New audio overhearing glamourgirl Paris Hilton’s off-the-cuff remarks about gay guys is a real shocker.

Recorded a couple of weeks ago in a New York taxi, she was speaking to her gay male friend about Grindr. The 31-year-old’s views are certainly attention-grabbing, sparking outrage as they were leaked overnight by salacious gossip site Radar Online.

Reacting to her gay mate explaining all-male hook-up app to her, Hilton’s reaction was swift and damning disgust.

“Gay guys are the horniest people in the world…. I would be so scared if I were a gay guy. You’ll like, die of AIDS.”

Many comments we’ve seen online about Hilton about the leaking audio this morning indicate her remarks confirm the worst fears of those who’d always expected very little worthwhile from the scrawny attention-seeker.

But some have been defensive: “If she really hated gays would she hang out with one?” typed a Hilton fan on YouTube. “The comment made is like a sister telling her brother he’s disgusting even though they’re good buddies. It’s all in good humor. Her friend was clearly not offended. You can honestly measure a friendship’s strength when friends don’t offend each other with this kind of humour.”

The socialite’s people have also swept to her defence. “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,” says their official response to the leaked tape. “The conversation became heated, after a close gayfriend 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.”

What do you think?