Perez Hilton’s Friend Launches GoFundMe To Help His Mother Raise His Three Kids During Treatment

A Perez Hilton GoFundMe is now raising money to help the celebrity blogger’s mother care for his three children while he remains in residential mental health treatment. Tom D’Angora, a friend of Perez for 14 years, organized the fundraiser with a $25,000 goal, and the family shared it as the official campaign on Perez’s website on September 17.

According to the fundraiser, Perez’s mother, Teresita Lavandeira, has taken over caring for the children full time. D’Angora wrote that she has absorbed significant and unexpected expenses and put much of her own life on hold so the kids can keep going to school, stay in their usual activities, and have as much consistency as possible.

 

D’Angora was clear about where the money goes. Every dollar is meant to cover the added cost of raising three kids and will benefit only Perez’s mother and children.

 

“None of the money will be used for Perez personally,” he wrote. He described watching Perez and his family go through this as heartbreaking and said what he wants most is to see his friend recover and return to a full life as a father, son, brother and friend.

 

In its post sharing the campaign, the family thanked the many people who had kept asking how they could help.

 

The Perez Hilton GoFundMe arrives just days after the family’s September 14 update on his condition. They said that after weeks in the hospital being treated for physical injuries, Perez entered a residential treatment program where he can focus on his mental health and recovery. The family called it an important step but said there is still a long road ahead, and that he is expected to stay in treatment for several more weeks, possibly longer, depending on what his care team decides.

 

His hospitalization traces back to August 4, when police were called to his Miami home after he appeared to harm himself during a TikTok livestream. Days later, his family said his condition was serious but stable and that he would need surgery. They also asked media and photographers to stop gathering outside his home and to stop trying to photograph his children. An attorney representing his mother said her priority was protecting the kids and giving them some sense of normalcy as they heal.

 

It has been a difficult year for Perez, whose legal name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. In March, he revealed he had spent 21 days in the hospital fighting severe sepsis and infections, and said the experience brought him back to his faith. In April, he posted a tearful video apologizing for the way he treated people during his years as the most feared gossip blogger on the internet, saying he had reached out privately to many of the people he hurt.

 

D’Angora said every donation to the Perez Hilton GoFundMe, no matter the amount, will help the children and their grandmother through the months ahead. As of Friday afternoon, the fundraiser had collected just over $7,000.

 

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.