The Top Story: How did the media cover the alleged assault of an asshat?

This week, gossip blogger and "queen of all media" Perez Hilton was allegedly assaulted. The situation may have started as a he said/he said story in the media, but it changed when TMZ released video of the incident, which included the gossip blogger calling will.i.am a "faggot". Hilton's use of the gay slur was criticized by GLAAD and yesterday it looked like a war of the words was brewing between the blogger and the media watchdog group, but Hilton has offered an apology for his use of the slur.

Due to the voice he takes on his gossip site, the incident inspired many to react with a bit of schadenfreude, along with comments that someone should have acted on the urge to hit him sooner. His polarizing personality led to some media coverage that truly belongs in a hall of shame, as well as some that didn't quite work for me. Here are the highlights:

The website formerly known as 23/6

Back when Huffington Post's comedy tag was a full website, they offered some funny videos of things "condensed into one minute" and the feature returns to make fun of the video Hilton made after the incident. (Watch out for NSFW language at the link.)

Basically, they make fun of him for being repetitive, sometimes having multiple Perezes saying the same phrases at once. The presentation did make me laugh but I can't decide if this one crosses the line or not. It doesn't try to suggest that Hilton deserved being assaulted, instead highlighting the excesses of the video. But aren't they essentially making fun of someone for being upset after suffering an assault?

The Situation Room

On CNN's The Situation Room, Jeanne Moos tried to inject some snark into the report while maintaining the network's pose of neutrality ... and failed. Looking to laugh at the assault but not wanting to actually express their sense of glee, Moos instead read Twitter users' comments along the lines of, "Glad this happened to you."

The segment's most ridiculous moment came when Moos compared the tearful video Hilton made after the incident to Chris Crocker's infamous "Leave Britney Alone!" video. Um, what's the similarity to someone reacting to being the victim of an alleged crime and an obsessed fan showing his misplaced priorities?

Oh yeah, they both feature effeminate gay men crying. It's exactly the same!

Funny or Die

Speaking of Chris Crocker, Seth Green's Robot Chicken collaborator Breckin Meyer revisited the way Green mocked Crocker's "Leave Britney Alone" video by filming a remake. I'm not sure if this works for me, either, but its several steps ahead of suggesting that Crocker and Hilton's videos are comparable.

Jezebel

Meanwhile, amid all this, Jezebel asked an important and overlooked question. Namely, while it's good to finally see Hilton's hypocrisy put on display, why has he gotten away with his misogyny for so long and why isn't anyone calling him out on it?

Jezebel cites recent instances of Hilton calling women "ho" as well as the way he called Carrie Prejean names (which, I should note, we criticized from the beginning).

Personally, I think Hilton's dealt in all sorts of demeaning stereotypes he certainly gave ammo to Isaiah Washingon's defenders during the Grey's Anatomy hubbub and this seems like an apt moment to discuss all of it.

Red Eye

If you haven't seen Red Eye on Fox News, imagine Fox and Friends having a late night cousin with just as much vapidity but with the perkiness replaced with smarm. In discussing GLAAD's criticism of Perez, host Greg Gutfeld and Adam Corolla talked about how they believed gay men were free to throw the word around, much like how other minority groups have their own exclusive words.

Sigh. Color me unsurprised that a Fox News host would see the concept of reappropriating a wordd as merely a matter of the PC police creating rules to make life harder for the poor, repressed majority of straight, white men. And Gutfeld is surprised that GLAAD didn't respond to his invitation.

Going into this, I had hopes I would find someone who might be able to inspire a guilt-free laugh in me, something to quiet that nagging voice that keeps telling me how liberals have no sense of humor but maybe because this involves a violent crime there isn't a joke to make. Or maybe I'll find that joke if I wait for comedians like infoMania's Connor Knighton or The Soup's Joel McHale get to weigh in. What do you think? Has there been any good coverage I missed? Any other nominees for the hall of shame on this story?