At the turn of the century, Paris Hilton was one of the world's biggest celebrities. Named "New York's leading 'It' girl" in 2001, Paris seemed to have everything the tabloids were looking for. She was young, rich, pretty, and rebellious. Paris never said no to a big party, and she loved to get romantically involved with famous men.
But fame is a delicate game. Suddenly, Paris's name was no longer in the newspaper headlines, her slim figure was no longer making it to magazine covers, and her rich-girl ways were no longer causing a sensation on reality-TV. What happened? How could it be that one of the world's most mediatic personalities faded away without anyone even noticing? And what is she doing now? It seems like you have all the questions, so allow us to provide you with the answers.
A Rising Star
To understand what happened to Paris Hilton, one needs to understand where she came from. Growing up as a Hilton, Paris knew money would never be a problem. But she wasn't happy with simply being the heiress to a multi-million dollar hotel empire. Paris also wanted to be famous, so she started modeling at a very young age.
Her impressive looks and charm eventually convinced Donald Trump's T Management modeling agency to sign her. She was only 19-years-old at the time. In little more than one year, Paris went from being a relatively unknown upcoming model to being virtually everywhere. And it was all kickstarted by a now-classic Vanity Fair photoshoot.
A Defining Moment
Captured by the lenses of the renowned photographer David Lachapelle, the Hilton sisters posed for a breakthrough Vanity Fair piece in 2000. At the time, Paris's younger sister Nicky was only 16! Nicknamed the "Hip-hop Debs," the Hilton sisters looked wild and sensational, but their story was what truly captured the attention of the readers.
In the piece, Paris and Nicky's life was described as a sort of teenage paradise. During the photo shoot, they were surrounded by lots of high-profile celebrities, including Ben Stiller, who was researching for his upcoming role in the movie Zoolander. Not cracking to pressure, the Hilton sisters smiled and posed like true professionals.
A Life To Envy?
In a world before the Kardashians, back when reality-TV was taking its first steps, the Vanity Fair coverage of the Hiltons was a novelty. These two beautiful young girls had access to a multi-million dollar fortune and were living the high life, getting promoted in a prominent fashion magazine, and making it to an afterparty in New York City's hippest nightclub.
Their fairytale life seemed way too good to be true, but they were planning on grabbing it by the collar. Not shying away from their opportunity to shine, Paris and Nicky were ready to take the world by storm. Paris, in particular, seemed to be strangely at ease amongst the adults, posing charmingly as real-life Barbie doll.
The World's Most Famous Model?
By 2001, Paris Hilton was one of the world's most famous female models. At New York Fashion Week, she modeled for the Italian brand Iceberg. A natural on the catwalk, Paris was an expert at grabbing the attention of the crowd, and she continued to make it to the pages of magazines such as FHM, Tatler, and Vogue.
Eventually, Paris's fame went way beyond the world of fashion. Fans were always curious about finding out what Paris was up to, and celebrity media allowed her career to flourish by covering her every move. Soon enough, she was ready to make some big moves.
Zoolander & Public Appearances
Once you're getting invited to play a cameo in a major Hollywood blockbuster, that's when you know that you're genuinely famous. It happened to Paris in 2001, with the movie Zoolander; her appearance was brief but memorable, branding her as one of fashion's most prominent icons of the time. Her one line? "Hey Derek, you rule."
In 2001, Paris also made her first high-profile paid public appearance. She was asked by George Maloof Jr. to appear dressed in $1 million poker chips at a Palms Casino Resort event in Las Vegas. Paid public appearances would become a trademark of her career in the future.
The Tape
Paris was always a polarizing celebrity. You could either love her or hate her. But one mishap changed it all for the American socialite. When her now-iconic private tape became public, something changed in the viewer's perception. Paris was no longer the rich, beautiful heiress. She was now the official scandalous celebrity figure of the 2000s.
Even though Paris's private tape weighed heavily on her reputation, it did help her career a lot. With reality-TV shows booming on the ratings, it was only a matter of time until the controversial Hilton heiress got her show, especially after the release of the tape everybody was talking about.
The (Not So) Simple Life
In 2003, Fox's brilliant idea of getting the likes of Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton to live in a rural community of Arkansas resulted in a whopping 79% increase in ratings. There was no doubt about it: Paris was a money-maker, and viewers could not help it but tune in to check on what she was doing.
The Simple Life quickly became one of the U.S.'s most popular reality-TV shows, and Paris was the embodiment of everything reality-TV represented. It's something you don't want to watch, that you judge as miserable, but that you simply cannot turn off. Exactly like Paris, who was quickly becoming the tabloid's favorite talking point.
The 'Dumb Blonde' Character
Reality-TV prospers by presenting a simplified version of the reality. This may help to explain why The Simple Life has contributed heavily to the characterization of Paris Hilton as the typical 'dumb blonde.' It's hard to say how much of dumb-blonde was truly part of Paris, and how much was staged for the sake of the ratings. But that, in a nutshell, is the magic of reality television.
Following the massive success of The Simple Life, Paris decided to go on full-celebrity mode and started doing everything she could to promote and capitalize on her name. She began designing jewelry, publishing books, and selling music records.
The Do-It-All Paris Hilton
In the mid-2000s, Paris decided to try everything she could. And surprise, surprise, she was a non-stop money-making machine. She continued to appear in movies, she became a purse and jewelry designer for brands such as Samantha Thavasa and Amazon, and she even released her first autobiographical book, titled Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose.
Paris also created an exclusive line of perfumes and released her first musical record in 2006. Simply titled 'Paris,' the album sold over 600,000 copies and reached number 6 on Billboard 200, despite being very poorly received by the music critics.
A Horror Story
In 2005, Paris Hilton landed her first significant film role. She was used to appearing in movies, but never like this. In the slasher film House Of Wax, she was the main character, as well as the actress leading the cast. However, Paris's presence in House Of Wax may have been yet another publicity stunt.
Paris was the main focus of the marketing department of the movie, which was, at one point, promoted with the slogan "see Paris die." The strategy worked wonderfully for House Of Wax but wasn't very helpful for Paris's serious acting career. Was it possible that her fame ruined her one real shot to make it on the big screen?
Can Anybody Take Her Seriously?
Following years of tabloid controversies, cringy The Simple Life scenes, and terrible movie parts, it seemed like audiences would never be able to take Paris Hilton seriously. Wanting to be a movie star, Paris continued to try her best to become a serious actress. But her acting attempts always ended up in failure.
Paris missed the 2006 Cannes Film Festival premiere of National Lampoon's Pledge This! for reportedly being over-objectified by the director and producers, who insisted on including more steamy scenes than Paris had hoped for. Two years later, her rom-com The Hottie and the Nottie flopped miserably, with Hilton being subsequently awarded the Razzie Award for Worst Actress.
The Bad Rep Takes Its Toll
In the mid-2000s, the status of Paris Hilton as the new "It" girl was long gone. She was no longer the beautiful heiress whose fabulous life every young girl envied. Paris was now the punchline to countless jokes, the ultimate example of a spoiled celebrity, the once-talented model who was now simplified as the "dumb blonde."
To make it worse, she was always making headlines for the wrong reasons. At one point, Paris was getting a lot of hate from the LGBT community after reportedly calling them "disgusting" during a recorded conversation in a cab. In the end, it was all a misunderstanding, but the general public tended to only focus on the bad part.
Bad Influence?
Eventually, Paris Hilton's bad fame started affecting her personal life. The reality-show The Simple Life was temporarily suspended after she got into a big fight with co-star Nicole Richie. In the celebrity world, she started to be seen as a bad influence. Hanging out with Paris was once cool, but not anymore.
Celebrities like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan used to love to go out with the socialite, but hanging out with Paris started to be seen more like a curse and less like a good time. Just like Paris suffered from the relentless attention of the paparazzi, so did Britney and Lindsay. Eventually, Paris started running out of celebrity friends.
The Beginning of The End
Yes, fame is a delicate game, and Paris was about to learn it the hard way. After her 2003 to 2008 peak of popularity, she continued to collaborate with countless brands and got involved in numerous commercial projects, often being used as a publicity prop to get attention from the media.
Back in 2011, her days of being the undisputed queen of the jet-set world were long gone. During an interview on Good Morning America, she was asked if she believed she was still relevant. Her answer? Getting up and leaving the set. It was the beginning of the end for the Hilton heiress.
Tough Competition
To make things worse for Paris Hilton, she was no longer the world's only young and famous trendsetter. With shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, reality-TV producers started promoting numerous new celebrities, such as the Kardashian girls themselves. Kim, who was a close friend of Paris, learned from her best features and tried to avoid her worst mistakes.
The result? Kim eventually rose in the celebrity world to become the celebrity queen she is today. With social media gaining more and more importance, it also didn't help that Paris was not precisely famous on the Internet. Kim, meanwhile, excelled at branding herself as an online influencer.
The World According to Paris
In 2011, Paris Hilton's new reality show premiered on Oxygen. The World According to Paris, followed the daily life of the American socialite and featured her court-ordered community service sentence, as well as her luxurious birthday party. However, the show flopped in the ratings. As it turned out, viewers were no longer interested in finding out more about Paris Hilton's world views...
The show was often compared with the superior Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and The New York Times referred to Paris as "a Sony Walkman in an iPod era, a Friendster in the age of Facebook." The World According to Paris was never renewed for a second season, being cut short after only eight episodes.
Date Much?
Paris Hilton's tumultuous day-to-day reflected heavily on her personal life. Associated with many men, she struggled to keep a stable relationship and dated numerous high-profile figures over the years. Most of Paris's flings were never officially confirmed, such as her alleged nights out with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo.
But she was engaged in more than one occasion since the early 2000s. Paris dated the American model Jason Shaw between 2002 and 2003, musician Nick Carter in 2004, actor/rapper Simon Cox between 2004 and 2008 (an on and off relationship), the Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis between 2004 and 2006, and the list goes on...
Men, Men, Men
She dated actor/producer Tyler Atkins briefly in 2007, got cozy with the late DJ Adam Goldstein, got involved with musician Benji Madden in 2008, with former baseball player Doug Reinhardt between 2009 and 2010. Paris was also involved with Cy Waits between 2010 and 2011, with musician Afrojack between 2011 and 2012, and with Spanish model River Viiperi between 2012 and 2014.
In 2017, Paris became publically engaged to the model/actor Chris Zylka, but it was still not the moment for Paris to settle down. In November 2018, the high-profile pair split and called the wedding off. Always looking for "the one," Paris seems to be very unlucky when it comes to love.
Rebranded as a DJ
Following the unsuccess of The World According to Paris, the socialite decided to explore a new career and started DJing all around the world. She reportedly was paid as much as $340K per hour, which was not a bad deal at all! But Paris's decision to start working as a DJ was heavily criticized by many renowned DJs at the time, such as Deadmau5 and Samantha Ronson.
By the end of 2014, Paris was able to become the highest-paid female DJ in the world. Her fame attracted thousands to events all over Europe, South Korea, and North America, and she became a favorite amongst party organizers and nightclub owners.
Paid to Appear
In-between her worldwide DJ gigs, Paris Hilton, continued to work in commercials and to make special paid appearances. She was featured in a memorable Carl's Jr. ad and worked in a campaign for the German supermarket chain Lidl. In 2012, Paris was reportedly paid $1 million to appear in the music video of the South-Korean singer Kim Jang-hoon.
Up until now, Paris continues to be associated with all sorts of campaigns. From promoting a Hong Kong mobile game to helping the Weizmann Institute of Science to produce an elaborate April's Fool prank, Paris did it all. Meanwhile, she continued to venture into business, releasing yet another line of perfumes and opening a controversial store in Mecca.
Paris Hilton, the Businesswoman
Yes, Paris Hilton had a hard time adapting to the ever-changing world of fame and celebrity. But when it comes to making money, there are few people as talented as she is. In 2012, a journalist from The Guardian stated that Paris's brand was more effective at spreading the American Dream around the globe than the U.S. military ever was.
That year, the Paris Hilton Enterprises had just generated over $1 billion in revenue. She was selling so many products and opening so many luxury stores across the globe that it's almost impossible to name them all. The most controversial, however, was probably her store in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. A holy place and pilgrimage hotspot, the traditional values of the city clashed heavily with everything that Paris Hilton represented.
Making It Online
In 2018, Paris Hilton got her first taste of viral success after posing as Kim Kardashian for a set of promotional photos for the Season 6 collection of Kanye West's fashion brand Yeezy. Meanwhile, she continued focusing on other aspects of her career. Paris released a new song, got back to the runway, and promoted her new skincare line.
That same year, she got back to TV to host the show Hollywood Love Story, a 6-episode series produced by Viceland. Still trying to adapt to the Internet age, Paris saw her fame decrease but has kept herself extremely busy nonetheless.
The Real Paris Hilton?
In December 2018, Paris Hilton was interviewed for the documentary The American Meme, in which she showed a different, more humane side of herself. The original documentary focused on the life of 4 celebrities trying to make it online: Paris, model Emily Ratajkowski, musician/producer DJ Khaled, and American model Hailey Baldwin.
Exploring the theme of the social influencer, The American Meme gave Paris a chance to speak about her struggle with being famous openly. The American socialite spoke in honest terms about how the rise of the Internet has made it almost impossible for celebrities' to have a right to privacy.
Not Around, But Still Famous
As we've seen, even though it seems like Paris Hilton has vanished from the public sphere, she's still pretty much as active as usual. But there are some differences, though. For one, Paris has finally kept her name out of the tabloids, which has allowed her to escape her reputation as a scandal-girl.
Additionally, she's been struggling to keep up with other public influencers in the digital world. Not fully adapted to the reality of fame in the 21st century, Paris still has a lot of ground to cover online. Her Instagram page, for instance, counts with only 22 million followers. Yes, we know it's an absurd number. But it seems like nothing when compared to Kim Kardashian's 176 million people fanbase.
So, What's She Doing Now?
In 2020, Paris sponsored the premiere of the Youtube Original reality-show Instant Influencer. She was a guest judge for the pilot episode and appeared alongside James Charles, one of the world's trendiest YouTubers and online influencers. The contest show focuses on finding the new upcoming Internet influencer through a series of challenges.
This year, Paris has also continued to work on her businesses, such as her new merchandise collection. A Youtube documentary called This is Paris has been announced for the year's end. Meanwhile, the American socialite has continued to grace multiple public events with her presence. One of the latest was the 2020 Golden Globes afterparty, to which she showed up in the company of her new boyfriend.
Is Carter Reum the One?
For over one year, Paris has been dating Carter Reum. Even though he is not a celebrity, he is a self-made businessman with a lot of connections in Hollywood and a past as an author. May Carter be the one for Paris? After so many failed relationships, it seems like the American socialite is enjoying the company of the 38-year-old entrepreneur.
Lately, Paris's Instagram page has been filled with nurturing pictures of the passionate couple. After a failed engagement to Chris Zylka, is it the time for the former "It" girl to finally settle down? We would certainly love to see Paris finding happiness and even... becoming a mother.
Can The Aunt Become The Mommy?
For now, Paris Hilton is a dedicated aunt who loves her nephews and nieces. But she has openly spoken about her desire to one day become a mother so that we may see a new Hilton baby anytime soon. After all, Paris is now 39-years-old and running out of time to make a big, happy family.
Carter Reum seems like he would be a great dad, so we would not be surprised to find out there are plans of engaging and having kids in the couple's horizon. For Paris, being a mother would undoubtedly be yet another opportunity for personal growth and for finding a new purpose in life.
Is a Paris Hilton Comeback Possible?
Paris Hilton has never left, but she's no longer the "It" girl that took every tabloid headline for herself during the early and mid-2000s. Somewhere along the way, the interest of the public faded away, as well as her prowess to get involved in major scandals. She's now a more mature woman, who's still capitalizing on the multi-million dollar brand she created for herself.
As we've seen, Paris is not fully adapted to the Internet age yet, but she's taking all the right steps in the path for online success. If the right opportunity comes along, maybe we'll witness a Paris Hilton comeback anytime soon.
The Original Influencer
We cannot say for sure whether Paris Hilton will make a comeback or not. But one thing's certain: the Hilton effect will never die off. She's the original influencer, the woman who invented the 21st-century socialite, and one of the main unspoken influences behind the online culture we're so fascinated about today.
Celebrities like Kim Kardashian learned a lot from Paris to build on their careers. Even though the life of the Hilton heiress wasn't always perfect, she was able to stay famous for decades and to use that fame to build a business empire that's worth billions smartly. Like it or not, Paris is still the woman who best-defined fame after the turn of the millennium.