Perez Hilton 'able to communicate' amid hospitalisation

Perez Hilton's family has confirmed he is "able to communicate" amid his hospitalisation.

On Tuesday, police officers responded to reports that the blogger had self-harmed while filming a livestream on TikTok.

Hilton, real name Mario Lavandeira Jr., was taken to hospital under the Baker Act - a Florida law that allows for doctors to provide temporary detention for mental health evaluations.

In a statement posted to Hilton's website on late Wednesday, a family representative shared that they have "hope" he will make a full recovery.

"We have also been able to confirm that Perez is able to communicate, which has given our family hope," they commented. "We respectfully ask for your continued prayers, understanding, and grace as Perez continues to recover. We will share additional updates as we receive confirmed information and are able to do so. For now, we're taking things one step at a time and keeping our focus where it belongs, on Perez and his recovery."

In addition, the spokesperson thanked all of the 48-year-old's fans for their support.

"Your compassionate humanity during this heartbreaking time has meant more than words can express," they added. "This has been incredibly difficult and emotional for us, made even harder because very little information has been made available to our family. While we continue to wait for further updates, we remain hopeful."

Despite livestream viewers alerting TikTok about the disturbing content, the video wasn't immediately removed from the platform.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for TikTok told Deadline that the stream remained online for up to 20 minutes due to a "moderator error" even though automated systems flagged it for review.

In March, Hilton revealed he had been extremely ill with an infection. He spent 21 days in hospital.