Paris Hilton, unironically: ‘Nowadays, I feel like it’s so easy becoming famous’

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I don’t know how to feel about this! W Magazine has a new article called “Paris Hilton Invented Everything You’re Doing in 2017, and She Knows It.” I clicked on it and started reading it, thinking it was going to be a cheeky, vapid take on the life of Paris Hilton. But it’s a real interview, and W Magazine is surprisingly… nice? Like, Paris is 36 years old now and she’s “serious” and yet she’s the same old Paris. She hasn’t changed that much, it’s the world that has changed around her. Donald Trump is now in the White House and reality stars are the new movie stars and Paris Hilton did it all first. You can read the full piece here if you want to feel the shift in the space-time continuum. Some highlights:

Her life in the early 2000s: “We started a whole new genre of celebrity that no one had ever seen before…If a beeper had a camera, I would have taken a selfie with it. I think I have a selfie from when I was a little kid, like on a disposable camera.”

Her business: This year, Hilton will release her 23rd perfume since 2004—an estimated $2 billion business, according to Women’s Wear Daily. She’s also currently touring the world as a highly-paid DJ, taking up residence in Ibiza for her “Foam & Diamonds” night in the months of July and August. Her mother taught her to never talk money, but it’s been reported that Hilton makes approximately $347,000 an hour DJing, or around $1 million a night. Hilton currently has 50 eponymous boutiques carrying her collections of handbags, watches, sunglasses, fragrances and clothing in nearly the same number of countries, reaching as far as the United Arab Emirates and Asia. Plus, her name is now on two hotel properties in the Philippines.

Famous for being famous: In the beginning, she did this all without a publicist, a stylist, glam squad, or social media. “Nowadays, I feel like it’s so easy becoming famous,” said Hilton, with a shrug. “Anybody with a phone can do it.”

Her crazy, opulent house: “It’s my work and I’m proud of it.”

On the Kardashians: “I’ve known the family my whole life. They are all intelligent, beautiful business women and I’m proud of them and the brand they’ve built.”

She’s never broken character: “I never really do anything out of character,” she said, really trying to think of an instance in which she’d gone rogue recently. Followed by, “I’m always real.”

Paris’s old style is back and being embraced by a new generation: “To now see things on the runway, and to see girls wearing things that I used to wear is really cool because nobody really dressed like me back in the day… Young people now see what people wore before and want to bring it back…Being in New York and being a socialite, everybody was always proper and kind of plain, and I always wore these fun outfits. People would send me things or I would go down to 8th Street to Patricia Field’s and Hotel Venus. I was also hanging out with David LaChapelle a lot, so he would introduce me to all these funky designers.”

On reality TV these days: “Nowadays, everything is just so scripted and fake. Everything is planned out. There’s nothing real, really. I’m glad that I did it in the beginning when it was organic and fun.”

Her business, her brand: “I want to have something substantial and something that lasts. I’m very blessed that I grew up in a family with amazing mentors and businessmen I really look up to, and can get advice from. It just runs in my blood.”

On the year 2017: “It’s a totally different vibe. I’m more mature now. I hate when people call me a ‘former reality star.’ I want to be known for my business and inventing a new wave.”

[From W Magazine]

I came away from this sort of hate-respecting Paris. That’s how much the cultural landscape has shifted, but it’s also a genuine credit to Paris, I have to say. I mean, come on: how did Paris Hilton not end up a cautionary tale? How did she manage to find a way to succeed even after she was dethroned and maligned in pop culture? Even when people said she was over, she wasn’t. She just kept being Paris, kept traveling and selling her brand overseas and kept being famous for being famous, and now she’s like the elder stateswoman of our lurid and self-obsessed pop culture. As I said, I hate-respect it.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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35 Responses to “Paris Hilton, unironically: ‘Nowadays, I feel like it’s so easy becoming famous’”

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  1. detritus says:

    I don’t really have any respect for her, and all I got from this was that she’s still bitter the Kardashians are more famous than her now. The shade about how easy it is to be famous, saying she’s ‘proud’ of someone she isn’t even friends with now and has publicly said she created.

    Paris isn’t a cautionary tale because she’s stupid wealthy. It doesn’t matter if she’s not famous anymore, she can afford to pivot into ‘dj’ing in Ibiza.

    Out of the two, I have respect for Nicole for turning her life around. Not Paris.

    • me says:

      Still, Paris did it alone. Kim had a million people, including a money hungry mother to help her. So for that, I do give it up for Paris. But you are right, she was born rich and could spend her time doing stuff like being a dj.

      • FLORC says:

        Paris had a team behind her. Plus the Hilton name. Plus family. Plus more connections than a k at that time could hope for.

      • me says:

        When I said she “did it alone” I mean the rest of the people in her family were not all in the cameras trying to be famous too. The Kardashians are a whole different story.

      • Seraphina says:

        I think the difference is that Paris’ family could care less about being famous because they were and are comfortable with themselves. Kim’s family is a fame hungry machine that wanted to brand their name. They branded it and now synonymous with Trash.

      • Bridget says:

        Nope. That’s just plain not correct. Kathy Hilton desperately wanted to be famous herself. Does no one remember her sad reality competition? And she was famous for pushing Paris out into the party scene when she was a teenager in an attempt to push her daughter toward the limelight. Or how about Nicky getting married in Vegas in an attempt to make the news and get on the cover of magazines? The Hilton women all wanted fame.

  2. Neelyo says:

    She looks very different.

  3. SusanneToo says:

    The one time I felt for Paris was when she talked about the hurt of losing an heirloom from her grandmother when her house was burgled. The same thing happened to me, so I sympathize.

  4. Alleycat says:

    I thought she said she was hanging out with Dave Chapelle and he taught her about fashion and I questioned my existence for a minute. I’ll always blame Paris for bringing us the Kardashians.

  5. me says:

    Well if that video of her saying racist sh*t came out now, it would have ended her. I don’t know how she managed to keep a career after that…but now it’s different times…she’d be over super fast. What she really should have said was “now you don’t have to put out a sex tape to be famous ! It’s so much easier now !!!”.

  6. littlemissnaughty says:

    That is some atrocious contouring. And since when is her style “back”? The 90s are back and that is bad enough but the early 00s are not back yet. Thank god.

  7. Aiobhan Targaryen says:

    I honestly think that little bit of time in prison really sobered her up. She had to learn the hard way that her family could not protect her from everything and had to stop before it was too late.

    I still do not care for her, but I will give her credit for making a choice to change for the better.

    • swak says:

      Maybe they should do the same with Conrad and stop bailing him out every time he gets in trouble.

  8. blonde555 says:

    Thanks guy looks thrilled to be with her.

  9. Char says:

    Everybody knows that Thelma & Louise invented the selfie.

  10. frigga says:

    This chick made the Kardashians more famous than her…therefore she is useless. What is up with her face? Too much make up?

  11. Bridget says:

    Nope. Paris Hilton is still the worst.

    And LOL at Paris calling it easy to get famous now. You mean you don’t have to release your own sex tape to get famous anymore?

  12. QQ says:

    Of All people This aging Barbie expounding on the Ease of being “Famous”… Sis.. you’ve been wearing Terrible Blue Eye contacts since the 2000s because “image” that’s ll you do, that’s your sell… Your Business has and will always been Putting your personal Business out front and center .. this is Laughable

  13. HK9 says:

    It was easy to be famous when you “started” it hun and no I’ll never respect her. Ever.

  14. Keri says:

    I have never seen her perfume or any of her crap being sold in stores. This all seems inflated. Like her ego. I think she is trying to make a comeback but no one cares.

  15. KatM says:

    Famous for what exactly? I would guess that 98.9 percent of the population finds her nauseating. DJing? I just laughed out loud. I have to say, the only person who does not appear to be crazy in this family is Nikki Hilton.

  16. Jukie says:

    I can’t believe she makes that much money DJing. How do the venues even make enough in a night to pay her? A million dollars a night? Really?

  17. Zombie Hedgehog says:

    When I read what she said about breaking character, I thought about an interview a few years ago where a Swedish blogger, Blondinbella, said that when she wrote her blog she she would conciously mix things that would make people like her and things that would cause controversy, because people loved hating her, and that gave her publicity and views. Few people wants to read about someone who is always nice.

    My point is that we often question celebrities like Paris and the Kardashians when they are being nice, and acts like the bad/stupid/ridiculous things they do and say are slips in the facade, but I often wonder if it’s intentional. To make people care, whenever it’s like or dislike.

    Sorry for the rant.

  18. Erica_V says:

    Yeah my Mom was taking selfies on Polaroids in the 70s. Nice try Paris but you did not invent the selfie.

  19. Ivana says:

    She does NOT male one million a night lol

    I’m from Serbia (a small Eastern European country ravaged by wars and quite poor) and she had a gig at a club here. It was an opening of some sort but I don’t think the entire building it’s located in costs 1 million usd

    Nice contouring btw 😍