Paris Hilton is 39 years old! Isn’t that crazy? I always forget that Paris and I are part of the same generation, really: we’re both Xennial. Paris would prefer to think of herself as Millennial though, or as she says in this Cosmopolitan UK interview, forever 21 years old. Paris chats with Cosmo about her life, her businesses, being a pioneer of getting paid to party and being the OG “influencer.” And honestly, she’s right? Paris changed the fame game and other people have merely built on what she created. You can read the full Cosmo piece here. Some highlights:
Sliving it: “Sliving. Which is basically like ‘slaying’ and ‘living’. So instead of ‘killing it’, I’m ‘sliving it’.”
She’s always worked hard on her brand: “I was the first one to invent getting paid to party. If I’m travelling, I love to optimise my time. Around 12 years ago I started making DJ-ing part of my career. Because if I’m gonna fly all the way to Dubai, I’d rather make the most of my trip by working in the day and then entertaining my fans at night.”
She’s proven herself: “I feel I have definitely proven myself. For anyone who would say otherwise, they have no idea. I’ve worked so hard. My grandfather [Barron Hilton, who passed away last September] was someone I wanted to make proud and he was so proud of me carrying on the legacy but doing it my way… My family always wanted me to want to do something with my life and to want to make them proud. I see a lot of people today who have never done anything and they’re not happy with their lives because everything was just handed to them.”
She enjoys today’s influencers. “I love that I was so ahead of my time and created this entire new genre and way of living life and making a living. Anyone with a phone can make their own brand. Whatever talents they have, they can use that platform to build a business. I feel very proud. Imitation is the highest form of flattery.”
She & Kim Kardashian are still friends: “We have conversations about it. She travelled the world with me and we have so many amazing memories… What she’s said is, ‘I really appreciate everything I’ve learned from you,’ and we just always talk [about] how proud of each other we are because we’ve known each other since we were little girls. She’s sweet and kind and brilliant. I’m so proud of her and impressed with her becoming a lawyer; it’s incredible that she’s using her voice and her platform to help others.”
Her advice on protecting your privacy: “I would say that none of these things are 100% secure so I wouldn’t have anything on there that’s private and that you wouldn’t want the world to see.”
She likes being single after breaking off her engagement last year: “It feels good to not have someone controlling me. With dating certain people, [there’s the risk of] not trusting them and the fear [that] if I go out of town they might do something to embarrass me. I feel lucky now to not have that fear because I’m independent. No [it wasn’t a difficult decision to end the engagement]. It was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. I just don’t think [he] was the right person and I feel like I’m an incredible woman and I deserve someone so amazing. It just didn’t feel right. I’ve worked way too hard to just give my life to someone. They have to be perfect.”
She feels forever young: “21 forever. And I’m all natural. I feel so lucky that my mum always told me to stay out of the sun. I feel lucky I haven’t had to resort to what most people do in this town.”
She also talks a lot about how she always knew she’d be famous and how famous people almost never intimidate her (except for Madonna), and how she’s not really afraid of getting older, but she is afraid of dying because she doesn’t understand what happens afterwards. She honestly got a bit dark there! I actually enjoy Paris when she’s talking about her independent nature, and I think she probably IS legitimately “too independent” to settle down with a guy long-term. There’s more nuance there though – she’s very immature, and she likes the dream of wedding planning and thinking about her wedding dress and the hype of an engagement, but the reality of actually building a life with someone does not appeal to her whatsoever. And that’s fine – there are tons of men like that too.
Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of Cosmo UK.
You can really tell how much she resents how many of her peers outplayed her at the long term fame game, right?
Have they though? While I’ll never forgive her for giving us the Kardashians, I can’t knock her hustle. Yes, she most definitely started on 3rd base with a big leadoff, but she really has built an empire independent of the Hilton industry.
Who would have thought Paris Hilton would be an in demand DJ – it seems like she used her hustle to find a career she actually enjoys, I’m not sure I’d say the same for her peers.
I think it’s very obvious in the passive aggressive way she suggests everyone after owes her for it. Which, may be true for some of them, but people who aren’t hungry for recognition don’t harp on where they think recognition is due. Hilton was poised where she was because of her parents’ money, but really, the internet revolution was going to happen with or without her. She wasn’t the key variable to why influence culture got where it was. There was a hand up for her every step of the way, too.
I don’t give anyone credit for “building an empire” when their FAMILY NAME is an empire.
If my name were Hilton (or Marriott, or Swanson, or Schick), I could “build an empire” too. built on the one that already existed. no one would have watched her show or purchased ANY of her manufactured goods (or would hire her to DJ) if she hadn’t started with that name.
without that name, she wouldn’t have what she does. her empire is not “independent” of the Hilton name, it’s ALONG SIDE the Hilton name.
Yes! Every word she says drips of condescension. Very funny interview though, though that was not her intention.
I think she’s right about not having gotten a lot of work done. I’m sure there’s work, but she never overhauled her face or body to the best of my knowledge, which I can respect. I’m not sure how I feel about her essentially calling out her ex but not using his name. We all clearly know who she’s talking about.
This is someone who wears blue contact lenses 24/7.
Maybe it’s because I’m older and I remember her first on the scene but….girl has had plenty of work done. Her natural hair color is brown, her natural eye color is brown, her nose has been done at least twice, fairly certain she had something around her jaw done, and while she may have gotten it done well, I’m fairly certain she’s had botox done around the eyes, just very well placed. Very little “natural” about her look.
Nepotism fame
Is she friends with Nicole Ritchie still? Lindsay?
She was never real friends with Lindsay, but Paris and Nicole grew up together. They’re probably fine with each other, but Nicole definitely runs with a different Hollywood mom crowd.
I find Paris amusing. I saw her at Coachella twice, she touched me once as she fluttered by. She was lightly touching everyone as she went through the crowd. She looked just thrilled with herself and like she knew everyone was paying attention, which lots of people (including me) were. She looks exactly the same in person. She doesn’t look worked on at all. If she is getting any it’s really well done.
“I see a lot of people today who have never done anything and they’re not happy with their lives because everything was just handed to them.”
Hypocritical much?
Oh if she only knew what real work was. A few years ago our department at work received a few samples of one of her new fragrances coming out and as we passed the sample around we could all agree it smelled like the glue from masking tape. So Paris!!
I think her attitude to relationships and marriage is really refreshing. I don’t think she comes across as immature here. It seems like she understands herself and what she wants pretty well.
I believe what a lot of us are shaking our heads at is her insistence that a partner be perfect. That’s a great mentality to have if you like to sabotage your relationships, but it isn’t realistic. Have high standards yes, because long-term relationships are hard work and an equal partnership is important, but demanding perfection is rather immature. Aside from that, I agree it was refreshing and she has built a solid career for herself.
As ridiculous as her projected worldview can be, I appreciated what she said about marriage. I’ve seen a lot of women—-both in my real life and observationally in celebrity marriages—- marry men who weren’t suited to them just because they want to take that next step in life, they want to be married, they don’t want to die alone etc. Yes, no one’s perfect and marriage takes work, but we need to respect our own inherent value and to ask for more than the minimum participation from men, otherwise you’re shoving two mismatched puzzle pieces together and the marriage is destined to fail. She wants to marry the right guy for her, or she doesn’t want to marry. Never thought it’d be Paris Hilton saying it, but good for her
” I’ve worked way too hard to just give my life to someone. They have to be perfect.” It is nonsense to think anyone is perfect. Saying no to a marriage proposal IS an option. She simply needs to realize that it is OK to live a life in partnership with someone. There isn’t anything wrong with that. Ask Oprah, She has spoken openly that if she married, she knew it would not last. Her partnership with Stedman has outlasted many Hollywood marriages, Kurt and Goldie are another good example.
“All natural”?? Yeah sure except for the nose job she got long ago, and the colored contacts (her eyes are actually brown), the dyed hair (her hair is naturally brown), the fake tan she always has; and i’d eat my hat if she hasn’t gotten Botox, fillers, and probably other cosmetic procedures.
Paris is a rotten person. I’ll never forget about her racism (using the n-word on camera); her homophobia (calling gay men fa**ots on camera); her horrible treatment of animals (reportedly neglecting pet dogs and leaving them to die in closets); and the tacky, superficial “famous just for being famous” lifestyle she helped popularize.
Thank you – I think a lot of people forget about all that nastiness with her.
She seems to have a very high opinion of herself. I’ve yet to see anything that justifies it.
Yeah, it’s pretty remarkable how much she’s managed to rehabilitate her image as ~self-made~. Kind of peak faux white woman feminism. Back in the 2000s, it was pretty well known in gossip circles that she was the definition of white trash in designer heels. Just an all around narcissistic waste of a human being.
Paris seems like a narcissist. I mean that in clinical terms, not as a casual insult.
I call BS on her not having work done too. She looks great, but please… She’s definitely had fillers in her lips, you can google images of her and see the times she’s gone overboard on them. Also, a habitual coke head / hard partier isn’t going to look so good at 39 without a little help.
She looks good. And oh how wise she was to have never gotten breast implants!