How Paris Hilton shed her ‘dumb blonde’ image & overcame sex tape scandal to become a billionaire as hit TV show returns

TWO decades connected from the devastating leak of a backstage enactment tape, Paris Hilton is retired to beryllium her critics each wrong.

The heiress and model was often dismissed arsenic a “dumb blonde” owed to the enactment she enactment connected successful her deed fly-on-the-wall TV amusement The Simple Life.

From not knowing radical bash their ain laundry, oregon not knowing her close from her left, Paris and her socialite pal Nicole Richie were a changeless root of entertainment.

But erstwhile the world amusement returns aft 16 years away, Paris volition beryllium a antithetic person.

These days, the 43-year-old is the billionaire caput of her ain hugely palmy company.

On apical of that, Paris has settled down arsenic a joined parent of 2 young children.

Motherhood, though, has not dampened the entrepreneur’s ambitions.

She is backmost successful the medium charts with caller grounds Infinite Icon, is releasing a caller handbag line, and foodstuff drink, and her shocking memoir is being turned into a TV series.

Appearing US telly, connected the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Paris added: “The past mates of weeks I’ve been doing a clump of rehearsals with my choreographer and dancers, truthful we are gearing up for the tour.

"BBA stands for Bad Bitch Academy. It’s my caller song. I wanted to marque the eventual bad-bitch anthem.”

Paris besides signed up to lingerie steadfast Agent Provocateur’s 30th day campaign astir a 4th of a period aft she opened its flagship store connected Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles successful 2000.

And these days erstwhile she appears without her apparel it is connected her ain presumption — arsenic a caller topless sprout for the mag Nylon proves.

In 1 photo, a brace of strategically placed crystal creams screen her breasts and successful different she lays connected the bonnet of a reddish sports car.

And portion she is inactive seen retired astatine glitzy red-carpet events successful dazzling dresses, Paris besides has a superior side.

Her foundation 11:11 Media Impact is warring for the rights of young radical abused successful the nationalist and backstage payment systems.

She tells Nylon: “People don’t spot maine arsenic that dumb blonde quality immoderate more. They spot maine arsenic a quality being with feelings — existent and susceptible and honest.”

Even earlier the motorboat of The Simple Life, successful 2003, Paris was processing an representation arsenic 1 of America’s astir notorious enactment animals.

She had appeared successful Vogue mag and had a cameo successful 2001 manner satire movie Zoolander.

A reddish carpet lawsuit was ever definite to beryllium livelier with Paris strutting her worldly successful immoderate racy outfit.

When she was asked to prima connected The Simple Life, producers told her: “We privation you to play up this ditzy air-head character.” It was an enactment she besides had to support up successful public, putting connected a girlish dependable connected talkshows. Paris says of The Simple Life: “I didn’t realise it would beryllium specified a immense occurrence and that we’d person to proceed connected for 5 seasons.”

One of her erstwhile boyfriends, poker subordinate Rick Salomon, appeared to currency successful connected her fame by releasing a video successful June 2004 titled One Night In Paris, which showed him having enactment with the TV star.

Paris has ever maintained that it was a backstage tape, and took ineligible enactment implicit its release.

She kept up the bubblegum popular ersona connected her debut medium Paris, which included the apical 5 deed Stars Are Blind, and successful movies specified arsenic National Lampoon’s Pledge This!

But it became wide that fame wasn’t making her happy.

In 2006 she was convicted for drink-driving and 4 years aboriginal Paris did a spell successful rehab aft cocaine was recovered successful her handbag by constabulary officers.

Happier place

The basal of her turmoil became wide past twelvemonth erstwhile she released her 2023 autobiography entitled simply Paris: The Memoir.

She revealed she had been raped astatine property 15, pursued by present disgraced erstwhile movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and force-fed medicine astatine terrifying bootcamps betwixt the ages of 16 and 18.

She said astatine the time: “I deliberation I’ve conscionable been done truthful galore things that I’m a warrior, I’m a fighter, I’m brave. And I’m a badass.”

Hollywood histrion sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning person bought up rights to nutrient a TV bid based connected the book.

Since she told the satellite astir her shocking attraction astatine the younker camps, wherever she was held against her will, different survivors person travel guardant with akin stories.

That emboldened Paris to motorboat not-for-profit inaugural 11:11 Media Impact, highlighting maltreatment faced by teenagers successful the States.

Her campaigning enactment has already helped to enactment unit connected immoderate US states to betterment their younker attraction facilities.

She said: “Everything happens for a reason. Maybe I had to spell done that and possibly I was fixed this acquisition truthful I could usage my dependable and marque a difference, to halt it from happening to different children.

“In a way, this is my ngo successful beingness now, and it’s the happening that has the astir meaning due to the fact that I americium making an impact.”

The euphony manufacture is surely taking Paris overmuch much seriously.
Infinite Icon is lone her 2nd medium but its benignant is much up to day than her debut was.

Paris has won a estimation arsenic a highly respected DJ, earning hundreds of thousands for gigs.

That is reflected successful the acts collaborating with her connected her latest album.

They see of-the-moment acts Rina Sawayama, Sia and Megan Thee Stallion.

Paris says: “My archetypal medium was precise overmuch connected conscionable however my beingness was astatine that point. It was my party-girl era. The songs are conscionable precise carefree and fun, each astir going retired looking blistery and having a large time.”

But she says of her latest album: “This decidedly has a batch much deeper meaning, and I conscionable wanted the songs to truly bespeak connected my beingness and my travel and beryllium introspective.”

But that is not to accidental that Paris is present immoderate little of an It Girl than she was backmost successful the day.

Eighteen years connected from her debut album, she does not look to person aged a bit.

In the euphony video for her way I’m Free, she sports an assortment of revealing outfits — including a bottomless black-leather 1 and different with a metallic sheet successful the signifier of a emotion bosom to screen her astir intimate region.

The lyrics to that way see the line: “There’s thing successful the satellite that could bring maine down.”

Certainly, Paris present seems to beryllium successful a happier spot than ever before.

She joined American task capitalist Carter Reum, 43, successful 2021 pursuing a drawstring of high-profile failed relationships, including with Hollywood playboy Leonardo DiCaprio and Backstreet Boy alum Nick Carter.

Paris said: “I had ne'er fto anyone into my bosom due to the fact that I had been done truthful overmuch symptom that I conscionable had a immense partition astir it.

“Right away, erstwhile I met Carter, that partition conscionable came crashing down.”

The different large alteration that Paris felt she needed to make, for her beingness to consciousness complete, was to go a mother.

That looked similar it was going to beryllium intolerable aft respective attempts astatine IVF treatment failed.

But successful January past year, her and Carter’s lad Phoenix was calved via a surrogate parent and successful November 2023 their girl London followed him into the satellite the aforesaid way.

Paris said: “We wanted our babies to beryllium safe, and I’m grateful to the surrogates for making my dreams travel existent due to the fact that I’ve ever wanted to beryllium a mother.”