Paris Hilton

Paris Whitney Hilton, born February 17, 1981, is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. Born in New York City, she is a great-granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton. She first attracted public and tabloid attention in the late 1990s through her presence in New York City's social scene. Her global fame increased substantially following the release of a 2003 homemade sex tape and her co-starring role in the reality television series The Simple Life.

Hilton was born to businessman Richard Hilton and socialite Kathy Hilton, as the oldest of four children. Raised in a conservative Catholic household, she lived in Beverly Hills, the Hamptons, and a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. In her youth, she attended several schools in California, Connecticut, and New York, played ice hockey, and took etiquette classes. After displaying rebellious behavior, her parents sent her at age 16 to boarding schools for emotionally troubled youth, including Provo Canyon School, where she experienced physical, mental, and sexual abuse. She was released in 1999 and later obtained her GED certification.

Hilton began modeling as a child and signed with Trump's agency, T Management, at age 19. She subsequently modeled for designers such as Marc Bouwer and Catherine Malandrino, appeared in campaigns for Iceberg, and was featured in magazines including Vanity Fair, Vogue, and FHM. Her main breakthrough came in 2003 starring alongside Nicole Richie in the Fox reality series The Simple Life, which ran for five seasons across Fox and E! until 2007. She later starred in and produced additional reality series, including Paris Hilton's My New BFF, The World According to Paris, Hollywood Love Story, Cooking with Paris, and Paris in Love.

Beyond reality television, Hilton expanded her media presence into acting, music, publishing, and audio. Her film credits include Nine Lives, House of Wax—which earned her a Teen Choice Award—Bottoms Up, National Lampoon's Pledge This!, and Repo! the Genetic Opera. In music, she released her debut album Paris in 2006, featuring the international hit single Stars Are Blind, followed by the album Infinite Icon in 2024, and has performed as a disc jockey since 2012. She has also authored books such as Confessions of an Heiress and Paris: The Memoir, hosted the podcast I am Paris, and appeared in documentaries including This Is Paris.

Hilton leveraged her media notoriety into a broad range of global commercial ventures under her company. She launched product lines covering purses, jewelry, hair extensions, footwear, and clothing, opened worldwide boutiques, and established an urban beach club in the Philippines. By 2020, her perfume line alone had generated over $2.5 billion in revenue. Recognized for influencing the revival of the famous for being famous phenomenon and exemplifying the celebutante, Hilton was named to Forbes' Celebrity 100 list in 2004, 2005, and 2006.