Kathy Hilton claims she’s reached a year of sobriety – and that she’s done it for absolutely no other reason than to set a good example for her drunk driving offspring. Kathy’s friends are absolutely adamant that she doesn’t have a drinking problem. She just gave up booze completely for the heck of it.

Following a tough period of time for the Hilton family, mom Kathy recently celebrated a milestone: one year of sobriety. Because two of her four children have been arrested for drinking and driving, Kathy decided to give up alcohol altogether.

“She wanted to set a good example for her family,” says a pal of the 49-year-old, adding that although Kathy didn’t have a drinking problem, “she wanted to walk the walk.” The former actress had already given up her occasional cocktails when her 18-year-old son, Barron, was arrested on a DUI charge in February.

Now, with her brood back on track, Kathy is tackling another bad habit — smoking. “She doesn’t smoke in front of me!” Paris tells In Touch. After Barron was arrested, Kathy hired a family therapist to help them through the ordeal together.

[From In Touch]

I’d say that if that’s true, Hilton should cut back and show her kids responsible drinking, and the value of temperance. I don’t think a single one of Kathy Hilton’s spawn knows a thing about moderation. But quitting entirely sends the message that it’s all or nothing. And if I know anything about Paris Hilton, I’m guessing she’s going to choose all.

I myself am a near teetotaler for no reason other than it takes me massive, massive quantities of alcohol to get a buzz, but just a sip to get a hangover. Thus the cost is rarely worth the benefit. So I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a non-alcoholic deciding to give up booze entirely. It’s not like you need a reason. But somehow the idea that the only way Kathy Hilton thought she could get her kids to not drink so much was to quit entirely – I just don’t buy it. I’m guessing someone saw her leave an AA meeting or something, and she worried she’d be exposed, so she’s trying to control the story. Or maybe Kathy Hilton is trying to teach values for the first time. A little late, but whatever.

Here’s Kathy Hilton with daughters Paris and Nicky at “The Good Life” Photo Exhibition of Photographers Murray Garrett and Slim Aarons in Hollywood on June 27th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Frightening news: Paris Hilton has an acting coach. And she’s not a new acting coach. Apparently Ivana Chubbuck is pretty well regarded too. Which leads to the next logical question… if this is Paris Hilton WITH an acting coach, what would she have been like without one? How does an acting coach correct for blatant vapidness? “Paris, instead of having flat affect and dead eyes, try raising your voice up and down and doing something crazy with that wonky eye you’ve got.” According to Paris, she’s learned a lot of acting tricks that the rest of us have never heard of.

“My acting coach, Ivana Chubbuck … She’s an incredible acting coach,” Hilton told PEOPLE at Monday’s premiere of her new romantic comedy, The Hottie and the Nottie, in Hollywood.

“If it’s a scene where I have to get upset, I’ll think of a past person,” the heiress, who turns 27 on Feb. 17, said recently of Chubbuck’s advice. “I’ll think of something in my life, use it in the scene, and it really works.”

[From People]

I’m pretty sure I learned the same damn thing from my mentally deranged seventh grade drama teacher. I’d really like to know how much Paris is paying this woman, because I’m pretty sure I could do the same for a lot less. I’m guessing that it’s not that Ivana Chubbuck is a bad acting coach at all. She probably assessed Paris and in about thirty seconds realized she could only teach her preschool level skills. Paris also said her mother gave her some acting advice, which I found pretty confusing. But it turns out Kathy Hilton used to be an actress. She was on two episodes of “Happy Days” in 1977 and an episode of “The Rockford Files” in 1978. How cute that Paris would think it a good idea to defer to her mother’s expertise. Which was, by the way, “…Taking your time, reading it, and making sure that it’s something you can do, and it’s fun. Just having fun with it.” Actually, that “taking your time reading” and “making sure it’s something you can do” is actually really good advice, considering how stupid her daughter is. And to prove that, I leave you with this completely un-edited, non-typo quote from Paris.

“Actors are really great if they’ve lived the life of a lot of things happen to them.”

[From People]

You know what else is really great? Speaking in more than one tense in the same sentence.

I think I’m starting to have a better understanding as to how and why Paris Hilton is the way she is. A lovely tidbit of gossip has just popped up, from a highly reputable source: the cowboy from the Village People, aka Randy Jones. Jones tells an interesting story of meeting Rick and Kathy Hilton at Studio 54 in 1977. For you youngins out there, Studio 54 was a famous New York City nightclub in the late seventies through the early eighties. Go rent the movie, totally worth it for the music alone. Though sadly, Rick and Kathy Hilton aren’t in the film. They probably wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know they snorted blow off the dirty floor. At least put it on some Waterford first. The Hiltons are classy people.

The “‘Y.M.C.A.” singer claims he shared a table with hotel moguls Rick and Kathy Hilton at New York’s famous Studio 54 club in 1977, where they indulged in some recreational drug taking.

Jones told the New York Daily News newspaper, “There was one rock of cocaine left, and it rolled off the table. They just didn’t even bother bringing it back up to a hard surface – they just crushed it into the carpet and snorted it off that. Whatever Paris Hilton is, she came by it honestly.”

Paris’ parents vehemently deny the incident ever took place.

Rick said, “Never happened. We didn’t move to the city until 1979.”

[From All Headline News]

Not to blow a hole (so to speak) in your alibi, Rick Hilton, but you don’t actually have to be a full-time resident of New York City in order to go to Studio 54 and snort some cocaine. I’m pretty sure they let the outsiders snort too. Though that does raise some suspicions as to WHY you moved to New York. We obviously hear a lot of gossip here, and you take it all with a grain of salt. But after a while, you can kind of tell when things have at least the possibility of truth. And such a lame excuse as to why they didn’t do cocaine (“we didn’t live there”) is ridiculous. Look, I can fly down to Los Angeles, rent a car, and run over a squirrel tomorrow. Someone could then come along a few years later and say that I ran over a squirrel in L.A. in 2007. If my only reason why I didn’t do that was to say, “That’s impossible, I didn’t live in Los Angeles in 2007…” well that’d be some pretty back asswards logic, don’t you think? But I might be giving Rick Hilton too much credit. He is genetically related to Paris Hilton, thus there’s a chance he’s simply not that smart and doesn’t realize what a shitty argument he just made. Or maybe he’s all kooky from the blow. Who’s to say?