Paris Hilton has come under fire for comments she made about gay men during a cab ride, which were secretly recorded by the driver.
The reality star made the comments to a gay companion in New York on Sept 7, a recording of which has been obtained by Radar Online.
During the conversation - in which a man is heard logging on to gay social website Grindr - Paris says: "Ewwww ... gay guys are the horniest people in the world... they're disgusting. Dude, most of them probably have AIDS... I would be so scared if I was a gay guy ... you'll like, die of AIDS."
The cab driver who recorded the conversation told Radar Online: "I couldn't believe what was coming out of Paris' mouth and the way she was talking about gay men."
A rep for the socialite has since issued a statement, which reads: "Paris Hilton’s comments were to express that it is dangerous for anyone to have unprotected sex that could lead to a life threatening disease."
"The conversation became heated, after a close gay friend told her in a cab ride, a story about a gay man who has AIDS and is knowingly having unprotected sex. He also discussed a website that encourages random sex by gay men with strangers."
"As she was being shown the website her comments were in reference to those people promoting themselves on the site. The cab driver who recorded this, only provided a portion of the conversation."
"It was not her intent to make any derogatory comments about all gays."
"Paris Hilton is a huge supporter of the gay community and would never purposefully make any negative statements about anyone’s sexual orientation.”