Editor's Note: If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”
Perez Hilton's sister, Barbara Lavandeira, is recounting the day of his disturbing TikTok livestream, where he performed acts of self-harm while experiencing a mental health crisis.
The 48-year-old celebrity blogger, whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., was later hospitalized on Aug. 4 after police responded to multiple calls about the incident in his Miami home. His family later confirmed that he was involuntarily taken to a facility to undergo mental health examinations.
In an interview with Page Six published Thursday, Aug. 13, Hilton's younger sister Lavandeira, 42, recounted
that day, which she said "will forever be one of the darkest days my family and I have ever experienced."
"That afternoon, Mario was in his bedroom with the door closed and locked, which wasn’t like him. His door was almost always open," Lavandeira told the outlet. "When I knocked, he said he was fine, but I could barely hear him. After I knocked a few more times and asked him to open the door, he stopped responding. I tried calling his cellphone in case he couldn’t hear me, but he wouldn’t answer. Something just felt wrong."
Lavandeira said she unlocked his bedroom door and noticed Hilton was locked in the bathroom, where she knocked several more times and told him she was going to come inside if he didn't open the door. "He still didn’t answer, so I unlocked it," she said.
"When I opened the door, my nightmare became a reality," she said. "Mario was standing in front of the shower, naked, cut up, covered in blood, with a box cutter in his hand."
Her accounts of the night match details in an unverified video that circulated online, in which Hilton appeared to be nude, covered in blood, holding a sharp object and exhibiting signs of distress.
'It felt like I was staring at someone else'
Lavandeira said she rushed to lead Perez's three children — Mario, 13, Mia, 11, and Mayte, 8 — out of the Miami home.
"I left the room, grabbed the car keys, and yelled for the kids to run to the car. Thankfully, our mom wasn’t home at the time, and I was able to get everyone out quickly," she said.
She contacted 911 as soon as the kids were safely in the car. Lavandeira then called her friend, who lived nearby, and asked her to pick up the children and "take them away from the scene" while she talked to the authorities.
"What I can say with certainty is that I didn’t recognize my brother when I looked at him. I saw it in his eyes. They didn’t look the same. Then, a split second later, he smiled at me. It felt like I was staring at someone else," she added.
She opted out of sharing "many of the specific details" because "they’re too painful, graphic and overwhelming."
In an Aug. 8 update, the Hilton family revealed that the celebrity blogger was being held under Florida's Baker Act, a state law that allows an individual to be involuntarily taken to a facility to undergo mental health examinations, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families.
"His treatment and recovery will be a long process," the statement continued, further noting, "there are many false and inaccurate reports circulating in the media regarding Perez and the circumstances surrounding this situation. … The only statements regarding Perez that should be considered credible and authorized are those published directly on PerezHilton.com."
A previous statement confirmed that his children, niece and sister were inside the home "just minutes before the public livestream."
Perez Hilton's mom files for custody of kids
Following Hilton's hospitalization, his mother, Teresita Lavandeira, filed a petition for temporary custody on Aug. 7, according to Miami family court records obtained by USA TODAY.
Teresita requested that the case information be sealed, and the records indicate the court accepted the request. Page Six was first to report the filing on Aug. 12.
Her lawyer, Natalie F. Guerra-Valdes, said in a statement to USA TODAY that "My main concern and objective, as well as the family's, is to protect the children and make sure they are safe."
The statement continued: "We want them to have some sense of normalcy as they begin their journey of healing after the tragic events that occurred last week."
A representative for Hilton did not respond to a USA TODAY request for comment.
Contributing: Liza Esquibias, Anthony Thompson and Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Perez Hilton's sister recounts his crisis. 'I didn’t recognize my brother'
