Like the Hindenburg, bedazzled blogger Perez Hilton seems to have hit a snag. In his starfucking get-rich-quick scheme, he makes no bones about lifting photos from other sites, photos that might often be shot by paparazzi who intend to sell the shots.

As Hilton (née Mario Lavandeira) told Radar for a recent profile, he doesn't hide from the fact that he lifts his pics, often without asking permission. "They know that having their picture on my site won't cannibalize their sales; it'll actually help," Lavandeira said. "They're sending me pictures now, because they realize that all the people at the TV shows and celebrity weeklies read my site first."

Eh ... maybe not so much.

As reported by Perez business partner blog Jossip, Paparazzi agency X17 sent a cease and desist letter last week that could only be interpreted by sane people as polite. But perhaps sensing another opportunity for press—or an incendiary attack on his copyright-infringing empire—Perez flew into a bitchy tizzy, publicly calling the X17 rep an "unethical," "lying" "cunt."

And he went on lifting photos.

Then TMZ cameras caught a paparazzo confronting Perez at an XBox 360 red carpet event held at the symbolic Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Clearly there's a long-overdue backlash being mounted against the swollen-headed gossipmonger by the very people unwittingly underwriting his site. The paparazzo can be heard accusing Perez of hacking into his site and stealing a photo; he seems to be describing this skeezy shot of Tommy Lee and a reality show contestant in a special man-moment. Reached by IM yesterday, Perez, who bragged about never having anything to hide, said he was stepping onto a plane to London but said he would reply to questions via e-mail. He hasn't yet.