Paris Hilton Says Demi Lovato Documentary Inspired Her to Share Past Abuse: ‘I Envied That Acceptance’
Paris: The Memoir, released Tuesday (March 14), sees heiress Paris Hilton opening up about several of the misconceptions around her life and career in the public eye.
Of the many topics covered, Hilton revealed that Demi Lovato gave her inspiration to come forward about her own story of abuse, shared her thoughts about being parodied in the music video for P!nk‘s 2006 hit “Stupid Girls,” and shed some additional light on what led to the now-infamous photograph of her, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.
Released in 2017, Lovato’s Simply Complicated documentary covered the singer’s personal struggles with abuse and coping in the public eye. “I was as stunned as the rest of the world by how real, vulnerable, and courageous she was in the Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated documentary in 2017,” Hilton recalled in the memoir. “In the doc, Demi shared a painful reckoning with a difficult past; in person, I saw her in the midst of an intense journey of self-acceptance and discovery. I envied that acceptance. I wanted that discovery for myself.”
As for P!nk’s “Stupid Girls,” Hilton said the pop star made the explicit decision to sing “about ‘outcasts and girls with ambition’” and chose “not to see it in me.”
“When everyone was buzzing about a sex tape of a certain teenage girl from a soon-to-be-hit TV show — a girl who said emphatically over and over that she did not want the tape out there — the takeaway was ‘Stupid Girl,’” Hilton said of P!nk in the book. “The whole video is a not-at-all-subtle send-up of ‘porno paparazzi girls’ in general and, specifically, me, in a parody of my infamous sex tape.”
She continued, “[The tape was] made when I was not legally old enough to be served a rum and coke in a bar, was released and monetized against my will, but when that thing hit the internet, the full weight of public outrage, scorn, and disgust came down on me instead of on the massive crowd of people who bought and sold it.”
The same year that “Stupid Girls” was released, Hilton was under media scrutiny again for what the media dubbed the “bimbo summit” — a photograph of her alongside Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan squeezed into a two-seat Mercedes-Benz. According to Hilton, she and Spears escaped a party through a bathroom window to not be rude to the hosts; Lohan was also leaving the same party days after she allegedly bit Hilton on the arm.
“[Lohan’s publicist] Elliot [Miltz] brought her over to the car and opened the door. To get her out of the rain, maybe? Or maybe to clear up any crazy rumors that might be flying around?” Hilton wrote. “And then Lindsay got in the car, which was kind of awkward because I was driving a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren that had only two seats.”
Following the memoir’s release, Hilton took to Instagram to share her excitement about its arrival. “Today is the day. My book, “Paris: The Memoir” is available NOW!” she captioned a series of photos of her posing with the book. “Writing this book has been one of the most terrifying yet rewarding things I’ve ever done. I can’t wait for you to get to know the real me.”
Paris: The Memoir is available for purchase now.
Starr Bowenbank
Billboard