Earlier in the day, Hilton received a tip that Anna Nicole Smith's newborn was fathered by her lawyer (Howard K. Stern). Upon confirmation of the story, Hilton exclaimed, "I love it! I love it! I love breaking stories! I'm going to cry." (At this point, Hilton had blown his own anonymity at Coffee Bean; although, this is likely a daily occurrence.)

Between mysterious phone calls, Hilton warned, "I’m still going to multi-task so don’t feel bad if I don’t look at you." With that, our interview began... between "breaking news."

Lindzi.com: How long has the site been running?

Perez Hilton: Its two years this month. It’s always been the same tone and identity. It’s always been me and my interests and my personality. From the beginning, I’ve broken news. One of the first stories I ever broke, back in November of 2004, was this story about Clay Aiken hooking up online.

Lindzi.com: Are you working on a story right now? How does it feel to break news?

Perez Hilton: I love that I’m breaking big mainstream. It’s not even on f***ing CNN.com. I had it on CNN.com before CNN did! I don’t have a life. I’m always working. It’s exciting. It’s such a rush. I think it’s one of the reasons people come to my web site. It’s what sets it apart. I don’t just comment on things. I’m not just putting spin and witty banter on it. I’m breaking news. That’s true. That gets picked up by the mainstream media. No one else is doing that. The closest is TMZ.com, but at the same time – they’re owned by America Online. They’re a corporation. They have a staff of 25 people and millions of dollars as resources. I’m just this dude, sitting in the corner of a coffee shop, working by himself. I don’t even have an assistant. I had it before CNN.com did and it’s a CNN show. Oh my God, this is so surreal.

Lindzi.com: What’s an average day in your life like?

Perez Hilton: A day in the life is boring for many, but exciting for me. A typical day begins at 5:50 am. I wake up and I start doing morning radio interviews right away. I work on east coast time. I’m here [at Coffee Bean] by 6:30. They don’t open until 7. I come here every day. I don’t have internet access at home so I come here to use their internet. I work until at least 11 pm. I’m not exaggerating. I’m answering e-mails. I’m scouring the internet for news or stories.

Lindzi.com: That lead to the site’s creation?

Perez Hilton: Before I started the web site, I was an entertainment journalist. I freelanced for a lot of the gay publications. My friends are other journalists. They’re publicists or work with the studios. I live in Los Angeles. I was already rooted in that. My friends would tell me things. I finally had a vehicle to reveal it. 

Lindzi.com: Now that you have this outlet, how do you keep your friends trust now?

Perez Hilton: Now they come even more. Now they go the extra step and try to get information from me.

Lindzi.com: I understand you’re friendly with some of the people you write about. They don’t mind?

Perez Hilton: I think most celebrities like being talked about. It’s better to be talked about then not talked about at all. I’m old school. I think any press is good press. 

Lindzi.com: What’s the craziest reaction you’ve had from a celebrity reader?

Perez Hilton: I’ve had death threats from Clay Aiken fans. Jesse Metcalfe told me that he’s fantasized about killing me. Tara Reid threatened to throw me in the pool.

Lindzi.com: Your site is everywhere these days. How has it gained notoriety?

Perez Hilton: Well, I work hard, but I’m no idiot either. My site probably wouldn’t be where it is today were it not for the recognition, acceptance, and mentions in mainstream media. If TV shows, magazines, and newspapers didn’t talk about me, I’d probably be some random blog like so many other gossip blogs. The more things change, the more things stay the same. There is a lot of power in the traditional media.

Lindzi.com: But…of all the blogs on the internet, why has the media embraced yours more than others?

Perez Hilton: It’s the old saying… It’s like… If you’re an actor, “How do you get work on your resume? You can’t get work unless you have work.” When I first started to get that recognition that helped get more. It steam rolled.

Lindzi.com: You don’t have a publicist?

Perez Hilton: No. I don’t even have an assistant.

Lindzi.com: When did you realize the site could turn into a full fledge business?

Perez Hilton: Not until well over a year after the website had been around. I was working as a freelance journalist and temping. I wasn’t able to make a full time living doing it. I originally wanted to be an actor. That’s what I studied in school. I went to NYU.

Lindzi.com: Why’d you leave behind the traditional reporting route – working for a magazine?

Perez Hilton: I wanted to talk about what I wanted to talk about. I didn’t want anybody else to tell me what I couldn’t talk about – like editors. I actually did work for one of the celebrity weeklies and I hated it. I started the web site because I’m a fan. I hope that comes across. Working at one of the magazines – I can’t really say which one – I didn’t feel fan like. I felt like a stalker. They asked me to do illegal things, which I had issues with. The biggest one was to trespass.

Lindzi.com: What type of assignments were you sent on?

Perez Hilton: I was working through the Russell Crow thing when he threw the phone at the hotel worker. They wanted me to sneak into the Mercer Hotel to talk to the other co-workers. I got kicked out. They threatened to call the police on me. I’m not good at that. I don’t enjoy that. I enjoy being creative and having fun with words – writing, communicating, building relationships – not being sneaky.

Lindzi.com: Would you say you’re upfront – in your coverage?

Perez Hilton: I’m honest. I hold myself to higher journalistic standard than a lot of these magazines. I will not publish something I know to be false. A lot of the weeklies do because they can legally. They just need two sources to say the same thing. If they say the same thing, they can put it in print – even if everybody knows it’s a lie. I don’t do that. It’s counterintuitive. I’ve worked too hard for two years to develop the trust of my readers.

Lindzi.com: Where does the name Perez Hilton come from?

Perez Hilton: I just love the name. The original name of the site was PageSixSixSix.com. It’s satirizing and celebrating. Same as Perez Hilton.

Lindzi.com: You’re not related to Paris Hilton then?

Perez Hilton: Me? I’m not. Not at all. She’s one of my best friends. Yeah, it’s crazy.

Lindzi.com: When did you first meet?

Perez Hilton: We met a year ago during New York Fashion Week in Fall of 2005. We developed a friendship. You start to see the same people out all the time. You either have a relationship with them or you don’t. You either like them or you don’t. We would see each other all the time. It’s my job to go out and it’s her job to go out. Going out is what made Paris Hilton… Paris Hilton. Then, we became friends. It’s, like, a genuine friendship. Like, we’ve been friends for over a year.

Lindzi.com: Paris has welcomed you into her circle of friends. No one’s ever concerned that your observations may be printed?

Perez Hilton: It depends on the situation. I mean, I’ll talk about… The night that Kevin Connelly punched Brandon Davis in the face – last week. I talked about that. I’m not going to not talk about it.

Lindzi.com: Her friends never come to you and ask, “Why’d you print that?”

Perez Hilton: It’s happened. How I handle it depends on the situation. It’s like dancing the tango. You don’t want to step on any toes, but it’s bound to happen. Both dance partners are professionals and they realize – to keep everyone entertained including yourself and the spectators – it’s important to keep on dancing. If you stop, it’s boring.

Lindzi.com: What’s your ultimate goal?

Perez Hilton: I’m living my dream. The dream to me is to be happy. I don’t want to sound New Age-y, but I’m all about keeping it real. So many are frustrated in their jobs, but not me. I love it. Almost too much. In a weird way, it defines me. It’s how I express myself. It allows me to be creative. It allows me to bring enjoyment to other people. I know so many people at work escape through my web site. That means a lot to me.

Lindzi.com: If you could dream bigger than your current gig, where would you like to take things?

Perez Hilton: I’m working on a reality TV show. Hopefully that’ll be a huge, massive mega success and everybody will watch it and love it. It’ll be my way of introducing myself to the mainstream public. People don’t know me right now. Only the “tastemakers” – the cool people, the industry people, the journalists, the celebrities, the publicists. Your average Joe Blow from Topeka, Kansas probably doesn’t know me. The show will be a fun, fresh, exciting take on reality television. It’ll be real, which is rare these days. After that, the dream would be a full circle moment – to be on a sitcom. I’d like to go back to acting. I’ll never be a movie star.

Lindzi.com: What misconceptions do people have about you or the site? Are there any?