Paris Hilton has spoken out about the infamous leak of her private s*x tape.
The 42-year-old businesswoman and socialite has opened up about the traumatic experience that both led to and followed the leaking of the intimate tape. Her comments come from her upcoming memoir, excerpts of which have been published in The Times.
Hilton was just 18 years old when she made the tape with ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon (who she did not name in her memoir). Salomon was 30 when the tape was created.
In her new memoir - titled Paris: the Memoir - Hilton admits she doesn't admit much about the night the created the tape, but says that her ex-boyfriend "kept pushing" her to make the home movie. As a means of encouragement, he told her that nobody but them would ever see it.
Hilton then writes that the couple's age gap was a huge factor that led to her agreeing to the tape.
"He told me if I wouldn’t do it, he could easily find someone who would, and that was the worst thing I could think of — to be dumped by this grown man because I was a stupid kid who didn’t know how to play grown-up games," she writes.
In an attempt to relax, she admits to drinking alcohol and taking Quaaludes prior to the recording being made. "I needed to prove something to him and to myself, so I got hammered," Hilton writes.
Years later, in 2003, the tape leaked online.
By this point, the couple were no longer together.
"It took me a minute to make the connection to that private video," Hilton remembers. "I had to close my eyes and breathe. I felt like I was going to throw up. It was inconceivable to me."
Despite Hilton claiming that she reached out to Salomon and pleaded with him not to release the tape. However, she says that he told her it "had a lot of financial value" as a result of her growing celebrity status (The Simple Life first premiered shortly after the tape was released.)
Hilton writes that Salomon valued the tape over her dignity.
"Shame, loss and stark terror swept over me," she writes.
The 'Stars Are Blind' singer also reflected on how the tape impacted her family - saying that her mom, Kathy Hilton, "just crumpled into bed and stayed there" and that her dad was "furious".
Ever since introducing her new baby boy to the world, Hilton has certainly been embracing motherhood and setting the record straight.
In a recent interview with Glamour UK, she revealed: "I’m not a dumb blonde, I’m just very good at pretending to be one [...] The real me is someone who is strong and resilient, brave, smart and fun."
Opening up about her traumatic past, Hilton also recalled how she was drugged and assaulted by an older man when she was just 15.
Following this experience, she was sent to a boarding school at the age of 16, where she says she was the subject of further abuse.
She spoke out against Provo Canyon School when she advocated for federal law to end institutional child abuse. You can read more here...
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