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Feb 10, 2021

Paris Hilton Is ‘Grateful’ Carter Reum Was in Court as She Testified Against Boarding School: Source

Paris Hilton had support from boyfriend Carter Reum as she testified against her former Utah boarding school.

Hilton, 39, appeared in a Utah court this week to give testimony against Provo Canyon School — the school whose staff members she has accused of inflicting emotional, physical and psychological abuse on her during her stay as a teenager.

Reum, 40, joined her on the trip to provide support, as seen in PEOPLE’s exclusive photos of the couple at the Utah State Capitol Building in Salt Lake City.

“Paris is so grateful that Carter joined her on the trip to Utah. She was so nervous to get up there and say her testimonial, but having him by her side made her feel much more comfortable,” a source tells PEOPLE.

On Monday, Hilton gave her testimony to the Utah Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee.

“My name is Paris Hilton, I am an institutional abuse survivor and I speak today on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently in residential care facilities across the United States,” she began. “For the past 20 years, I have had a recurring nightmare where I’m kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, strip-searched, and locked in a facility. I wish I could tell you that this haunting nightmare was just a dream, but it is not.”

Hilton then recounted her allegations against Provo Canyon School, saying, “I was verbally, mentally and physically abused on a daily basis. I was cut off from the outside world and stripped of all my human rights.”

The entrepreneur previously made her allegations against the school in the YouTube Originals documentary This Is Paris that premiered in September. Ahead of its release, the school told PEOPLE: “Originally opened in 1971, Provo Canyon School was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000. We therefore cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to this time.”

In a second and more lengthy statement issued on Sept. 17, after the release of the documentary, the school said staff does not use “‘solitary confinement’ as a form of intervention” or prescribe “any drug or medication as a means of discipline” and that it does “not condone or promote any form of abuse.”

The source says that as Hilton bravely gave her testimony, Reum was “beaming with pride.”

“Carter is so supportive and incredibly proud of her and her advocacy work. He was sitting in the courtroom behind her beaming with pride,” says the source. “She has grown so much over the past year and they are excited for their future.”

The couple, who have been dating since 2019, recently celebrated Reum’s 40th birthday together. For the special occasion, Hilton gifted her boyfriend a life-sized portrait of the two, based on a photo snapped by friend Paris Jackson in December of 2019.

“Happy Birthday my love!😍 So excited to celebrate it again with you this year! 🥳 You light up my world, you are my everything and make me the happiest girl in the world every single day!” Hilton wrote alongside an Instagram video of her surprising Reum with the painting. “I love the way you make me smile and feel and your magical kisses are everything! 🥰.”

“You are so incredibly special to me and I will spend the rest of my life making sure you know that every day,” she continued. “I love you forever my sweet, kind, handsome, romantic, brilliant #BirthdayBoy! 🎈🎂🤴🏻🎈.”

Source: people.com

Feb 5, 2021

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Paris Hilton Has a Podcast, With a Twist

Podcasting holds a strong allure for would-be media disrupters and visionaries. In the still-developing medium, they see wet clay, capable of being molded into an ideal vessel for long-form narrative journalism or fiction or game shows or musicals or memoir.

Add Paris Hilton to their ranks. Hilton, master of an earlier mass-communications era in the tabloid-fueled early aughts, is getting into the podcast business with a new company, her own show and an unusual spin on a form that will seek to create an audio equivalent to social media.

“This Is Paris” will debut on Feb. 22 in partnership with iHeartMedia, the radio giant that has become one of the largest distributors of podcasts, with more than 750 shows collecting more than 250 million downloads per month. Aimed at Hilton’s over 40 million followers across social media platforms, the new show will offer a mix of personal content and conversations with her family, friends and other celebrities. It will be the flagship of a planned slate of seven shows to be produced by Hilton’s company, London Audio, and the iHeartPodcast Network. The other programs, featuring different hosts, will be released over the next three years.

“I’ve always been an innovator and first mover when it comes to reality TV, social, D.J.ing, and now I really believe that voice and audio is the next frontier,” she said in an interview.

A key feature of her podcast will be its use of a format that Hilton is calling “Podposts”: short (between one and three minutes), stripped-down dispatches meant to mimic the cadence and tone of posts on social media. The “This Is Paris” podcast feed will host longer (around 45 minutes), more traditionally produced episodes weekly, with intermittent Podposts filling in the gap several times per week.

“I really believe that it is like another form of social media,” Hilton explained. “I do so many things — being a D.J., a businesswoman, a designer and an author — so there will be a lot for me to talk about.”

Preplanned categories of Podposts will be inspired by Hilton’s famous catchphrases, including “That’s Hot” for product recommendations, “Loves It” for culture recommendations and “This Is my Hotline,” in which Hilton will respond to voice mail messages sent in by listeners. Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network, said the company is currently looking to partner with brands for sponsorship at different levels.

“Her power to recommend products to her fans that she believes in is just about unrivaled,” Byrne said.

Since the end of “The Simple Life,” her reality television series with Nicole Richie, in 2007, Hilton, who will turn 40 this month, has branched into a wide range of industries through her company, Paris Hilton Entertainment. Its assets include 45 retail stores and 19 product lines across categories like fragrance, fashion and accessories. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Hilton was a sought-after D.J. around the world, for which she has been paid a reported $1 million per gig.

In this new deal, iHeartMedia will fully fund the slate of shows produced in partnership with London Audio at a budget of multiple millions of dollars. The two companies will be joint partners in each show and split all revenue streams. After “This Is Paris,” the rest of the slate is expected to be geared toward subjects including beauty, wellness, dating, philanthropy and technology, with Hilton and Bruce Gersh, the president of London Audio, serving as executive producers.

“This is a medium that has so many dimensions and really allows you to connect to an audience in a unique way,” Gersh said. “Paris wanted to jump in wholeheartedly.”

Hilton, who named “Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions” and Kate and Oliver Hudson’s “Sibling Revelry” as among her favorite shows, immersed herself in the medium while grounded at home in Los Angeles during the pandemic.

“Usually, I’m traveling 250 days a year and working constantly,” she said. “During this whole year in quarantine, I’ve had more free time than I’ve ever had in my career. So I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts and getting really interested. When I’m cooking or working or doing my art, I always have them on in the background.”

Podcasts have become a favored outlet for celebrities seeking to engage with fans in more depth than is possible in a typical post on Instagram or Twitter, while avoiding the scrutiny and vulnerability that comes with speaking to the press. Name recognition is a powerful advantage on the platform — shows by celebrity podcasters like Dax Shepard, Jason Bateman, Anna Faris and Bill Burr appear regularly in the top 50 of the Apple Podcasts charts. (In addition to the Hilton deal, iHeartMedia has struck joint partnerships with Will Ferrell and Shonda Rhimes for slates of shows.) And podcast audiences tend to be a relatively friendly bunch: There are no comments sections to elevate unpleasant behavior, and podcasts by their nature require a level of active engagement that discourages drive-by detractors.

“I think once people understand that this is a platform where they can directly interact with their fans without any kind of middleperson, it becomes a very attractive proposition,” said Tom Webster, senior vice president of Edison Research, a media research firm.

Webster added that Hilton’s Podposts concept reminded him of the proto-podcast field of audio blogging, in which writers for websites like The Quiet American and The Greasy Skillet posted short audio diaries. “It allows them to stretch out into their personal interests in a way they don’t get to in their day job,” he said.

“This Is Paris” shares a name with Hilton’s YouTube documentary, released last fall. In that film, which has nearly 20 million views, she distances herself from the blithe, ditsy persona with which she has been identified since emerging in the glare of paparazzi bulbs two decades ago. Hilton also says that she was abused by administrators at a private boarding school she attended as a teenager, an experience by which she remains traumatized.

The podcast is meant to follow in the same candid vein. Hilton is recording it at a home studio (built for her music projects) and using her much-discussed natural voice (which, to my ear, is deeper than her most girlish trill but not a dramatic departure).

“She talks in a way that’s very relaxed and accessible, as opposed to someone who is putting on a performance,” Byrne said. “Right away she was a natural at making it feel like a one-on-one phone call and not a one-to-many media asset.”

For Hilton, recording the pilot for the show did feel uncomfortable at first — unlike on social media, there were no glamorous photos or videos to hide behind. “It’s only about the knowledge you’re bringing and what you’re saying with your voice,” she said.

But soon she fell into a groove. After a lifetime of being the subject of interviews, she’s been enjoying “turning the tables” as the one asking questions. Compared with her old jobs, the commute isn’t bad either.

“I love being a homebody,” she said, reflecting on her new chapter. “I’ve worked so incredibly hard to build my empire — now I get to finally enjoy it.”

Source: nytimes.com

Dec 2, 2020

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Paris Hilton on Her New Coach Campaign, the Return of Y2K Style, and What She’s Doing for the Holidays

Paris Hilton is the queen of the 2000s—no contest. She dominated the era with her bedazzled Juicy Couture tracksuits (which are back, by the way), iconic designer bags, and huge sunglasses. It’s no wonder that Coach casted her for a new Y2K-inspired project: Hilton stars alongside Kim Petras and Rickey Thompson in a new bag campaign that honors the label’s re-released Swinger bag. The Swinger is an archival Coach bag that channels the shoulder bags of the early-aughts (the label revamped it, however, with luxe leather and its signature monogram print).

Starring in the holiday campaign was nostalgic for Hilton. “I’ve always loved Coach since I was a teenager,” Hilton says. “I remember in New York when I went to the Coach store and bought my first bag. My mom always had amazing [Coach bags] too, and my sister and I would always go into her closet and play dress up.” As a notorious bag lover in general—can you even think of the 2000s without remembering her endless array of Louis Vuittons?—Hilton knows a bag can make or break your look, and says a sleek shoulder bag like the Swinger is a timeless Y2K style she’s always gravitated towards. “Having a handbag is such an important accessory to an outfit,” she says. “I love that they’re bringing it back.”

Below, Vogue asked Hilton her thoughts on Y2K style coming back, what her designer bag collection looks like, and what she’ll be doing for the holidays this year.

You’re a well-documented bag lover. What, to you, makes a perfect bag?
The most important thing for me is the style and design of the bag, and what it looks like on the outside. Something that’s a statement piece and stands out. But also, what’s inside is important: I love when there’s different pockets for your phone or your lip gloss. I always love something that is actually useful and makes my life easier.

You’ve owned many icon designer bags over the years, especially from the 2000s. Do you still have them?
I have a lot of bags from over the years, from shopping or designers sending me certain things. During the early 2000s, I actually got rid of a lot of my bags, because I just had so many that couldn’t fit. When Kim [Kardashian West] had her eBay business, she helped me get rid of a lot of the things that I didn’t need. She was always very organized, and I’m like the most disorganized person in the world. But I have kept some. I obviously have my Louis Vuitton bags that I love, the Fendi Baguettes, the [Dior] Saddle bags, all my Chanels. I’ve been collecting Judith Leiber [bags] since I was a teenager, so I have a lot of those, which are very 2000s.

Were there any bags you regret giving away?
Yes! Because now the 2000s are coming back in such a huge way in fashion. There’s so many things that I thought, ‘This isn’t in fashion anymore, just get rid of it.’ And now I wish I hadn’t, especially my Dior monogrammed [bags]. A lot of stuff, too, was stolen by the Bling Ring. They literally came in here eight times when I was out of town, and every time they would pick up as much as they could fit in their arms. They stole like all my Birkin bags, all of my iconic Dior bags, my Louis Vuittons—anything that was designer, they took. It’s heartbreaking because I’ll never be able to replace any of that.

What are five things that you always have in your bag?
I’m like Mary Poppins: I like to carry around everything. I’m always prepared for every situation. Lighting is very important to me for photos, so I always have my holographic Lumi case from my collaboration with them. It makes selfies look perfect. My iPhones, of course. I have these really cute hand sanitizer bottles that I bought at Kitson that are covered in Swarovski crystals—it kind of looks like a Judith Leiber bag. They’re really extra and glamorous. Carrying around a normal Purell bottle is beyond, I don’t like it. If we’re gonna have to do all this, I’d rather make it fashionable—same with my masks. I always carry around my Paris Hilton lip gloss, and my perfume. I just released my 28th fragrance, so I always have at least one of my 28 perfumes in my bag at all times, because I love the way it makes me feel when I spray it.

Since your campaign is very 2000s-inspired, what do you think is the key to pulling off Y2K style today?
It’s really about just being as extra as possible. With social media, it’s really important to have exciting pieces that are going to be really beautiful visually, in a photo or on Snapchat or TikTok. With fashion right now, people just want to show off what they have in their content, so it’s important to wear something that will grab your eye and attention.

This is a holiday campaign, so what do you think you’ll be doing for the holidays this year?
Every single year, my sister and I usually throw a huge Christmas party at my house. It’s called ‘Holidaze with the Hiltons.’ It’s the most epic, crazy party every year. Hundreds of people come and there’s amazing performances. It’s sick. And then two days later, we will host my parents’s Christmas party with them at their house, which is obviously a lot more chill. But with the pandemic, we’re not going to be doing that. This will be the first year that I’m not having a Christmas party in I don’t even know how long, which is sad, but obviously it wouldn’t be appropriate to throw a big Christmas bash. I spent last Christmas with my boyfriend’s family: We went to Michigan and then to Yellowstone to go skiing. So this year, we’re trying to decide if we’re going to go to Michigan, or maybe go to an island or on a boat somewhere.

Are you big on holiday dressing in general? Do you plan on getting festive, even if you’re at home?
Yes, I love it. I always love to wear something festive in bright red or in velvet—something really beautiful that stands out. I also always get a Mrs. Claus outfit made, and I usually wear it when I go to the L.A. Mission, a homeless shelter downtown. I bring gifts and food for all the kids and people that are there. If I have my Christmas parties, in the beginning I’ll wear a really beautiful sparkly holiday dress, and then I’ll change into a sexier Santa outfit. And I dress up all the dogs, too. I just ordered a bunch of Santa and elf costumes for them on Petco this weekend, and all these crazy decorations. I like to decorate their doggie mansion and give them a tiny little Christmas tree.

I’m also used to hosting the most incredible New Year’s Eve parties every single year in Miami, Australia, Vegas, New York—wherever I am. I’ve been doing that forever, and this year will be the first year that I’m not hosting something. But I’ll still dress up, because it’s New Year’s Eve, and I love collecting memories with photos and videos. I’ll be capturing the memories of my boyfriend and I’s second Christmas and New Year’s together.

Source: vogue.com

Nov 26, 2020

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