to see exactly what's going on. In an interview with Associated Press afterwards, Perez said: "He was like 'You need to respect me.' He was in my face. He was obviously trying to intimidate me and scare me," Hilton said. "I was like 'I don't need to respect you. I don't respect you and I did say this, and I knew that it would be the worst thing I could possibly say to him because he was acting the way he was. I said 'You know what, I don't respect you and you're gay and stop being such a faggot

The following excerpt is will.i.am's account of events: "I told y'all what happened. This dude twists it and says that I assaulted him when I was the one that came to him with respect. And he was the one that called me a f*ggot outside the club. Whatever. I hit you Perez? Come on, I didn't hit you. I told you that I didn't like the fact that you disrespected us. It's cool to have your opinion, but dude, apparently you were bleeding outside the club. I was like next to you by a tree waiting for my car... And instead of calling the police you Twitted that I assaulted you. Sounds like somebody wants mad attention and is not really concerned about his health. I didn't hit you and this is very wrong that you are Twitting that I did that, once again disrespecting me and everything that I stand for and they're lies and that's wrong. Shame on you shame on your behaviour, and that's just messed up. Peace."

In response, Perez left a 12 minutes sobathon on his blog: "I called the police. Even if GaGa had a bodyguard, what if one of these people had a gun and came and wanted to do something else? So when the police are taking their time and not coming and I'm freaking out I took to Twitter because I was in shock and I felt helpless. I am a human being and no-one deserves to be treated that way. Violence is never the answer... And f**k you, will.i.am, for lying. Shame on you. God is looking down on you and shaming you. And you know what, I may not making everyone happy or proud, but I would never hurt someone like that. And I did not deserve what happened to me. F**k you, you f**king coward and f**k you both. I have lost all respect for all of you and the Black Eyed Peas. And Fergie, you're fugly, b*tch!" Mature.

So now GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) have issued this statement: "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. For someone in our own community to use it to attack another person by saying that it is, quote, 'The worst possible thing that thug would ever want to hear,' is incredibly dangerous. It legitimizes use of a slur that is often linked to violence against our community. And it sends a message that it is OK to attempt to dehumanize people by exploiting anti-gay attitudes."

Perez replied: "I am saddened GLAAD chose to victimize me further by criticizing me for how I non-violently dealt with a very scary situation that, unfortunately, turned violent. 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. I am just very fortunate and grateful that nothing more serious happened to me."

To summarise, Perez has used a slur against a band who currently have the number one spot in the US album charts, as well as dominating the first and second spots in the singles charts. He's more than piddled on his door step, he's knee deep in his own sensationalised skitter.

In other news, this is what Lady GaGa's breasts had to say of the matter.