paris hilton education

Paris Hilton

Who Is Paris Hilton?

Paris Hilton caught the media's attention after the release of a sex tape in 2003. After starring in The Simple Life , Paris earned a Teen Choice Award for her portrayal in the film House of Wax, and her first book, Confessions of An Heiress, landed on the New York Times best-seller list. She has since made her way in and out of the headlines through her romances, music ventures and television shows like The World According to Paris and Hollywood Love Story .

Early Life and Modeling

Paris Whitney Hilton was born in New York City on February 17, 1981, the eldest child of real-estate developer Richard Hilton and socialite Kathy Richards Hilton. Along with sister Nicky and brothers Barron and Conrad, Hilton is one of multiple heirs to the Hilton hotel fortune.

Hilton spent her childhood moving from one luxury home to another. While living in the family's Beverly Hills mansion, she attended her freshman year of high school at the Marywood-Palm Valley School in California. When the Hilton family relocated to New York City in 1996, she continued her studies at the Dwight School. At this time, the family took up residence in a suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan and frequently vacationed at a multimillion-dollar home in the Hamptons.

As East Coast transplants, Hilton and her sister regularly attended society functions, charitable events, fashion shows and A-list parties. The two soon became regulars on the red carpet, and a titillating 2000 Vanity Fair spread shot by famed photographer David LaChapelle cemented their burgeoning fame.

Around this time, Hilton signed with Donald Trump 's modeling agency, T Management. She was soon seen in a flurry of campaigns for leading clothing designers such as Christian Dior and Tommy Hilfiger , as well as national publications. Hilton went on to work with other top agencies, including Ford Models Management and London's Model 1 Agency.

New York's 'It Girl' and Early Films

Hilton, who courted regular media attention for her outrageous lifestyle, was christened "New York's leading IT girl" in 2001. Short-lived romances with actor Leonardo DiCaprio and boxer Oscar de la Hoya — as well as callous comments directed at her peers — earned Hilton bad press, and further fortified her reputation for careless jet setting and hard-partying.

Hilton soon tried her hand at acting, making a cameo in Zoolander (2001), Ben Stiller 's feature-length spoof of the modeling world. Over the next few years, she continued split her time between runways and movie sets, appearing in the 2002 horror flick Nine Lives . The following year, she acted in the feature films Wonderland and Cat in the Hat , and began work on her own small-screen reality series.

Sex Tape and 'The Simple Life'

In November 2003, an unauthorized four-minute video of Hilton began to circulate on the Internet; dubbed "One Night in Paris," it featured Hilton engaging in intimate acts with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon. Salomon marketed the video, earning millions in sales, and Hilton filed suit. Although the case was settled out of court, reports stated that Hilton received $400,000 from the video. Additionally, she publicly stated that she had never intended the video to be a commercial venture.

Three weeks after the release of the video, Hilton debuted her first reality television venture on FOX. She partnered with long-time friend Nicole Richie to create The Simple Life , a show that featured the two socialites attempting blue-collar jobs and performing menial tasks. It was feared that Hilton's scandal would ruin ratings and alienate potential audiences, but the show became an enormous success.

Shortly after, Hilton was approached by Guess to appear in three worldwide campaigns. The following month, Hilton made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live . Her double-entendre-laden interview with Jimmy Fallon poked good-natured fun at the Salomon tape debacle.

Book: 'Confessions of an Heiress'

The following year, Hilton appeared in the big-screen features The Hillz and Raising Helen and began to branch out into other business interests. After founding Heiress Records (a sub-label of Warner Bros.), she released her first book, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Cheek Peek behind the Pose . Written in conjunction with author Merle Ginsberg, the book, despite being widely panned by critics, quickly made its way onto the New York Times best-seller list.

That year, Hilton also busied herself with a perfume line, a nightclub franchise, and the second season of The Simple Life . Although the show secured strong ratings, by 2005, Richie and Hilton had clearly grown apart, and the cause of their split became a matter of public speculation.

While still maintaining her role on the show, Hilton accepted other acting opportunities, including a small but significant role in the horror film House of Wax . Her portrayal earned her the Teen Choice Award for Best Scream, as well as nominations for Choice Breakout and Best Frightened Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.

First Engagement and Album

Focusing on her romantic life, Hilton announced her engagement to Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis in May 2005. The couple called off the nuptials five months later, and Hilton soon began dating Stavros Niarchos III, an heir to a different Greek shipping dynasty. Toward the end of the year, she dabbled in fashion, released her own jewelry line, and published her sophomore writing effort—another collaboration with Ginsberg entitled Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All To Me.

In 2006, Hilton branched into music, releasing her self-titled album on her Heiress label. The record, which peaked at No. 6, featured a range of genres as well as the work of producers including Greg Wells, Kara DioGuardi and Scott Storch. At the same time, Hilton maintained her acting pursuits, and as The Simple Life continued into its fourth season, Richie and Hilton publicly reconciled.

Arrest and Jailtime

While her business endeavors were taking off, Hilton's hard-partying private lifestyle would catch up with her in September 2006, when she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Hilton was arrested and placed on probation. The heiress was back in court only a few months later after the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office claimed that she had violated the terms of her probation by driving on a suspended license.

In May 2007, Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in jail—a sentence that was later reduced to 23 days. Hilton reported to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California, on the night of June 3, directly after she made an appearance at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. After serving only three full days in prison, Hilton was released early in the morning on June 7 for unspecified health reasons. The court ordered her to complete her sentence by spending 40 days in home confinement.

Responding to the perception that Hilton was receiving preferential treatment as a result of her celebrity status, a judge ordered Hilton to return to jail. Upon hearing the sentence, Hilton shouted, "It's not right!" and asked for her mother. She was subsequently moved to the medical wing of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, and transferred back to the Century Regional Detention Facility on June 13.

Hilton was released from jail on June 26, 2007, serving a total of 22 days in detention. As networks vied for her first post-incarceration interview, the Hilton family drew negative press for attempting to extract a million-dollar fee from Barbara Walters and ABC. A furious Walters refused, and network interest dissipated. Eventually, a reformed Hilton appeared for free on Larry King Live , maintaining that the jail's minister had inspired her to make a "new beginning."

'My New BFF,' 'The World According to Paris'

After five seasons, The Simple Life drew to a close in 2007. Hilton continued to act in big-screen releases — Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) and The Hottie & the Nottie (2008) — and launched the MTV reality series entitled Paris Hilton's My New BFF .

Hilton seemed to draw the most on-screen attention, however, for her political views. On August 5, presidential hopeful John McCain negatively compared Hilton's celebrity status to that of rival candidate Barack Obama . Hilton retorted with a video on Will Ferrell 's humor-themed funnyordie.com. The media responded positively to her smart, comedic turn.

On the romantic front, Hilton announced her engagement to Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden in May 2008. After a nine-month relationship, the two split in November of that same year.

She began dating nightclub owner Cy Waits in 2010. The two had a very public relationship, which was shown in her 2011 Oxygen series, The World According to Paris . Their relationship was filled with drama, with the couple getting arrested for possession of cocaine in Las Vegas (her second drug charge of the year, after being caught with marijuana in Corsica) and Waits having pinned a down an intruder in Paris' house at gunpoint. After nearly a year, their relationship ended in June 2011, one month before the end of The World According to Paris .

DJ and More Music

After the release of several fragrances and stores worldwide, Hilton decided to take her empire in a different direction by steering her career back into music. In early 2012, Hilton announced that she wanted to be a DJ. She made her DJ debut at the Pop Music Festical in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2012. Her premiere performance wasn't well received. She then appeared in a Korean pop video by artist Kim Jang Hoon in October 2012.

The following year, to the surprise of many, Hilton prepared for the release of her sophomore album under the Cash Money Records—home of popular hip-hop artists Drake , Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj . Although a completed album never saw the light of day, Hilton released multiple singles over the next few years that enjoyed some success on the dance charts. She also continued to surface on the small screen, appearing on programs like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills .

'Hollywood Love Story'

After romances with younger boy toys like Spanish model River Viiperi, Hilton settled into a relationship with actor Chris Zylka. The two announced they were engaged during a ski trip to Aspen, Colorado, in early 2018, before calling off their engagement late that year.

In spring 2018, Viceland announced that Hilton would star in a new reality series, Hollywood Love Story , about a group of fame seekers in Tinseltown. In June, she revealed she was teaming with the Boohoo fashion line for a new 70-piece collection, to debut later in the month.

Hilton then got 2020 off to a mouth-watering start with the debut of her YouTube show Cooking with Paris .

In February 2021, Hilton announced her engagement to boyfriend Carter Reum. They were

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Paris Hilton
• Birth Year: 1981
• Birth date: February 17, 1981
• Birth State: New York
• Birth City: New York
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: Hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton rose to fame via the reality TV series 'The Simple Life,' and continues to court media attention through her books, businesses, music and screen appearances.
• Astrological Sign: Aquarius
• Dwight School
• Marywood-Palm Valley School in California

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Paris Hilton Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/celebrities/paris-hilton
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: November 30, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• Having a nightclub in your house really helps for having a party, because then you don't need to go out.

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Paris Hilton

• Born February 17 , 1981 · New York City, New York, USA
• Birth name Paris Whitney Hilton
• Ms. Blue Baller
• Height 5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)
• One of today's most recognizable entrepreneurs and international influencers, Paris Hilton is a pioneer in reality television and an innovator in social media and celebrity branding. Since starring in "The Simple Life," Hilton has built a global empire as an influencer, DJ, designer, recording artist, philanthropist, host, actress, model and New York Times best-selling author. In 2006, she created Paris Hilton Entertainment, a multi-billion-dollar company consisting of 45 branded stores, 19 product lines and 27 fragrances, which have surpassed over $4 billion in revenue. In 2001, Variety declared Paris Hilton as a "Billion Dollar Entrepreneur" in recognition of her successful business and global brand. Hilton debuted "This Is Paris," her critically acclaimed YouTube Originals documentary on her life, which has garnered nearly 20 million views to date. Hilton has used her voice and dedicated her platform and resources to supporting Breaking Code Silence, the organization created to affect change in the industry, and eradicate the abuse of children in systemically abusive institutions. Hilton recently partnered with iHeartRadio to launch her "This is Paris" podcast and will continue to expand podcast production through her company London Audio. As an investor, she is committed to supporting and investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs positively impacting the world at companies such as Daily Harvest, R3SET, Good Catch, Zen Water, Podz, among others. In addition, Hilton launched her new production banner Slivington Manor Entertainment, which will develop long-form content for television, streaming services, and emerging platforms. She has signed an exclusive two-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Unscripted Television to develop, executive produce and star in original unscripted television programming on behalf of the studio. - IMDb Mini Biography By: JFPR
• Spouse Carter Reum (November 11, 2021 - present) (2 children)
• Children Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum London Hilton Reum
• Parents Rick Hilton Kathy Hilton
• Relatives Conrad Hilton (Great Grandparent) Nicky Rothschild (Sibling) Barron Hilton (Sibling) Conrad Hilton (Sibling) Kim Richards (Aunt or Uncle) Barron Hilton (Grandparent) Kathy Richards (Grandparent) Brooke Wiederhorn (Cousin) Whitney Davis (Cousin) Conrad Hilton Jr. (Aunt or Uncle) Francesca Hilton (Aunt or Uncle) Milou Alizée Hilton (Niece or Nephew) Theodora Marilyn "Teddy" Rothschild (Niece or Nephew) Hucksley Andrew Wiederhorn (Cousin) Hunter Montgomery Wiederhorn (Cousin) Kyle Richards (Aunt or Uncle) Lily Grace Rothschild (Niece or Nephew) Chad Davis (Cousin) Kimberly Jackson (Cousin)
• She used to wear blue coloured contact lenses over her naturally green eyes
• Quote and shirts that read "That's Hot"
• Long bleached blonde hair
• Valley girl accent
• Five of the films she has appeared in are listed on the Bottom 100 list (2008).
• She wears a size 11 shoe. Many top designers don't make their shoes in an 11, so they have them custom made just for her.
• She was the subject of a South Park (1997) episode entitled "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset", in which she opens a store called "Stupid Spoiled Whore" selling girls everything they need to emulate her.
• Has had public altercations with Natasha Lyonne , Shannen Doherty , Lisa Marie Presley , Shanna Moakler , Lindsay Lohan and Kelly Osbourne .
• For her 21st birthday, she threw five parties for herself in New York, Las Vegas, London, Hollywood and Tokyo.
• I don't want to be known as the grand-daughter of the Hiltons. I want to be known as Paris.
• I went to Wal-Mart for the first time. I always thought they sold wallpaper. I didn't realise it has everything. You can get anything you want there for really, really cheap.
• I think the biggest misconception about me is that I'm this spoiled brat. But I'm not. I'm the total opposite.
• If you have a beautiful face you don't need big fake boobs to get anyone's attention.
• I desperately hate one thing about my body. I have size 11 feet. Yeah, it sucks, because I see all these super cute shoes in the stores: Guccis, YSLs, Manolos. And when they bring them out in my size, they look like clown shoes.
• Pledge This! (2007) - $1,000,000

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Paris Hilton is ready to reclaim her story, share ups, downs

Paris Hilton is sharing her life story in “Paris Hilton: The Memoir,” a new book detailing the ups and downs of her public and private life. (March 16)

FILE - Paris Hilton arrives at the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles on Nov. 5, 2022. Hilton released her book, “Paris: The Memoir” on Tuesday, March 14. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner, File)

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FILE - Paris Hilton arrives at iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2022. Hilton released her book, “Paris: The Memoir” on Tuesday, March 14. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Paris Hilton wears a creation as part of the Versace women’s Spring Summer 2023 collection presented in Milan, Italy, on Sept. 23, 2022. Hilton released her book, “Paris: The Memoir” on Tuesday, March 14. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

FILE - Paris Hilton, left, and Carter Reum appear at the LACMA Art + Film Gala in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 2021. Hilton released her book, “Paris: The Memoir” on Tuesday, March 14. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

This cover image released by Dey Street shows “Paris: The Memoir” by Paris Hilton. (Dey Street via AP)

Paris Hilton is adding her voice to the chorus of women speaking out to reclaim their narrative from the media and the public.

This week she released “Paris: The Memoir,” sharing what it was like for her growing up a Hilton — being sent away to programs for troubled teens but finding mental and physical abuse, a leaked sex tape, the crafting of a party girl image and high-pitched voice and co-starring in a reality show, “The Simple Life,” with Nicole Richie.

In 2020, Hilton released a YouTube documentary “This is Paris,’' addressing her experiences at the schools. “That was the first time that I really became vulnerable and real and shared my story and what I went through,” said Hilton.

Today, Hilton is involved in advocacy work and has welcomed a son with husband Carter Reum.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Hilton talks about speaking out, slowing down and what she thinks of being called a socialite.

Answers may have been edited for brevity and clarity.

AP: You’re one of quite a few women who have taken control of their story in recent years. Was there anyone who inspired you to do the same or to consider doing this?

HILTON: I was at the premiere of Demi Lovato’s documentary a couple of years ago, and I was just so blown away by her honesty and her vulnerability and talking about so many private moments in her life. That really inspired me just to be able to feel free, to be open and to be more honest about what I was going through, because especially in Hollywood, it can be very hard, especially on your mental health. A lot of people go through things, and we all try to project this perfect life, but life isn’t perfect.

AP: If you could map out how this book will be received , what would that look like?

HILTON: For so long I’ve been misunderstood and underestimated, and there’s just so much more to me than what people think. It all really started off with my documentary, ‘This Is Paris.’ That was the first time that I really became vulnerable and real and shared my story and what I went through.

AP: The public knows a lot about your ups and downs, but you shared things in your book like being sexually assaulted and having an abortion. Was that difficult?

HILTON: A lot of the things that I put in the book were very hard to write about, a lot of memories that I tried to not think about for so many years. But I think it was important to include them because it’s part of my story. I just know that there’s a lot of women out there who need to hear that story as well.

AP: Despite your many hats of being an entrepreneur, a DJ, having 30 fragrances and a billion-dollar business — you still get labeled as a socialite. Does that bother you?

HILTON: I don’t really enjoy the term socialite because I feel that there’s just so much more that I do, but I do feel that people are finally now recognizing and seeing me for the businesswoman that I am.

AP: How is your advocacy work against programs that allegedly reform so-called bad kids going?

HILTON: The past two years, we’ve made so much impact, and I’ve already changed laws in eight states and all the way in Ireland. I’m going back to Washington, D.C., in April to introduce a new bill and we already have bipartisan support. So, I am just praying that everybody does the right thing because there are over 150,000 children being sent to these facilities every single year. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry... I’m not going to stop fighting until change is made.

AP: You do write about how it hasn’t been easy to communicate with your parents about what happened to you. Have you been able to really discuss this with them?

HILTON: My family and I have never been closer, and they had no idea what was happening behind closed doors in these places. They have deceptive marketing. My parents just thought I was going to a normal boarding school, and all the brochures have these pictures of children smiling with rainbows and riding horses. I completely understand now, especially as an adult, just everything. My parents and I have talked about everything, and it’s been extremely healing for us. My mom has been coming with me to Washington, D.C., and is there to support me.

AP: You’re a new mom! (Hilton’s son Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum was born via a surrogate.) Are you dialing it back on all your traveling and business responsibilities?

HILTON: I am saying no a lot just because I want to be there for all the moments, so I’m trying to do as much from home as possible, building my podcasting studio there, my recording studio for my music, a photo studio for photoshoots. I try to work from home as much as possible so I can pop in and out of his room because I am just so obsessed with my little baby boy.

AP: You also write in your book about how you have ADHD and your husband researched it when you were dating to understand you better.

HILTON: He’s just so supportive. And he talks to my ADHD doctor and has just really done so much research. He basically knows more about it than I do and is teaching me these things every single day as well. So that’s been really awesome.

AP: Even sharing that you have ADHD will help people feel seen.

HILTON: When people can harness it in the right way, it can actually be a superpower. That’s why I think in my career I’ve always been ahead of my time and taking risks and being an innovator and someone who thinks outside the box. I really attribute that to my ADHD. People should watch the movie ‘ The Disruptors ,’ to understand more.

AP: Last question. In your book you share you have five cellphones. One is dedicated to prank phone calls. Do you have those on you today?

HILTON: Yeah. I only have a couple of them here. (Hilton holds up three phones.) I love doing prank phone calls with my mom.

Paris Hilton – Biography, Facts & Life Story

Her Social Media Profiles

Height, weight & physical stats.

Paris Whitney Hilton (born on February 17, 1981)in New York City, U.S. She is an American actress, media personality, socialite, entrepreneur, model, singer, and DJ.

Hilton grew up in Beverly Hills, California. She received wider recognition after the release of 1 Night in Paris (2004) with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon . She starred in The Simple Life (2003-2007, TV series) with her friend Nicole Richie, which reached 13 million viewers, on Fox.

Hilton published her debut book, Confessions of an Heiress (2004) which became a New York Times Best Seller. She made her first major film role in House of Wax (2005). She released her self-titled debut studio album, Paris (2006). It ranked number six on the Billboard 200, with its single “Stars Are Blind”.

She has worked in many reality TV series such as Paris Hilton’s My New BFF franchise (2008–2011), The World According to Paris (2011), and Netflix’s Cooking With Paris (2021). She has performed minor roles in Hollywood films and TV series and presented several of her own projects.

Hilton has a sister named Nicky and two brothers, named Barron and Conrad Hughes. She attended the Buckley School and St. Paul the Apostle School. She attended the high school of Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California. In 1996, she and her family left California for the East Coast. At age 15, she attended Professional Children’s School, where she enjoyed skating and playing ice hockey.

Paris Hilton Education

School: Buckley School (California) St. Paul the Apostle Church and School Palm Valley School Professional Children’s School Provo Canyon School Dwight School

Paris Hilton Career

Profession: Actress

Net Worth: $300 Million

Family & Relatives

Father: Richard Hilton

Mother: Kathy Hilton

Brother: Barron Hilton II, Conrad Hughes Hilton

Sister: Nicky Hilton

Marital Status: Single

No. of Children: None

Who is Paris Hilton?

Paris Hilton is an American actress, born on 17 February, 1981 in New York City, New York, U.S..

How old is Paris Hilton?

Paris Hilton is 43 years old as of May 2024.

How tall is Paris Hilton?

Paris Hilton is 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m).

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Paris Hilton Describes Her Utah Boarding-School Experience As ‘Living in Hell’ in New Doc

Heiress, DJ , and former reality-TV star Paris Hilton is opening up about a little known portion of her life — her high-school years — in a new documentary about her life, This Is Paris . In a New York Times Style profile titled “Who Is Paris Hilton, Really?” written by Ilana Kaplan , Paris Hilton discusses her forthcoming documentary, which delves into her traumatic experience at Provo Canyon School, a Utah based boarding school for troubled teens and psychiatric treatment center where she once spent 11 months. Hilton tells Kaplan that attending Provo Canyon was “just like living in hell,” and claims she was emotionally, verbally, and physically abused by teachers and administrators at the school. In the doc, Hilton recalls getting taken from her bed as though she were being kidnapped her first night at the school, being regularly served mystery pills that she refused to take, and getting sent to solitary confinement for 20 hours at a time without clothing.

Provo Canyon has noted on its website that it changed ownership in 2000, after Ms. Hilton was a student. A representative from the school told the Times that Provo Canyon does “not condone or promote any form of abuse” and that “any and all alleged/suspected abuse is reported to our state regulatory authorities, law enforcement, and Child Protective Services immediately as required.” In the interview, Hilton attributes her experience at Provo Canyon with why she has since avoided therapy. “From being at Provo and those types of schools, just the therapists in there I felt were just not good people,” Hilton said. “I just have never,  ever  trusted them.”

Hilton also discussed how her opinion on the Me Too movement and women who have come forward about their stories of abuse has changed over time. In 2017, Hilton told reporter Irin Carmen that she thought women coming forward with allegations against her family friend President Trump were seeking “fame” and “attention,” but since then she has changed her tune. “I’m happy that there’s been the Me Too movement where people have completely changed their views on that,” Hilton said. “But at the start, it was just really unfair for a woman to be treated that way because somebody exposed them.” This Is Paris was initially supposed to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this past April, but is now debuting on YouTube on September 14.

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Jon Youshaei interviewing Paris Hilton at her home in Los Angeles

“When we had our first meeting, [the producer] said: okay, Nicole, we want you to be the troublemaker, and then Paris, you'll be like the ditzy blonde,” Paris Hilton told me while reflecting on her hit 2000’s reality show The Simple Life.

After interviewing Hilton, it’s clear she’s anything but that “ditzy blonde.” For over 20 years, she’s stayed ahead of the curve with 65 million followers across social media, 19 product lines, $4 billion in revenue, and now launching her second NFT on Origin Story after her first sold for over $1.11 million.

With all she’s done, Hilton’s next chapter may be her most important yet. As NFTs bring the topic of “ownership” to the mainstream, it’s fitting that Hilton has become a leading voice as she re-claims ownership of her own narrative. This time, without the Hollywood producers telling her who to be or what to say.

“It's just amazing, my journey of doing The Simple Life and playing that character for so long, and then, doing my documentary and finally revealing who I truly am. I’m kind of taking the mask off and showing that, you know, that was just a character.”

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Hilton visits Capitol Hill in October 2021

Hilton’s documentary This is Paris gave a rare glimpse into her upbringing, including the abuse she endured while attending Provo Canyon boarding school. It’s remarkable that Hilton hasn’t allowed those traumatic events to control her life. Instead, she’s turning pain into purpose by shining a light on the issues and taking her battle to court.

“I'm being the hero that I needed when I was a little girl terrified in these places. I just got back from Washington, DC., and we're literally going to be changing laws - we already have in seven different states. So all the abuse that happened to myself and you know, hundreds and thousands of other children will now be illegal.”

Since drawing attention to the abuse that occurs within the walls of Provo Canyon, other students are now also coming forward to allege misconduct against the school.

Hilton’s Next Chapter: NFT’s & The Metaverse

In 2019, Hilton brought light to yet another topic that few people knew about back then: the metaverse. She made a music video that predicted what events in the Metaverse could look like with two friends heading to a warehouse, putting on VR goggles, and being transported to a glamorous club.

In 2019, Hilton's music video took us inside the metaverse

“With that music video, I really just wanted to show something that I had been thinking about for a while. In 2017, I went to Korea, and I was having all these different meetings with all these amazing tech companies and VR companies. I was like, “Imagine this place where you go, and it's called Paris World, or Club Paris, or something where people could put on their VR headset [and] be whatever type of avatar they want to be.

It was a subtle signal to the world that Hilton was once again ahead of the curve. So when the metaverse and NFTs finally entered mainstream vocabulary, it’s no surprise that Hilton was ready to go with her first NFT which sold for over $1.11M and launched her own Roblox virtual world called “Paris World” filled with virtual nightclubs, helicopters, and her own mansion.

Hilton also joined NFT platform Origin Protocol as an investor and advisor after meeting co-founders Josh Fraser and Matthew Liu on Clubhouse during the release of 3LAU’s NFT collection sale of $11.7M .

“I just started looking into what they were doing and was like, ‘Wow these guys really know what they’re doing, this is next level. I want to be involved , can I invest into this?’” Hilton recalled. “Then we had a meeting, and right away we started doing business together. They’re brilliant, they’re innovative, and I really love what they’re doing in the space. And now with Origin Story , I think it’s just so amazing to make it accessible to anyone who wants to make an NFT.”

Paris Hilton's NFT collaboration with SuperPlastic

"There's a reason why Paris has been relevant for over two decades," Liu recalled of his first meeting with Hilton. "She truly cares about her community and goes above and beyond to embrace new technology like NFTs to make sure she can meet her fans wherever they are - whether that’s in the real world, on social media, and now in the metaverse."

Through Origin, Hilton has also become a holder of their OGN token and is now releasing her second NFT collection today which includes a collaboration with SuperPlastic .

“I love all of the SuperPlastic characters,” Hilton said. “In this [upcoming collection] Guggimon is wearing my iconic 21st birthday dress, and Dayzee is wearing a shirt which says ‘The truth will set you free.’”

Thank you to Paris and her team for having us over

Paris’ collection with Origin is called “ Past Lives, New Beginnings” and is symbolic of closing one chapter of her life and going onto the next as an advocate, entrepreneur, and newlywed ready to start a family.

“It’s really about me reclaiming my narrative. When I first came into this industry I was unfairly treated by the media and underestimated. And now, ever since I’ve used my voice to turn my pain into a purpose, I feel so free.”

As she reclaims her narrative, Hilton is also paving the way for future artists and creators to do the same. She’s empowering more people to speak out against trauma. She’s making it so fewer people have to pretend to be ditzy blondes to draw attention.

At this rate, don’t be surprised if Hilton stays relevant for another 20 years and counting.

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Paris Hilton’s memoir: 7 things we’ve learned so far about the It Girl’s younger years

By Natasha Leake

Paris Hilton, as seen in Tatler

She’s a former Tatler cover star, the great-granddaughter of the Hilton Hotels founder, one of the world’s highest-paid DJs, owner of a multi-million beauty brand and ultimate It girl. Now, Paris Hilton is due to release her memoirs on the 14 March ( Paris – the Memoir , Harper Collins) - and it offers a deep dive into the life of the woman behind the glamour. 

Extracts serialised in The Times give a flavour of what readers can expect when it hits bookshelves. In these extracts, she speaks openly about her experiences growing up - from clubbing as a young girl, to escaping a terrifying boarding school. Here, seven of the key takeaways from the memoirs so far.

Party dressing? Boots and ‘comfortable clothes’

Paris Hilton on a night out

By Harriet Johnston

By Rebecca Cope

Paris gives her top tips for a night out: ‘stay hydrated’, ‘stay pretty’,‘tipsy is cute’, ‘drunk is gross’, and finally she advises ‘good, sturdy platform boots’ for the night itself. She also advocates ‘comfortable clothes so you can dance all night’ (as well as easily climbing in and out of windows). 

The iconic It girl shared the news on Instagram

By Stephanie Bridger-Linning

Even Paris has been stopped at the velvet ropes

Paris Hilton in Los Angeles 

In the same extract, Paris tells of the time that she tried to smuggle her sister, Nicky Hilton, their cousin Farrah and their friend Khloé Kardashian into a nightclub, Bar One. Khloé and Farrah were ‘little middle school girls,’ she says, and goes on to describe how she made Khloé up with ‘full makeup, a long red wig, and a floppy black hat.’ She says that she told her, ‘If anyone asks you, say your name is Betsey Johnson.’ And for their cousin Farrah, they put her on top of somebody’s shoulders. Despite their best efforts, they didn’t get through the doors. ‘We put so much effort into our disguises, we were shocked when we didn’t get past the velvet rope… I didn’t like how it felt to be rejected in front of everyone. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.’

Her great escapes

Paris Hilton was sent to boarding school, which she says ‘wasn’t a lockdown, but it was surrounded by a tall fence’. Planning her escape, she explains that the fact the school was surrounded by this fence didn’t scare her, as she used to climb fences all the time when she was younger: ‘to rescue a stray Frisbee or just because it was fun.’ She also says that she ‘scaled chain-link barriers around urban rave venues and wrought-iron gates at a friend’s house. I can hop a fence.’ 

In conversation with the duchess, the hotel heiress revealed that she had ‘forgotten who I was’ when playing up to her media persona 

By Dora Davies-Evitt

She begged to be rescued from boarding school

At her lowest moment, trapped in boarding school, Paris describes how she ran away, escaping through the toilet windows and running as far as she could until she reached a pay phone. There, she called her aunt, Kyle Richards, whom she begged to rescue her — and who refused. Richards, who stars in the the Real Housewives of Beverley Hills , is Paris’s maternal aunt. Reflecting on the incident, Paris says, ‘Aunt Kyle was in her twenties when this happened. Not much older than me. We’ve never talked about it, but looking at it from her perspective, how would she not call my mom? Her big sister. My parents did what you’re supposed to do when your kid disappears – they called the police.’

Paris doesn’t go down without a fight

Paris Hilton

When Paris was put in handcuffs and flown to another boarding school, she attempted to escape. In a toilet cubicle which was being guarded, she kicked the door with both feet, toppling the guard who stood directly outside. She claims that the reason she was able to do this with such force was because of her extra-strong thigh muscles which she built up whilst clubbing: ‘Here’s the thing about dancing in a really crowded club: there’s so little room to do anything, you end up basically jumping up and down for hours, which gives you the thigh muscles of a kangaroo,’ she explains. 

Grazie for the glamour, Milano! 

By Chandler Tregaskes

Paris’ alter-ego

When Paris managed to escape the terrors of her boarding school, she tells of the alter-ego she created for herself, who she named ‘Amber Taylor’. Amber, Paris explains, was ‘more than a disguise; Amber was a totally different person’. She chose the name as a blend of Amber Valletta and Niki Taylor: ‘Supermodel vibes’. The character, who she describes as ‘sassy and smart’ wore mostly black, baggy skater clothes. 

Her favourite ’90s TV shows

Paris Hilton in Los Angeles

Having created her alter ego, Amber Taylor, Paris fled to Connecticut where she stayed with her friend ‘Biff’ for around 10 days. There, she talks of how she stayed in his parents’ spare room, had time to catch up on sleep, and watch ‘a lot of television:  The X-Files , ER ,  South Park ,  Buffy the Vampire Slayer .’ After this, her parents came to collect her from a New York diner. 

By Annabelle Spranklen

By Sacha Forbes

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Paris Hilton on Her Revealing New Documentary: “I’m Not a Dumb Blonde. I’m Just Really Good at Pretending to Be One.”

By Keaton Bell

There’s possibly no celebrity better equipped to deconstruct their public image than Paris Hilton. Having spent most of her life staring down a camera lens, the 39-year-old is all too aware of what you think when she coos “that’s hot” in the overly breathy baby voice that’s become her signature. 

Coming across like a freshly tanned Barbie doll in a velour tracksuit, Hilton was thrust into the public eye as one-half of the privileged celebutantes at the heart of The Simple Life alongside bestie Nicole Richie. After the seminal reality series debuted in 2003, a writer for the New York Times decried that, “In a ravenous celebrity culture, Ms. Hilton’s rise shows how far celebrity itself has been devalued.” But two decades into a career parlaying her party-girl image into a global empire, even Hilton’s most vocal critics can’t accuse her of simply being “famous for being famous”—at least anymore. 

Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton in 2003. 

A new documentary, This Is Paris , is a reintroduction of sorts for anyone who still associates Hilton with her early aughts tabloid infamy. Since releasing her first fragrance in 2004, Hilton’s perfume collection is estimated to have done more than $2.5 billion in sales. She has 19 product lines that span skin care, handbags, jewelry, and lingerie, with more than 45 branded retail locations across the Middle East and Asia. Purportedly the highest-paid female DJ in the world (raking in up to $1 million per gig), Hilton has come a long way since her days on The Simple Life inquiring whether Walmart “ sold wall stuff, ” which is exactly what she and This Is Paris director Alexandra Dean wanted to showcase. 

“I easily could have made this some vanity project if I wanted to, but I feel like I’ve done that my entire career,” Hilton told Vogue over a recent Zoom call from her Los Angeles home. “I wanted to release something that wasn’t some facade I was just putting up.” No stranger to having her life documented by a camera crew—including as recently as the Netflix documentary The American Meme —Hilton has rarely spoken about the events of her life with as much candor as she does in This Is Paris . Most noteworthy is the revelation that when she was just 16, Hilton’s parents sent her to the Provo Canyon School, “an intensive, psychiatric residential treatment center for youth” in Utah, where she says she spent 11 months enduring all manner of physical and psychological abuse until she was 18. Provo was a last-ditch effort by Kathy and Richard Hilton to control their rebellious daughter, who would often cut school and sneak out to nightclubs after the family moved from Los Angeles to New York in 1996. 

By Irene Kim

By Audrey Noble

Paris Hilton at the 2001 VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards.

Hilton hadn’t planned on discussing these experiences in This Is Paris until Dean started probing her about the recurring nightmares she’d been experiencing since she was a teenager. Details of the abuse started pouring out as Hilton began contextualizing the trauma she never divulged to anyone—including her parents—upon her release from Provo. “All I wanted this film to focus on was my life as a businesswoman, but ultimately I decided to tell it how it is,” says Hilton. “I want to show that you can go through hardship and still make something of yourself and not let your past define you. I love showing who I am because I’m so proud of who I’ve become.” (As the New York Times reported this week , the school has noted on its website that it changed ownership in 2000, after Hilton was a student. A representative from Provo said the school does “not condone or promote any form of abuse.”)

With the documentary now streaming on YouTube, Hilton recently sat down with Vogue to chat about the “therapeutic” experience of making This Is Paris , early aughts nostalgia, and leaving behind her “blonde ditz” persona for good. 

You’re constantly on the go in This Is Paris, traveling to Belgium or Korea or back home to Los Angeles. You described yourself as a workaholic who always needs to keep herself distracted, so how have you adjusted to the past few months taking a forced pause?  

It’s a new way of life for everyone. It’s given me the time to finally pause in one place and actually reflect on everything happening. I’m so grateful that I’m in the most incredible relationship of my life. [Hilton is now dating businessman and family friend Carter Reum .] I feel so lucky that I’ve finally found true love, because I can’t imagine going through this pandemic by myself. It’s been like being in a relationship for five years given the amount of time we’ve spent with each other. I have someone by my side that I’m so incredibly in love with and we’ve become so close. 

Paris Hilton and boyfriend Carter Reum in the Hamptons. 

What was the genesis of This Is Paris and figuring out what a documentary about this moment in your life would look like?  

So many production companies have pitched my team ideas over the years and I always said no. I was focused on my business, and reality shows just weren’t in my interests anymore. Then I had some great meetings with IPC, who told me the story they wanted to tell and convinced me to trust their vision. But the original premise of this film was not what I ended up talking about. I was only going to talk about the empire I created as a businesswoman because I was sick of the misconceptions people still had about me. I don’t want to be remembered as that dumb-blonde airhead from The Simple Life . That’s not who I am, and I wanted to show that, because I’m very proud of the woman I am and what I’ve created. I’m discussing things I’ve never even told my own sister, parents, best friends, ex-boyfriends. It was a very therapeutic experience. 

What were those conversations like as far as convincing your family to be a part of this project?  

I’m so grateful they decided to be a part of it. Especially my sister, Nicky [Rothschild]. We’ve always been opposites—she hates the spotlight and turned down The Simple Life when the producers wanted it to be her and I. That’s just not a life that she wanted. But she knew that if she didn’t do this film that it wouldn’t be the full picture. No one knows me better than my sister, but even she never knew what I went through because I hadn’t discussed it with her or my mom before. I asked my dad [Richard Hilton] to participate, but he didn’t want to be in it at all. He’s a businessman and said he didn’t want to discuss his private life. Obviously, it was hard for my mom to hear what I went through and everything I never told her before. It was very emotional for all of us. 

Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton at a Teen People party in 2003. 

Nicky Hilton Rothschild and Paris Hilton at the Savage X Fenty Show in 2019. 

At one point in the documentary, you said, “My mom wanted me to be a Hilton, I wanted to be Paris.” Can you elaborate on that?  

My mom and dad were always very strict and sheltered. My mom wanted me to have that kind of debutante, princess life, and that’s just not who I was. I didn’t want to just be known as the Hilton hotel granddaughter. That whole socialite world felt so fake to me. I never wanted to be like that, but I felt like I had to pretend because my parents were so strict. Then I moved to New York as a teenager and just completely rebelled. 

How was someone with your background expected to behave, as a celebrity heiress?  

I was expected to marry some guy, have kids, and be a socialite. That’s just not something that ever interested me. I always strived to be independent and on my own. I think everything I went through when I was younger made me that way. And even though it was so painful and traumatic, I try to always look at the positives because I don’t think I’d be the businesswoman I am today if I didn’t go through what I did. It gave me the drive to be independent so no one could ever control me again. I felt like success was freedom. And also just wanting that love. Traveling the world and hugging my fans and seeing their eyes light up is such an incredible feeling. I just feel like I was put here for a reason, to make people happy and be a positive light.

Paris Hilton at a Los Angeles book signing in 2004. 

I read your first book, Confessions of an Heiress—

In the chapter “How to Be an Heiress,” you wrote, “I’m a fantasy to a lot of people. They want to think that I have way more fun than they do, and no one wants to think that I have a normal life or problems… I’ve only been me, so I can’t tell if my life is perfect or not.” What role did you feel like you served in the public eye as your celebrity grew and your life became more scrutinized?  

I felt like I was this kind of fantasy, Barbie-princess, fairy-mermaid unicorn. Even though I was playing into a character, I know most people aren’t really like that. I just seemed like this free spirit even though nobody knew the other things I was going through, so I was almost like an escape for people. But also I think the media would just use that and treat me like... [ pauses ] Sometimes I would feel like a punching bag. A lot of people felt they could just be mean to me and say anything. It’s been painful reading some of the things that have been written about me just because I know the truth. People in Hollywood sell stories that aren’t true just because they know they’re going to get paid more money for whatever juicy lie they can make up. I don’t know. It’s just...it’s been a lot.

The film opens with a montage showing how often you were mocked on late-night talk shows and parodied across pop culture, like South Park and Saturday Night Live . How did the media’s treatment of you inform the way you chose to present yourself to the public?  

When people said things that hurt my feelings, in my mind I’d say, “Paris, that’s you playing a character, that isn’t you. Don’t feel bad when people are saying things because people aren’t talking about you , they’re talking about what they think you are.” That mindset protected me because I’d already been so exposed and the whole world already had all these preconceived notions about me. I’m not a dumb blonde. I’m just really good at pretending to be one.

Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton on a 2003 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Hilton. 

I loved the scene in This Is Paris when you talked about your relationship with David LaChapelle and how working with him so soon after your experiences at Provo really brought you out of your shell.  

I owe basically everything to David. Shooting with him and being his muse changed my life. 

I read an interview, where he said: “Paris had a charisma back then that you couldn’t take your eyes off. She would giggle and laugh and be effervescent and take up a room. She hadn’t been home for three days but she looked incredible. You never saw that girl looking messed up.” What do you think he saw in you?  

He accepted me and made me feel so confident after going through so many traumatic experiences. That Vanity Fair story put me on the map and introduced me to the entire world. I’ll always be so grateful to David for the iconic work we’ve done together. He made me feel so beautiful. He’s one of those people I can actually be myself with who saw something in me that I didn’t because I was just so lost when I got out of Provo. Meeting someone like him who could open my eyes to this whole new world of glamour was magical. I love him so much. 

Paris Hilton celebrating her 21st birthday at the Storks Room in London in 2002. 

How did that newfound freedom impact your sense of style? Even in your earlier club-kid days, you were never just recreating looks off the runway.  

I’ve never been one to follow trends. I think because I’m an Aquarius, I’m just naturally creative and a little eccentric. I’ve never been one of those people who had to have the latest Dior or Chanel. I loved going downtown on 8th Street where Patricia Field’s and all these other fun stores used to be . My mom would buy me a ballgown and I’d literally be in a miniskirt with a latex top and rainbow extensions. I was just having fun with fashion, and it’s amazing now to see all of those styles coming back . During Fashion Week, a lot of my designer friends will show me their mood boards, and there are so many photos of me from back in the day. I love seeing the girls recreate all my looks, like the 21st birthday dress and just that entire vibe. Back then everyone made fun of me for what I wore. It was crazy for a New York socialite to dress like that, but obviously I was ahead of my time. 

As cheeky and over-the-top as your fashion choices could be, you were definitely curating your own sense of style.  

And I didn’t have a stylist or a publicist. No hair or makeup teams. Literally my sister and I were just doing this by ourselves. It was so different, because today everything is so planned out. Everyone has a creative director. Nothing is original, everyone is a carbon copy of each other. Everyone has the same face, the same everything. I’m very proud to be, like, the O.G. 

Paris Hilton at home in Los Angeles. 

You were also doing it before social media made it easier to build yourself into a brand. How would you characterize your relationship with social media today?  

Social media can be fun, but when people use other peoples’ opinions as something to define who they are, it just becomes dangerous. I think there’s a lot of great influencers. I’m friends with a lot of them and I love the messages they’re putting out. But then there’s others that, I think, just do it for the likes. They’ll say things just to get attention; a lot of these kids don’t realize that it’s going to live with them. It’s important for kids to think about the things they’re putting out into the world. Chances are, if it’s something you don’t want out there forever, it’s going to end up haunting you for the rest of your life. I’ve built a very tough skin, but I can’t even imagine being a teenager today. 

At the beginning of This Is Paris, you say, “I created this brand and this persona and this character, and I’ve been stuck with her ever since.” Do you still feel stuck?  

When I filmed that scene, I really did feel that way. After really telling my story and just coming clean with everything, I feel like I’m not stuck anymore. I think even people who only ever judged me from the headlines will reconsider things they might’ve said about me in the past, which is exciting because I love proving people wrong. I can’t wait for people to meet the real Paris.

Paris Hilton Has a Lesson for Everybody

Her memoir is a manual on how to construct a self for public consumption.

T he Paris Hilton with whom I am familiar is not the real Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton tells me. The Paris Hilton she describes in her best-selling new memoir is. “I just put it all out there. It was like writing in a diary, speaking about things that I’ve never said out loud to anyone in my life, not my closest friends or family members. So I would say it was definitely me,” she tells me over Zoom. “Yeah, it’s me.”

I do not believe this claim for a minute, nor do I believe that she believes it either. Paris: The Memoir is a glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and famous; a dishy gift for her devoted fans, the Little Hiltons; and a horrifying recounting of a life filled with exploitation and abuse. It is also a manual on how to construct a self for public consumption, a skill at which Hilton is an immortal genius and a practice she has helped mainstream into American culture, curving it into a ouroboros of ceaseless posting, commenting, buying, selling.

Who is Paris Hilton? A wife and mom. A sweet weirdo. A sincerely enthusiastic partier. An advocate who just got a piece of legislation to protect kids introduced in Congress . A DJ and model, at the helm of a media-and-merch empire. A progenitor of and contributor to so many cultural phenomena: “nepo babies,” the phrase That’s hot , reality television, the Kardashian Cinematic Universe (Kim got her break organizing Hilton’s closet on TV), influencing as a career.

Read: Seven celebrities who published actually great memoirs

Most of all, she is a performance artist. That’s the term she uses for herself, and an apt one. “We’re putting on a mask when we’re going out into public and playing a character or just being what people want us to be or what they project onto us, in the way that some of my friends are playing a character on their TV show,” she says. “People’s voices are different. They’re completely different.” (Incidentally, Hilton is talking to me in her normal speaking voice, which is dusky and languid and roughed-up with vocal fry, nothing like the babyish one I associate with her public persona.)

The major revelation of her book is just how good she is at doing all this—creating a character, playing the character, selling the character. She performed one Paris Hilton for 20 years; she is now performing a more balanced, more mature version. She is never letting us in on the real one. As social media turns us all into mini Hiltons, posing and posting and performing the minutiae of our lives, mining them for content, that is a practice I hope we all can emulate.

S tar, as her dad calls her, was born in New York City in the winter of 1981. She grew up a beneficiary of the Hilton Hotels fortune, a lover of tiny animals (rats, ferrets, Chihuahuas), a nightmare at school (she has ADHD and does not care for academics), and a tomboy. She came alive in the bass-pounding, lights-flashing environment of the nightclub, which she began visiting at the age of 12.

Stupid Girl, as Hilton calls herself in her darker moments, was born in New York when she was a teenager. Her parents were afraid she would end up dead if she kept on sneaking out and partying. By her account, they had her kidnapped from her own bed in the middle of the night and transported to a residential “reform” school in California when she was 16. She recalls remaining at abusive institutions like it for the next 17 months or so, being beaten, degraded, strip-searched, starved, and sexually abused.

She escaped a few times. At one point, her parents tracked her down and trapped her in a diner, eight states away from where she was meant to be. “I breathed in the smell of [my father’s] dry-cleaned suit, and I wanted to put my arms around him and tell him how much I missed him and Mom,” she writes. “More than I’d ever wanted anything, I just wanted my dad to put his arms around me and take me home. ‘Let’s go, Paris.’ He said it quietly, not wanting to make a scene. My throat felt hot and tight. I said, ‘My name is Amber. You must have me confused with someone else.’” (Her mother, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kathy Hilton, has publicly backed up Paris’s account and expressed her regret for what her daughter went through.)

This was not the only time in her early life that she suffered abuse. She recalls being groomed and sexually assaulted by a teacher in middle school. “I framed this episode in my mind as ‘my first kiss,’” she writes. She was drugged and sexually assaulted again as a teenager. An old boyfriend released an intimate video of her without her consent when she was in her early 20s, and the story became a tabloid fixture for months. (One particularly offensive detail among many: The video was branded as a tribute to the 9/11 victims.)

She endured. She compartmentalized. She moved on, aided by a bit from an Adam Sandler movie, of all things. In Big Daddy , the comic consoles a frightened 5-year-old boy, handing him a pair of “magic” sunglasses that will make him invisible. Hilton put on her own pair and began wearing them day and night. “That little magic-sunglasses coping mechanism made it possible for me to stand up and start my real life,” she writes.

Her surreal life, really: Paris, glam mononym, was born at the turn of the millennium. She lied about where she had been—London, “boarding school.” And she proceeded to do whatever she wanted, making out with cute boys, wearing Von Dutch and Dolce & Gabbana, pretending to be her own publicist. The journalist Nancy Jo Sales wrote a Vanity Fair feature about her and her younger sister, Nicky, in which an unidentified person describes the two as “partners in bitch crime.” Accompanying the article were David LaChapelle photographs featuring the siblings. In one shot, taken in her grandparents’s posh home, Paris is wearing a pair of aviators and flipping off the camera.

The mononym has thrived and survived, her career an exploration of consumerism and consumption, a media-studies class clad in pink, photographed stumbling out of Les Deux at 4 a.m. Are the media exploiting her? (Yes.) Is Hilton exploiting herself? (Yes.) Is the media’s treatment of her sexist? (Yes.) Is she in on the joke? (Yes.)

Her memoir demonstrates just how in on it she is. She creates an image of herself and promulgates it. She works hard at this job—which is lucrative, if often miserable. She’s aware of the postmodern quality of her labor. “Think about that famous René Magritte painting that shows a pipe with the words Ceci n’est pas une pipe ,” she writes. “Magritte wasn’t asking us to pretend that the painting is a real pipe; he was daring us to accept the smoking-hot realness of art.” Indeed!

Over time, the advent of social media has given celebrities like her more control over their own images. She feels much safer now, she tells me, as the ubiquity of Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok has shrunk the market for tabloid photos. It has also given her more opportunities for self-monetization. She seizes them. She’s never not hustling. “Anybody with an iPhone and a talent or something that they love to do has the opportunity to build a real business and build a brand through using these technologies,” she tells me in our Zoom call, as she cuddles up under a Keith Haring–print blanket. “People are allowed to be almost their own media company.” To make their own media. To be their own media.

And they are. Nowadays, hundreds of teenagers and young adults are famous for being famous, in the way Hilton is. Every moment is Instagrammable and Instagrammed, TikTokable and TikToked. Regular-old moms, farmers who happen to be great dancers, big personalities trapped in small jobs—everyone is just a few posts away from fame.

T he Paris Hilton of the book was born three years ago, when Hilton decided to talk about her history of trauma. She is not really sure why she did it. She was tired of walling it all off, maybe. “The effort left me lean and detached, strong enough to survive head-spinning success, soul-crushing betrayals, and staggering amounts of my own bullshit,” she writes. “But sooner or later, everyone leaves Ibiza.”

The #MeToo movement played some part as well, she says. (Hilton recounts her own unpleasant run-in with Harvey Weinstein in the book.) It had felt good to watch media outlets reassess how they had treated human beings such as herself, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears back in the early aughts—the sneering, the sexism, the grotesque upskirt and nip-slip photos. It gave her a bit of confidence in reassessing herself. So she talked. She complicated the Paris Hilton that people knew. She opened herself up.

In doing so, she became a fierce advocate for children victimized by “troubled teen” programs, spurring several state legislatures to place restrictions on them. Last month, a bipartisan coalition of senators and representatives introduced the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act , a product of Hilton’s lobbying. And she became a more mature, more prismatic public figure, hardworking as ever. “I just want to be at home with my husband and my baby,” she tells me, before ticking off her current roster of work: launching a new fragrance, recording an album, filming her reality-television show, posting on social media, and on and on.

Today’s version of Paris Hilton seems wiser, happier. But this is not the Paris Hilton, not really. The book reveals how her traumatic experiences gave her practice in compartmentalization and shaping a character—common enough among actors and celebrities that it is a trope all its own. Her book is an exercise in discernment, omitting as much as she admits. She obliquely describes herself as being asexual for years. She briefly mentions going through in vitro fertilization. She never really talks about her body or its upkeep. She tells me that she is not wearing makeup. I am confident that no adult’s skin and eyelashes just look like that.

I ask her what advice she would give herself as a child. She tells me that the main thing was “not to be so trusting of people.” I ask her if she has gone to trauma therapy. “Never, because of those places,” she says, referring to her reform schools. “After experiencing that, it just made me not trust anybody. Especially therapists.” I ask her if she would want her infant son to become a celebrity, like her. “It’s not something that I would really want for my children,” she tells me. “I just want him just to be happy and not have to think about this type of stuff.” I ask her if all celebrities are performance artists, and she says yes.

Having read her book, spoken with her at length, and watched hours and hours of television footage of her, I feel like I can tell you a lot about Hilton and nothing about Hilton. I can tell you where she has lived, whom she has dated. I can tell you how much fun she had doing The Simple Life , and how hurt she was by her early treatment in the press. I can tell you I do not understand how she survived those troubled-teen programs. I can tell you about her astonishing empathy for and forgiveness of her parents.

There are cameras everywhere in her life, recording and transmitting every little moment—something so many of us do today. Yet somewhere, there’s the real Paris, the private Paris, playing with her kid, laughing with her friends, maybe restoring old radios . No amount of time spent with her media persona brought me closer to that. In the end, I found this fundamental unknowability exhilarating. I found it moving. I thought: That’s hot.

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After alleging abuse at her old school, Paris Hilton isn't backing down

In her September documentary,  Paris Hilton made explosive accusations against a boarding school she attended as a teenager, claiming she was verbally, emotionally and physically abused and left with insomnia, anxiety and trust issues. 

She isn't alone in those claims. Adults and teens across the country are coming out with abuse allegations against the “troubled teen industry,” as it’s called – schools and organizations marketed as boarding schools that experts say lack safety and health regulation and the proper educational and mental health tools to help students and keep them safe.

Hilton, 39, is one of thousands of former students who have alleged physical, psychological and sexual abuse. She began the fight with the documentary “This is Paris.”

Now, the real work begins.

“There's a lot more work to do,” Hilton tells USA TODAY. “I'm not going to stop until it's done.”

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Hilton and her team, which includes "This is Paris" producer Rebecca Mellinger and Breaking Code Silence co-founder Jen Robison, launched a website  Thursday that they say is the most extensive database of survivor stories from the troubled teen industry: a platform that allows those who have experienced abuse to submit their own testimonies in a consolidated space.

"We hope this gives them a platform where their voices can really be heard," Mellinger says. "This community has been so passionately activated since Paris came out, and I think they needed this public awareness aspect to be able to feel that their own stories are truthful... They really do deserve to be heard, so we're hoping to give them another platform."

Hilton said she experienced verbal, emotional and physical abuse during the 11 months she attended Provo Canyon School, a Utah boarding school for troubled teens. The trauma, Hilton said, left her with anxiety, trust issues and insomnia. When the documentary aired Sept. 14, Provo Canyon distanced itself from these claims with a statement noting the school came under new management in 2000, after Hilton attended in the mid- to late-90's.

Hilton says she isn’t surprised by Provo Canyon's repeated denials, but ruminates on how that in turn has hurt survivors more.

“They're just very sadistic people,” she says. “They lie to the families and they lie to the children. They're manipulators, so obviously they're going to lie to try to protect themselves from what they've done. ... But it's not our shame, it's their shame." 

Hilton, Mellinger and Robison (a fellow alum of Provo Canyon who has said she also experienced physical and emotional abuse while there in 2003, after the school came under new management) have been busy since “This is Paris” debuted.

In October, they organized a silent protest in Provo, bringing together more than 100 former students and supporters to show solidarity for those who had experienced abuse at Provo Canyon or schools like it. Though it was haunting for Hilton to return to the grounds of the school, she said she felt empowered by the opportunity to show students past and present that their voices mattered. 

"An incredible thing happened when we went to Provo... I have had numerous staff members – former staff members and current staff members – coming forward to me to talk to me about allegations of abuse, as well as handing over evidence," Robison says. 

When reached for comment, a representative for Provo Canyon School directed USA TODAY to an October statement on its website, which says the school provides "a structured environment" for young people who "have not been successful in typical home and school environments, and in many cases have a history of engaging in dangerous behaviors.

"While we acknowledge there are individuals over the many years who believe they were not helped by the program, we are heartened by the many stories former residents share about how their stay was a pivot point in improving – and in many cases, saving – their lives," the statement added. 

More from 'This is Paris': 'We're all survivors': Paris Hilton alleges widespread abuse at her former school in new documentary

Students who attend programs including Provo Canyon School hail from all parts of the country, which makes things more complicated than simply passing one law in Utah, for example, because home states don't have the power to protect their students while attending school across state lines. 

If change won’t come from within the programs or their individual states, Hilton and her team are going to take things to the top. In addition to attending a social justice program in Washington, D.C., and creating the website, they’re working to promote a number of bills on the state and federal levels. Hilton even came out with a song in October, "I Blame You," the proceeds of which benefit Breaking Code Silence. Eventually, Hilton says, her team wants to work with the Biden administration. 

This new database takes Breaking Code Silence – currently a volunteer organization taking steps to become a nonprofit – to the next level. What was already a conglomerate of thousands speaking out online will be able to consolidate their voices on one coherent platform, testifying together to show “the extent to how prevalent the abuse in this industry is,” as Mellinger says. 

The world has known of Hilton since she was a teenager, but Hilton says she didn’t really know who she was until “This is Paris.” A few years back, she opened up in the documentary “American Meme” about feeling like she had been “a 21-year-old for the past two decades” — “just very lost and kind of stuck in that mind frame and not in a good relationship,” she now reflects. In 2018, when "Meme" debuted, she was engaged to actor and model Chris Zylka, before the two broke things off later that year. 

Now, Hilton feels like a new person, both because of her relationship with boyfriend Carter Reum (the two just celebrated their one-year anniversary and Hilton gushed about having found her "partner for life" ), and because she feels like joining the Breaking Code Silence fight has given her a life meaning and a mission.  

“I feel like a grown-up finally, and I'm so excited for the next phase of my life: to have a family and just grow up,” she says. “My priorities have completely changed. I no longer care about going out or being the party girl that I was before. I'm more excited about being an activist and really using my voice and my platform to help make change and make a difference in the world.” 

“Doing the documentary was therapy,” Hilton adds, crediting director Alexandra Dean for building a kind and trust-worthy atmosphere to let Hilton process her trauma out loud. “Talking about it for the first time was like therapy."

Following the documentary’s release, Hilton said she has heard from families who pulled their children out of Provo Canyon after watching her traumas unfold in “This is Paris.” 

“It's one of the best feelings in the world,” Hilton says of knowing that her speaking out has made that direct impact. “I just think back to when I was a little girl and just how painful and terrifying it was to be there, and I know that me back then would be so proud of the woman I am today to actually have stood up for myself and for everyone and really just using my platform to do good… My heart breaks for anyone in there, but I'm so happy that using my voice has saved some children from having to go through any more torture.” 

In "This is Paris," Hilton opened up about worrying that the lasting trauma from her time at Provo Canyon would leave her with nightmares forever. 

"I don't know if my nightmares will ever go away, but I do know there's probably hundreds of thousands of kids going through the same thing right now," Hilton said in one scene. "And maybe if I can help stop their nightmares, it will help me stop mine."

The nightmares are gone now, she says. 

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Paris Hilton Raises Her Voice(s)

By Shane O’Neill

Paris Hilton was a fixture of tabloids and television in the early 2000s, when she was known as much for her hyperactive nightlife as for her five seasons on the hit reality show “The Simple Life.” Since then, Ms. Hilton, 42, has parlayed her fame into a multifaceted career that has included working as a model, musician, D.J., actor, entrepreneur and an unusually zealous purveyor of NFTs. And in January, she welcomed a baby named Phoenix, whom she is raising with her husband, the venture capitalist Carter Reum.

As part of a New York Times event on Twitter , we talked to the party-girl-turned-mogul on Tuesday about her new book, “Paris: The Memoir,” which dives into the glamour of her public persona as well as the abuse she experienced for almost two years at several live-in “troubled teen” facilities .

This interview has been edited and condensed.

How have you prepared yourself for a media tour where you’re going to be asked about traumatic things?

Most of my career I was playing a character, and people had no idea what I had really went through. And now that I’ve written this book, people are just realizing that I’ve lived through some very traumatic experiences, and it was really difficult to put them on paper. But it’s also been such an amazing time for me to really discover myself in ways I didn’t even know before.

You’ve become quite an advocate for investigating and regulating the “troubled teen” industry.

I’ve been going to D.C. and meeting with senators and legislators and explaining to them what’s happening behind closed doors. I am proud to use my voice and my platform to shine a huge spotlight on such an important issue. I know that I’m so proud of the woman I’ve become. And I just know that the little girl in me would be so proud of who I am today.

Speaking of which, you’ve been really open about how you deploy your literal voice — like, you speak in a baby voice when you want things.

I really see the character that I invented as a trauma response to what I went through, where I just kind of wanted to invent this kind of perfect-life Barbie doll character just to not have to think of the trauma that I had went through. And then when I got “The Simple Life,” then I had to continue playing that character season after season. And then going into interviews and doing it. And I feel that it was almost — or, it is and it was — a mask where I just felt like I could be someone else. And, you know, I feel like a lot of people have misunderstood me for a long time and underestimated me. And I’m proud now to show who I really am.

In your book, you talk about pretending to be your own assistant by doing a raspy, husky voice. Is there any way we could hear what that sounds like?

Yeah. [in what could be described as a New York accent] I would talk like this, and “I’m from Brooklyn” and “Paris is going to be available. I just have to check her schedule.” It worked.

You said in your book that you have five phones. One is for prank calls. Can you tell me why you need an entire phone for prank calls?

Because it’s something that we just love doing. My mom and my sister and I just have been prank calling people for so many years. When people press star 67 and it’s a blocked number, a lot of people don’t want to answer. So it’s just better to have another phone for that. My mom is the one who’s really good at it. She’s the O.G.

What is the difference between being famous now versus when you were first starting to be famous?

Now I’ve parlayed it into a huge business and a brand. It was so much fun, but it was also really hard because the media was just so cruel to us back then.

Are there are things about that era that you miss?

There was nothing like the 2000s before social media. People used to just be so free and just actually have fun and talk and dance. And now I just feel that everyone just has their phone with them. So it’s just a completely different experience.

A quote from your book that really jumped out at me: “I was struggling to understand my sexuality; there’s no way I could have explained it to anyone else. I had no language for it. I’d never heard the word asexual .” Why did you include that passage?

I think just because I had been through such traumatic experiences that it made me scared of the idea of letting someone in like that. And yeah, I think just what I went through, it made it really difficult for me to feel comfortable about that. So I just — I just — I don’t know, I just thought of myself that way because it wasn’t something that I enjoyed.

Do you feel as if that identity still applies to you?

I had such huge walls around my heart for so long. And it wasn’t until Carter that those walls came crashing down. I feel that maybe God put me through this so one day I could use it and help others. And I’m doing that now, and I feel like I have like a true mission in life now, in turning my pain into a purpose.

Camille Baker contributed reporting.

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Paris Hilton Age, Bio, Height, Family, Dating, Net Worth, Facts

• 1 Who is Paris Hilton?
• 2 Personal Life
• 3 Family and Education
• 4 Paris Hilton Love Life
• 5 Paris Hilton Sex Tape
• 6 Physical Statistics
• 7 Professional Statistics
• 8 Paris Hilton Net Worth
• 9 Favorite Things
• 10 Paris Hilton on Social Media
• 11 Fewer Known Facts About Paris Hilton

Who is Paris Hilton?

Paris Hilton is an American socialite and entrepreneur among other professions. Born with a silver spoon, the celebrity kid has been in the media spotlight ever she stepped into the world. She is a multi-millionaire heiress of the Hilton legacy, epitomizing the revival of the famous for being famous. Paris ventured into modeling during her teenage years and became paparazzi’s delight when her sex tape with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon leaked online entitled “One Night in Paris”. However, it was the reality television series The Simple Life that propelled her fame and made herself known to the world. She has since appeared in a number of movies including “House of Wax”, “The Bling Ring”, “Zoolander”, “Wonderland” and “The Hottie and the Nottie”. Known for grandeur and opulent lifestyle, Paris Hilton owns several perfumes and lifestyle lines under her own brand Paris Hilton Entertainment.

Personal Life

Paris Hilton was born on the 17th of February 1981 in New York City, New York, United States of America. She is currently 38 years old.

Family and Education

Paris Hilton is the oldest of the four children to parents, Kathy Hilton (née Kathleen Elizabeth Avanzino), a socialite and former actress and Richard Howard “Rick” Hilton, a real-estate mogul. She has three siblings, a sister, Nicholai Olivia “Nicky” Hilton and two brothers, Barron Nicholas Hilton II and Conrad Hughes Hilton III. Her paternal great-grandfather was Conrad Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels. Her maternal aunts are television personalities Kim and Kyle Richards.

Talking about her education, Hilton studied in no less than half a dozen schools as she loved in different places through her youth. For elementary education, she attended the Buckley School and St. Paul the Apostle School, graduating in 1995. She then attended Marywood-Palm Valley School, Rancho Mirage, California for her freshman year of high school before moving to the East Coast. There she attended a string of school, including Professional Children’s School, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Provo Canyon School, Canterbury Boarding School, and Dwight School. Despite studying in many schools, she didn’t finish high school and dropped out of junior high school at one point to pursue modeling.

Paris Hilton Love Life

Just like her luxurious life, Paris Hilton has been romantically involved with several high profile star throughout her life. Her personal life has always attracted a fair amount of media attention due to her extensive romantic connections. Hilton and Leonardo DiCaprio were spotted together on the NYC late-night circuit when she was just 19 years old. During this time, tabloids wrote that they were dating, but she later denied the dating news.

In 2000, Hilton had a brief relationship with actor Edward Furlong. She, then, got romantically linked up with poker player Rick Salomon. They dated for a while and she filmed a sex tape with him, which later leaked onto the internet. After that, she dated fashion model Jason Shaw, with whom she got engaged in 2002, but she called it off the following year.

Hilton’s romantic life has seen a lot of men and the next in line was actor, singer, and dancer, Nick Carter. They had a short-lived relationship from 2003 to 2004. She, then dated Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis in December 2004, and Greek heir, Stavros Nicharos, on and off until March 2007 and Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden in 2008.

She followed it up with an on and off relationship with The Hills star Doug Reinhardt from 2009 until 2010. She dumped him when she realized him using her. Las Vegas nightclub owner Cy Waits and Hilton were romantically linked up from 2010 until June 2011.

Hilton had a fling with Italian footballer Mario Balotelli in 2010. She then began dating Spanish model River Viiperi in 2012. She was ten years older than him. The couple called off their relationship in July 2014. She dated businessman Thomas Gross between 2015 and April 2016.

In August 2016, Hilton and actor Chris Zylka started seeing each other, with their relationship went public in February 2017. In January 2018, Zylka proposed to her with a ring worth US$2 million, however this relationship also didn’t last long. They called off their engagement in November 2018.

Paris Hilton Sex Tape

In 2003, a sex tap of Hilton in action with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked onto the internet. Salomon sued the company that released the video for $30 million. He distributed the tape himself in affiliation with an adult film company Red Light District Video under the title 1 Night in Paris. Despite the fact that Salmon and the company came forward to pay her US$400,000 plus a percentage of the tape’s sale profit as compensation. Hilton stated that she never made a dollar off her sex tape, citing she earns a lot from her businesses.

Physical Statistics

Concerning Hilton’s physical appearances, she possesses a slender body with attractive body measurements. Her trimmed breasts, flat belly, and long legs compliment her height and weight. She has gone braless and even n*de for several fashion magazines including Maxim, revealing her body.

Professional Statistics

Film career.

Paris Hilton made her acting debut, playing a girl on a beach in the 1993 movie, Wishman. Her first feature film as a lead actress came with the horror flick, Nine Lives, playing her part as Jo, in 2002.

She has done a lot of cameo in movies such as Zoolander, Wonderland, The Cat in teh Hat and The Bing Ring. Her notable works include her roles in House of Wax, The Hottie and the Nottie and An American Carol.

Television Debut

In 2003, Hilton landed in a hit reality TV series, The Simple Life, starring with her socialite counterpart Nicole Richie that aired on Fox and E! from 2003 to 2007. The first season of the series aired just after the release of her sex tape, and eventually, the first episode pulled in over 13 million viewers.

She has appeared in a number of television shows including George Lopez, The O.C., American Dreams, Paris Hilton’s My New BFF, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Hollywood Love Story.

Singing Career

Hilton released her self-titled debut studio album, Paris, on August 22, 2006. The album peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and sold over 600,000 copies worldwide.

Paris Hilton Net Worth

As of 2019, Paris Hilton has an estimated net worth of $300 million, which includes earnings from film and television appearances, hosting events, business ventures, and endorsements. She is a successful entrepreneur who has been involved in different ventures apart from hotel business including a fashion line, shoe line and other fashion-related businesses.

Favorite Things

• Favorite Food – Sushi
• Favorite TV Shows – The Simple Life (2003-2007), American Idol (2002)
• Favorite Artist – Damien Steven Hirst (English Artist)
• Favorite Sport – Golf
• Favorite People – George Vreeland Hill
• Favorite Fashion Idol – Sharon Stone, Marilyn Monroe, Farrah Fawcett
• Favorite Song – Deadmau5 Feat. Kaskade (I Remember)
• Favorite Restaurant – Mr. Chow Restaurant, Beverly Hills, California, USA
• Favorite Drink – Spunk
• Favorite Places – Japan, Europe
• Favorite Color – Pink
• Favorite Singer – Deborah Harry
• Favorite Accessories – Lipstick, Hair Extensions, Sunglasses
• Favorite Band – Blondie
• Favorite Holiday Destination – Mykonos, Greece

Paris Hilton on Social Media

Owing to her outrageous lifestyle and being a popular celebrity in the business, Hilton accounts a massive fan following on social media. She has garnered over 17 million followers on Twitter and 10 million followers on Instagram.

Fewer Known Facts About Paris Hilton

Paris got her start as a child model, modeling for charity programs, and by 19, she signed with Donald Trump’s modeling agency, T Management.

During her stint as a model, she made it to the covers of many leading international magazines, including the UK’s Tatler, Italy’s Giola and the US’ FHM, Ocean Drive, Maxim, Elle, Nylon, Variety, UK’s Elle, Es Magazine, Gay Times, France and Turkey’s Vogue, Spain’s Vanity Fair, and New Zealand’s Remix.

Hilton published an autobiography co-written by Merle Ginsberg, “Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose” in the fall of 2004.

Hilton was awarded the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her work in the romantic comedy, The Hottie and the Nottie, which was released in 2008.

In June of 2012, She made her debut as a DJ at a Brazilian pop-music festival and became a trending topic shortly after.

She has registered her famous quote “That’s hot” as a trademark for her product lines like clothing apparel, electronic devices, and alcoholic beverages.

She launched her own record label, Heiress Records, in 2004.

In 2006, she made it to Forbes magazine’s “Top 100 Celebrities” list, ranking at No. 56.

Paris is best friends with Kim Kardashian West.

Hilton lives in Mulholland Estates, a gated community in Los Angeles, California. She also has a penthouse in Lower Manhattan, NYC.

Hilton is fond of small dogs and has various pets, all dogs, namely, Dolce (Pomeranian), Bambi (Chihuahua), Tinkerbell, and Marilyn Monroe. She has constructed a 300-square-foot home with air conditioning, heating and designer furniture was built at an estimated cost of US$325,000, for her dogs.

She has many exotic cars, including a pink Bentley Continental, a Bentley convertible, a Rolls-Royce Ghost, a Ferrari, a Lexus coupe, and a Yukon Hybrid.

Paris earns $10 million a year, with most of her income coming from her retail businesses, which include 50 stores and 19 product lines.

She wears a size 11 shoe, which most brands don’t make. Hence, all of her shoes are custom made.

She won the Guinness World Record for Most Overrated Celebrity in 2007. In 2009, she was awarded a F.A.M.E. award for Favorite Celebrity Sex Tape

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How Paris and Nicole made their mark on America in 'The Simple Life,' 20 years later

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

Before "The Real Housewives," "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," or "Selling Sunset," there was "The Simple Life." The reality TV show that brought Beverly Hills party girls Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie into the American mainstream premiered 20 years ago this week. Together, Hilton and Richie traveled the country with their seemingly carefree, never-worked-a-day-in-their-life attitude.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SIMPLE LIFE")

NICOLE RICHIE: I've always heard that people hang out at Walmart.

PARIS HILTON: Why?

RICHIE: I don't know.

HILTON: What is Walmart? Is it - like, they sell wall stuff?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: No.

SUMMERS: The pair gained an audience that either loved them or just loved to hate them, popularizing the phrase - that's hot - along the way. Matthew Jacobs wrote a brief history of the show for The Cut, and he is here to talk to us now. Hello there.

MATTHEW JACOBS: Hello.

SUMMERS: So for people who have never seen "The Simple Life" before, how would you describe it to them? And who were Paris and Nicole, and what were they doing on our TVs?

JACOBS: "The Simple Life" took two famous celebrity offspring who were familiar to tabloid audiences - we would have called them celebutantes at the time - and essentially sent them to scenarios that were completely unfamiliar to them. So they spent a season living on a family farm in small-town, rural Arkansas, and then they traveled across the South or other parts of the country taking odd jobs, so-called internships, working various levels of manual labor or everyday minimum wage jobs that had eluded them throughout their extremely privileged upbringing.

SUMMERS: Before "The Simple Life" hit screens, what was the reality TV landscape like?

JACOBS: Before "The Simple Life," reality TV, which was still a fairly young format at the time, was really focused on putting ordinary people in relatively extraordinary circumstances. So you had a bunch of people living in a house together, like "The Real World"...

SUMMERS: Yeah.

JACOBS: ...Or "Big Brother." You had them eat gross things on "Fear Factor" or compete for romance on "The Bachelor." And "The Simple Life" kind of inverted that, and so it really introduced this look at how wealthy, privileged, famous or semi-famous people function day to day.

SUMMERS: I mean, thinking back, I was a teenager when the show first came out, and now when I look back on that time with a 2023 lens, it's surprising and pretty sad, frankly, how often young women were put in the position of being publicly humiliated during that time. I mean, gossipmongers like Perez Hilton were launching websites that seemed to have a sole purpose of mocking women for their appearance and their weight. Can you just, like, take us back to that time period and remind us how all of this played a role in how audiences responded to "The Simple Life"?

JACOBS: We loved to hate and hated to love the party girl, so I think for as much love as there was for "The Simple Life," there was also a lot of skepticism and a lot of mockery at the same time. Part of that, I think, also owed to the fact that we didn't yet have a deep grasp on the reality TV genre and how it was made. I think we almost take for granted now how much we know about the ways reality TV is constructed and contrived. And I think a lot of people looked at a show like this and said, I don't see the value in this, and so I'm repulsed by it. But the other side of it is that it's also extremely influential. I mean, do we get "The Kardashians" or...

SUMMERS: Right.

JACOBS: ..."The Real Housewives" without Paris Hilton and without "The Simple Life"? I'm not sure.

SUMMERS: Well, I mean, the show and its spinoff - they ended back in 2007. What do you think the ultimate legacy of "The Simple Life" is for better or for worse?

JACOBS: I think "The Simple Life" and its knockoffs spawned a world in which seemingly everybody wants a piece of fame and is competing to adopt the markers of fame whether or not they'll truly achieve it, and I think we can spend a lot of time talking about whether that's a net good or a net bad for society.

SUMMERS: That is Matthew Jacobs from The Cut. Thank you so much.

JACOBS: Thank you, Juana.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STARS ARE BLIND")

HILTON: (Singing) Even though the gods are crazy, even though the stars are blind... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Paris’ Impact Work

Paris Hilton has made it her mission to empower survivors of the ‘Troubled Teen Industry’ and use her global platform to make sure no more youth suffer at the hands of these systemically abusive institutions. Paris’ YouTube Originals documentary. This is Paris has been seen by 50M viewers in which she details the physical and psychological abuse she experienced as a teenager at numerous residential treatment programs within the ‘Troubled Teen Industry.’ Her advocacy has resulted in mass public awareness of the ‘Troubled Teen Industry,’ policy change at the state level, philanthropic initiatives, and media projects including Trapped in Treatment . She is currently supporting the passage of the Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act.

January 26, 2022

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A Timeline Of Paris Hilton's Fame: From Socialite To Business Mogul

Paris Hilton celebrating her 21st birthday (2002)

Here's how the socialite stole everyone's hearts and became one of the most successful businesswomen to date.

We all know her, we know she's famous... but do we know what she's even famous for and how she got there? Sometimes, it seems like the world woke up one day and everyone on the planet knew who Paris Hilton was and fell in love with her. Here's a full timeline on how she grew to be one of the biggest stars the world.

Famous Before Fame

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Paris Hilton was practically born into fame as she is an heiress of the Hilton Group of Hotels. Her father, Richard Hilton, was a real-estate developer and mother Kathy Richards Hilton was a socialite. Since she was young, the star has only seen fame and fortune - which fueled her to join the acting and modeling world as she got older.

Made For the Camera

Paris has been obsessed with being in front of the camera since she was a teenager. At age 14, the Hilton family moved from California to New York City - where Paris started her modeling and socialite career. This is also where she grew into her rebellious, lavish party character that we see her as today - due to her strict and proper teenage lifestyle. In her new Youtube documentary This Is Paris , Paris said:

"In New York, there's a socialite scene - everyone knew who I was. My mom had us go to etiquette classes, so we basically were taught how to be debutantes.. it's very proper, very prim, almost like a Stepford wife. It just didn't seem real or natural to me. I wasn't allowed to go out or go on dates or school dances because my parents were so strict. "

Party Paris

Paris didn't just get into the party scene - Paris Hilton WAS the party scene. At the young age of 16, Paris grew her reputation to be the wild party girl. Soon, New York would be calling her 'New York's Leading IT Girl' in the early 2000's. She didn't even have to do anything - as long as Paris Hilton was there, everyone would be there too.

The First Reality Star

Paris Hilton really started her career when she starred in her own reality show called The Simple Life , where she and best friend Nicole Richie would try to work simple, ordinary jobs with their reputation as the richest and most lavish girls anyone's ever seen. It made for a hilarious show - and although Paris Hilton's sex tape scandal released shortly before the premiere, the show still became an iconic success. Her reality show would jump-start the reality show business for years to come.

Paris Hilton Makes Kim Kardashian Famous

If you're wanting to join the limelight, it probably helps if you're friends with a socialite right? Or even maybe be their assistant! That's exactly what Kim Kardashian 's thoughts were as she became Paris' stylist and closet organizer during 'The Simple Life.' The two go way back, as they have had their connection through Nicole Richie even as kids. Kardashian told Rolling Stone in a 2015 interview about their crave for attention back in their prime. She said:

"We'd go anywhere and everywhere just to be seen. We knew exactly where to go, where to be seen, how to have something written about you. All you had to do is go to this restaurant, or this party, talk about whatever you want to talk about, and it would be in the paper the next day."

Although the two have had a rocky relationship throughout the years, Paris recently posted an Instagram picture with Kim as the two were hanging out again. It's an iconic duo that everyone has been waiting for.

Business Queen

After doing many movie cameos, like Zoolander , Wonderland , and Cat In The Hat , Paris started venturing into several business opportunities.

In 2004, Paris released her book Confessions of an Heiress , where she explains her crazy and lavish lifestyle that everyone knows and loves.

That same year, Hilton built a perfume line, a nightclub franchise, and another season of The Simple Life .

She went on to create several different perfumes, hair extensions, Paris Hilton merchandise, and even a record album. This girl has really done it all.

Just when you think she can't do anything else, Paris Hilton becomes a rave DJ. Paris made her big debut as a DJ and no longer just a ditzy socialite in 2012 at the Pop Music Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is seen in the picture above performing at the infamous Tomorrowland Festival in 2019.

This Is Paris Official Documentary

Flash forward to 2020, and Paris Hilton just released her raw and emotional documentary on Youtube this September. The almost 2-hour film explains the side of her entire life that the public never got to see - and who she really is behind the glitter, the fame, and her brand. In her documentary, she said:

"I built this kind of shield around me and kind of this persona, almost to hide behind, because I've been through so much where I just didn't even want to think about it anymore......I'm happy for people to know that I am not a dumb blonde, I'm just very good at pretending to be one."

One-On-One: Paris Hilton Opens Up On Traumatic Past In New Documentary | Advocate Channel

Advocate Channel host Sonia Isabelle got to speak with Paris Hilton directly about her vulnerability and strength through filming This Is Paris .

Be sure to watch Paris Hilton's remarkable documentary, streaming on YouTube now.

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Paris Hilton Testifies About Abuse She Says She Suffered At Utah Boarding School

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Paris Hilton testified about abuse she says she suffered years ago at a boarding school in Utah, as she lobbied Monday for a bill seeking to regulate the state’s troubled teen industry.

Hilton was sent to Provo Canyon School for 11 months at age 17 where she says she was abused mentally and physically, recalling that staff members would beat her, force her to take unknown pills, watch her shower and send her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment. The socialite and reality TV star also spoke about the abuse in a documentary titled “This is Paris” that was released this fall.

Hilton testified at a state Senate committee hearing at the Utah Capitol in favor of the bill that would require more government oversight of youth residential treatment centers and require them to document when they use restraints. The measure passed unanimously following emotional testimony from Hilton and several other survivors.

“Talking about something so personal was and is still terrifying,” Hilton told the committee. “But I can not go to sleep at night knowing that there are children that are experiencing the same abuse that I and so many others went through, and neither should you.”

The 39-year-old Hilton said the treatment was so “traumatizing” that she has suffered nightmares and insomnia for years.

The Provo institution is now under new ownership and the administration has said it can’t comment on anything that came before the change, including Hilton’s time there. A statement on the school website says the previous owners sold the school in 2000.

Since the documentary was released, other celebrities have spoken out about their experiences at the school or others like it, including Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson and tattoo artist Kat Von D.

During her testimony, Hilton called on President Joe Biden and leaders in Congress to take action and said she intends to pursue federal legislation.

“This is just the first step,” Hilton told reporters. “This bill is going to definitely help a lot of children but there’s obviously more work to do, and I’m not going to stop until change happens.”

Eppolito is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Paris Hilton Celebrates First Mother's Day as a Mom of 2: 'My Heart Is So Full Today'

Hilton shares her kids — son Phoenix, 16 months, and daughter London, 5 months — with husband Carter Reum

Paris Hilton is celebrating a very special Mother's Day as a mom of two!

On Sunday, May 12, the multi-hyphenate shared a video on Instagram to mark the occasion, featuring never-before-seen moments between herself and son Phoenix Barron, 16 months, and daughter London Marilyn, 5 months, whom she shares with husband Carter Reum .

The video — set to Hilton's song with Sia, "Fame Won't Love You" — begins with a shot of the reality star and Reum, 43, holding their two children while sitting on a picnic blanket. There's also a sweet clip of Reum moving Phoenix's arms around like he's dancing during a photo shoot.

Hilton highlights her mother-son bond as the two play together and flail their feet in the pool in one short clip, while another shows just how ecstatic Hilton is to be a girl mom as she smiles down at her daughter.

Related: Paris Hilton's 2 Children: All About Phoenix and London

She also shared individual videos of London playing with her favorite doll and Phoenix having fun in the pool and with the family's dogs. There's even a quick snippet of the brother-sister duo together, with Phoenix gently rocking his sister's chair.

"My first Mother’s Day as a mom of two! My heart is so full today 🥹💖," she captioned the photo, adding, "Use #FameWontLoveYou in your Mother’s Day posts so I can see all of your beautiful families 🥰."

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Speaking to PEOPLE  after the birth of son Phoenix, Hilton said, "It's always been my dream to be a mother," adding that she and Reum, who welcomed both of their kids via surrogate, "are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our baby boy."

Elsewhere in the interview, the heiress and media personality shared what she found to be the most surprising part of motherhood.

“It's just how much love I could have for someone,” Hilton said. “I thought I knew what love was with my husband, but as soon as I met my baby, it's just this love on another level. He has just changed my life in every way."

Related: Paris Hilton Shares Adorable Video of Son Phoenix Playing with His Baby Sister London: 'I Love You'

Hilton's journey to motherhood was shrouded in secrecy, with the DJ opening up about the efforts she took to keep her son’s birth a secret, even  wearing a disguise to the hospital  and not telling anyone (including family members) about his arrival.

Speaking on her podcast  I Am Paris  in February 2023, Hilton said she waited until a week after Phoenix’s birth to  share the news with her friends and family.  

“Not even my mom, my sisters, my best friend knew until he was over a week old,” she said on the podcast. “It was really nice to have that with Carter, be our own journey together. I just feel like my life has been so public, and I've never really had anything be just mine."

Last year on Mother's Day, Hilton took to social media to share her gratitude, writing on X : "So excited to be celebrating my first Mothers Day with my little angel baby Phoenix. Being a mom is the most incredible experience I have ever had. It's a love that cannot be put into words, a feeling that I never knew existed until I held my little prince in my arms."

Hilton added that watching Phoenix "grow and learn every single day brings me so much happiness and fills my heart with so much love. There is something so special about being a mom, something that I never fully understood until I became one myself."

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Read the original article on People .

Kathy Hilton Reflects on Watching Daughters Paris and Nicky Hilton Become Moms (Exclusive Interview)

In celebration of Mother’s Day weekend, the ‘Paris in Love’ star reflects on watching her daughters take on the role of motherhood. 

As Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton Rothschild started growing up, Kathy Hilton was in awe of what she was witnessing. “I’m used to having – which they still are – walking, talking Barbie dolls,” Kathy, 65, exclusively told Hollywood Life while celebrating her partnership with Smirnoff ICE SMASH Tea. “When they walk into a room together or we’re walking into a fashion show in Paris and I’m sitting in the seat and they walk in the room, I’m just a fan. I’m so proud.”

But as her daughters fell in love, got married and welcomed children, Kathy soon earned a new title as grandma. She also gained a new perspective on what her kids are capable of accomplishing.

“Now you’re seeing a different side,” Kathy reflected. “Now I’m looking at them as mothers and their rules and their rules are their rules.”

While Nicky, 40, has always been an old soul, Kathy said “she’s so comfortable with motherhood” and raising her three kids with husband James Rothschild .

“I think she’s softened after having children,” the Paris in Love star explained. “It’s really changed her so much where Paris is easy breezy like me. We’re exactly the same. But Nicki’s always been more strict.”

Need proof? Just ask Kathy about the recent girls’ trips she enjoyed with her two daughters. Last month, the trio traveled to Texas to attend the Children’s Cancer Fund 34th Annual “A Knight to Remember” Gala. While there, the group continued to make lasting memories that deserve to be documented for reality TV.

“I am like having the child at the airport. I’m all over the place,” Kathy joked. “The bags everywhere. Where’s my passport? Where’s my license? Where’s the ticket? Nicky mothers me. Paris and I in the airport? We’d get lost. We’d be at McDonald’s. We’ve been buying magazines. Nicky has to reel us in.”

With Mother’s Day quickly approaching, Kathy realizes her daughters may want to celebrate with their own families. (Paris, 43, is now raising Phoenix and London with husband Carter Reum .) Instead of expecting a lavish gift or over-the-top present, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum believes in the mantra that less is more.

“I think a beautiful handwritten note is lovely,” Kathy explained. “It’s not about the gift. It really isn’t. It’s really about the thought.”

And perhaps a delicious beverage wouldn’t hurt either. Kathy teamed up with Smirnoff ICE SMASH Tea ahead of tea sippin’ (and spillin’) season to host a special Tea Partay in West Hollywood, California.

“I like the drink and it’s perfect for summer and what I like about it too is I love ice tea,” Kathy shared. “But this doesn’t make me puffy the next day. I’m gonna put on my Instagram some fun ways to enjoy the drink like adding fresh basil, mint, fruits. You can make it fun.”    

SNYDE | Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie reuniting for new…

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SNYDE | Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie reuniting for new reality TV show

The news came Wednesday, after both Hilton and Richie hinted at their reunion in matching Instagram posts , featuring a collage of moments from their friendship through the decades.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paris Hilton (@parishilton)

The new project will reportedly not be a reboot of “The Simple Life,” but a fresh concept with an original title, sources told TMZ.

While details are being kept under wraps for now, the show is presumably going to be just as hilarious as “The Simple Life.”

The original series premiered in 2003 and featured the young, wealthy socialites being tasked with a variety of menial jobs including farm work, serving at fast-food restaurants, and working as camp counselors.

The show was canceled at Fox after two seasons, allegedly due to Hilton and Richie having a falling out . But E! picked up the series and continued shooting until 2007, despite the rumored rift between the stars.

In 2006, Hilton even released an apparent diss-track titled “Jealousy,” with opening lyrics that said “I thought you were my best friend / I felt we’d be together ’til the end / You’re not the girl I once knew / Tell me where she is ’cause she’s not you.”

However, the two would eventually mend their relationship , with Richie going on the record in 2014 saying she still considered Hilton a friend. She attended Hilton’s wedding in 2022, with photos emerging from the event of the two laughing together.

The pair have reportedly been in talks for months on their latest project, and are said to be moving forward with James Corden’s production company, Fulwell 73.

They’ve also sold the concept to an undisclosed streamer, per TMZ, and are expected to make a formal announcement of the show in the coming months.

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Olivia Munn, 43, says she froze her eggs for the third time after getting diagnosed with breast cancer

• Olivia Munn told Vogue she underwent egg freezing three times in her life.
• Munn's most recent procedure — at age 42 — came after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. 
• "I don't have the ability to carry a baby anymore, so if we want to build our family, this is our option," she said.

Olivia Munn , 43, says she has frozen her eggs on three separate occasions in her life, most recently in response to her breast cancer diagnosis.

The "X-Men: Apocalypse" actor spoke to Vogue about her decision in an interview published on Sunday. She shared that she underwent egg freezing at ages 33, 39, and 42.

"It's interesting because my 33-year-old eggs were great. My 39-year-old eggs? None of them worked. As you get older, one month can have great eggs, the other not so much. Clearly, the month we did at 39 was not a good month," Munn told Vogue.

Since chemotherapy and radiation can affect a person's fertility , Munn said she and her husband, John Mulaney, decided to try freezing her eggs again before she started on any cancer treatment. The couple had welcomed their son, Malcolm Hiệp Mulaney , in November 2021.

"John and I talked about it a lot and we don't feel like we're done growing our family, but didn't know if I would have to do chemotherapy or radiation," Munn said. "After my diagnosis, we decided to try one more round of egg retrievals and hoped it was a good month."

Munn said they hoped to make just one embryo from this retrieval attempt. Thankfully, they were successful.

"A few hours later, we got the call from my doctor," Munn said. "He shared that we had two healthy embryos. John and I just started crying. It was just so exciting because not only did we get it in one retrieval, but it also meant that I didn't have to keep putting myself at risk. It was just amazing."

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As for her embryos, Munn says that she will likely go down the surrogacy route in the future.

"I don't have the ability to carry a baby anymore, so if we want to build our family, this is our option," Munn said, adding that she used to be intimidated by that prospect.

"When you're pregnant with your own baby, it's like teamwork — you and the baby working together to make their little life come true," she said. "You're doing all this work to eat well, try to not have anxiety, just do all the right things during the pregnancy."

But it's not easy to find the right surrogate , she added.

"With a surrogate, you have to try to go find a version of yourself somewhere out in the world. Somebody that you trust as much as yourself to live their life as a pregnant woman the same way that you would," she said.

A representative for Munn did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

People with uteruses are born with about one to two million eggs , and this number gradually decreases with age. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH , an obstetrician-gynecologist and chief executive of Power to Decide, told Business Insider that the likelihood of getting pregnant generally peaks between the late teens and the late 20s .

However, egg freezing is mainly recommended for those who have to undergo cancer treatment that will affect their future fertility, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists .

Due to the rise in hormone levels, there are side effects associated with egg freezing, including mood swings, headaches, and nausea. Some people might also experience cramps and bloating following the retrieval procedure.

There are many celebrities who have welcomed children via surrogacy , including Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, Paris Hilton, and Rebel Wilson.

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