Paris Hilton’s story is getting the podcast treatment, with Wondery’s original podcast “Even the Rich” launching its newest season focused on the heiress, entrepreneur and OG influencer. Over four episodes, co-hosts Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams take a deep dive into Hilton’s empire and “how this hotel heiress turned a provocative moment into super-stardom and how Paris built her persona brick by brick.” The first episode, which launched Tuesday, chronicles Hilton’s early days in the spotlight before “The Simple Life.”
“She seems like a ditzy wild child. At least that’s the way the media portrays her,” the hosts detail in the episode. “She’s always on Page Six for something or other like the time she danced on a nightclub table and flashed her thong to the paparazzi. Or the time her and Nicole Richie showed up to a club in matching denim suits and nothing else underneath. But what does Paris care if she’s sometimes the butt of people’s jokes. She pretty much has it all.”
Explaining why the podcast — which has chronicled the Versace family, the Kennedys, the Murdochs and Beyoncé and Jay-Z to date — focused on Hilton for its latest season, Skidmore-Williams says, “There’s so much more to her than what the 2000s media would have us believe – she’s been through a lot. Paris is quite the savvy businesswoman. She used her knowledge and experience to curate the brand she wanted for herself.”
“Like many, my original fascination with Paris was brought on by the outrageous public image I was seeing in tabloids and on TV,” Siffrinn adds. “But I had no idea the trauma she suffered as a teen at Provo Canyon School. My jaw definitely met the floor when I discovered the details of what really happened.”
Hilton recently revealed her experiences at the Provo Canyon School on her YouTube Originals documentary, titled “This Is Paris.” The film, which launched in September, chronicled Hilton’s rise to fame and childhood traumas from her perspective.
“I feel by me telling my story and having the courage and being brave is going to help a lot of other people who want to come out and tell their story,” Hilton told Variety ahead of its launch. “And expose these places for what they’re doing to children. My ultimate goal is to shut these places down because they shouldn’t exist and no child should ever have to go through what I went through.”
Though Hilton is not involved in telling her story on the “Even the Rich” podcast, the show’s hosts feel confident that the media maven will approve of their take.
“I believe Paris and the Hilton family will love it,” Skidmore-Williams says. “We worked so hard to honor the people behind the Hilton name and this arc tells their story with humor and poignancy while sticking to the facts.”
Siffrinn adds: “They’ll see that we really do Paris justice as the ‘OG Influencer.’ We spent hours and hours watching, reading and understanding Paris and the history of the Hiltons.”
“Even the Rich” is just one of podcast producer Wondery’s offerings, with original shows including “Bad Batch,” “The Shrink Next Door,” “Business Wars,” “American History Tellers,” “Tides of History,” “The Daily Smile” and “Imagined Life.” Both Wondery’s “Joe Exotic: Tiger King” and “Dr. Death” podcasts are in development for TV adaptations with Universal Content Productions.
In December, Amazon announced a deal to acquire Wondery, with the podcast producer set to join the Amazon Music group.
“With Amazon Music, Wondery will be able to provide even more high-quality, innovative content and continue their mission of bringing a world of entertainment and knowledge to their audiences, wherever they listen,” a post announcing the deal explained.
Since “Even the Rich” launched in March 2020, Wondery reports that the show has doubled its audience base, through gossip-friendly episodes like their examination of the #FreeBritney movement. Hilton is also not the only reality TV figure the “Even the Rich” team plan to explore, with episodes about the Kardashian family in the works.
Source: variety.com
