PARIS HILTON
Heiress. Party girl. Inĥuencer. Reality star. These are all adjectives that have been used to label The Simple Life star, 42, but with the release of Paris: The Memoir (March 14), Hilton is hoping to change the descriptors to entrepreneur, survivor, activist, wife and mother. In her upcoming chronicle, she reveals the deĤning moments of her life and how she created a multibillion-dollar empire and found fulĤllment.
You had already written Confessions of an Heiress. So why the new book? That was more of a fun, tongue-in-cheek book. This book is very serious and it’s my life story, everything that I’ve gone through. I felt that my documentary,
This Is Paris, was the first time that I had really been vulnerable and showed who
I truly was. I felt there was so much more to the story. I think it’s an important story, especially for young girls to read.
I wish I had had this type of book back when I was a teenager.
How did surviving abuse at a psychiatric youth residential treatment center lead to who you are today? That definitely made me strong and able to have a really
tough skin to make it through anything.
It also gave me the drive to work hard to become successful, so that no one would be able to control me again.
Is your work trying to pass laws for troubled teens to show solidarity to other young people? [My experience] was so traumatizing that I kept it in for over 20 years. That was because these places really instill shame. That’s what they do to the children to keep them silent. Me using my voice has resulted in more change and more impact than in the past 60 years of people trying to fight for this, so I’m just going to continue to help let people know what’s happening behind closed doors. I’ve already
changed laws, and I introduced my bill a few months back in D.C., so it’ll be illegal in all 50 states for children to be abused at these places.
It’s incredible that you were able to
forgive your parents. As a teenager,
I didn’t know what I know now. Now I understand that the parents of these children are just as much the victims as the children. These places lie, they have deceptive marketing, they manipulate the families. My parents thought they were sending me to a normal boarding school. They had no idea. When you look back, are there any regrets? I am such a strong woman because of everything that I’ve been through. I feel like everything we go through in life just builds you up to be a stronger and better person.