Image Source: Kevin Ostaevski
For many, their first introduction to Paris Hilton came through her early reality show The Simple Life. The series, in which Hilton and her pal Nicole Richie were relocated from their upscale surroundings to live with middle-class families and blue-collar jobs, is a time capsule of the early noughties. While the show, which turns 20 this year, is loved by many, it showed a very different Hilton than the world has come to know over the past few years. And with the release of her deeply personal memoir, “Paris,” a quite concretized picture of the triumphs and tribulations of the multihyphenate has developed.
Asked specifically what she would say to the Paris of yesteryear—an on-screen character she created with an unmistakably childlike voice, and a very real young woman who had a traumatic stay at a highly maligned, troubled teen camp, Provo Canyon High, only to to be a frequent topic in the hateful tabloids – the Hilton has a special message. “I would tell her that you’re going through some really hard and difficult times and sometimes people will be mean and your feelings will be hurt, but one day people will really see you for who you are.” you are, and respect you, and look at you,” Hilton tells the popular publication Popsugar after the release of her memoirs. “[I’d say] just stay strong and know that one day your story will have such a meaning and impact on others.”
The impact Hilton is talking about is tangible. After the shocking accusations of her documentary 2020 As for her treatment in the aforementioned camp, Hilton has tested before several state legislatures and worked directly with Congress to get investigations into big players in the troubled teen industry like Provo. She was an essential part of moving forward. Institutional Child Abuse Ending Actwhich, among other things, will aim to combat the inhuman treatment practices in collective care institutions and will prioritize not only the physical well-being, but also the social and emotional well-being of young people.
“I feel so empowered by all the survivors in this community,” Hilton says, noting the “hundreds of thousands of children” who have been sent to institutions for troubled teens. “Everyone is so brave and resilient and going through what we went through and meeting people who went through the same experience as me and just thousands and thousands of letters just touch my heart every single day. And just to know that the kids out there know that I’m fighting for them and will be the hero I always needed when I was a little girl.”
Hero Paris is just the last hat she wears. She was Paris’s socialite, then a singer and DJ, then an actress, and now a writer – and a mother. Hilton announced the birth of her first child, a boy named Phoenix, earlier this year. Like advocacy, Hilton enjoys this role. “I feel like I was born to be a mom,” she says. “I love every minute with him. He is so precious and my heart is just so overflowing and I am so excited about all the experiences with him.”
“I feel like I was born to be a mom.”
Hilton confirms the oft-repeated statement of parents that there is no love like loving your child. “You don’t fully understand it until you experience it,” she explains. “But from the very first moment, I was so whole… it was like my priorities had shifted. It just completely changed my outlook on life.”
However, motherhood won’t stop Hilton. Of course, she’s promoting Paris: A Memoir; she is working on her second album; she has her own media company 11:11 and new seasons of Paris in Love and Trapped in the Cure. Hilton says: “I like to show that you can do anything. You don’t have to be one thing.”
Image Source: Brendan Forbes KGM
But just because she stays busy doesn’t mean Hilton hasn’t taken the time to process some of her life’s most painful moments as she bares them to the world. “I write about things I never told anyone about and a lot of traumatic experiences that I tried to bury and tried never to think about,” she says, explaining that she reviewed her own diaries and talked about her experiences with friends. before passing them to the page. “So to write it all down, it was just extremely therapeutic and healing and cathartic.”
“I know there are so many people who have suffered in life and they are holding on to shame. And shame should not be on them.
She adds, “I think this is one of the important takeaways from this: I know there are so many people who have been hurt in life and they hold on to shame. And shame should not be on them. And that’s what I want to say to so many young girls, especially. And I wish I had a book like this when I was a teenager.”
Image Sources: Randy St. Nicholas
Hilton is “proud” of his experience. “I have lived a very busy life,” she assures. “There is such power in being vulnerable and telling your story.”
And it’s a story we’ll always want to read. Paris: A Memoir is now available for purchase.
