Hilton’s not-so-simple life documented

New documentary, The American Meme, shows the ‘real’ Paris Paris Hilton spoke at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of

NEW YORK— In a new documentary, Paris Hilton opens up about her not-so-simple life.

The hotel heiress and fashion mogul is one of the much-followed subjects of The American

Meme, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival late Friday night and tracks the rises (and falls) of social-media stars such as Hilton, Josh “The Fat Jew” Ostrovsky and Brittany Furlan.

Hilton, 37, is awarded the most screen time, recounting how she catapulted to fame at 19 after a risqué photo shoot for Vanity Fair with her sister, Nicky Hilton, and went on to star in reality TV show The Simple Life with Nicole Richie. But she perhaps made the most headlines in 2004 with a leaked sex tape with former boyfriend Rick Salomon, the fallout of which devastated Hilton.

“It was like being raped,” she said. “It felt like I’d lost part of my soul, and been talked about in such cruel and mean ways. I literally wanted to die at some points. I was like, ‘I just don’t want to live,’ because I thought everything was taken away from me. I didn’t want to be known as that.”

“I felt like the world was introduced to me through The Simple Life,” Hilton said at a post-screening Q&A. “There was no reality television back then, so it was very new. There was no social media, so I basically created this character that was basically what I thought the audience wanted, like, ‘Oh, she’s rich, so she needs to be a spoiled airhead.’ “When Bert told me about this film, he basically said, ‘Paris, you’re the O.G. of all this,’ ” The American Meme. she continued. “I really trusted him and … basically just wanted to show the real me, because I don’t think I ever have before.” Meme shows how Hilton continued to build her brand, even after the Kardashian-Jenner clan seized the reality TV spotlight: starting highly successful fashion and perfume lines, and bringing in six figures for DJ sets around the globe.

Now engaged to actor/model Chris Zylka, she told festivalgoers she’s looking forward to getting married this year and eventually having kids.

“I’m very excited for the next phase of my life and to start a family and find true happiness,” Hilton said. “Because yes, this is so much fun — I love what I’m doing, it’s great being in Ibiza every summer DJing until 8 in the morning — but sometimes it gets a little tiring. I’m still going to continue being the girl boss I am, but I’m also going to be a mom and I can’t wait for that day.”