Paris: The Memoir

Paris Hilton praises the elaborate party she had when she turned 21. She explains part of her family history, saying that her great-grandfather is Conrad Hilton. He raised his sons with strong, conservative values and expected them to work hard. Her Papa married her Nanu, and her father is the sixth of their eight children. Most of Conrad’s money was left to charity, so most of the money she makes off of her Hilton name is through participation in ad campaigns. She understands that her privilege opened doors for her, but she also works hard for her money.

Hilton’s parents, Rick and Kathy, hung out with hip crowds in the 1970s. Hilton believes her mom is sophisticated, and she describes sophistication as “the ability to fit in anywhere because you have a broad understanding of and respect for all kinds of people” (16). Growing up, Hilton understood that expectations were placed on her because of her family name. 

Hilton goes to her first club when she is 12 years old with her sister, Nicky, and their friend, Pia. It is an afterparty with New Kids on the Block, and her brain responds favorably to the strong sensory input in the club. She and her sister have to leave the club, however, when Aunt Kyle, their mom’s sister, sees them. Aunt Kyle takes them home, believing they are too young to be at a club. While Hilton sneaks out in her teens frequently, she does not drink alcohol or do drugs. On one occasion, she tries to get into a bar with some friends, but they are turned away. At this point, she decides she does not want to feel that rejection again, and by the time Paris is 16, she is slightly famous and is able to get into bars with a fake ID. 

In her twenties, Hilton parties a lot; this is part of her networking. She returns to discussing her multi-day 21st birthday party where she has multiple outfits, including a chain-mail dress that she loves. She dances as long as possible during one night of her birthday bash. She woke up early the next morning because she planned to go skydiving that day. She tandem jumps out of the plane and feels complete joy and freedom. It makes her understand the insignificance of everything else in comparison.

Hilton’s father records his children on video constantly, and Hilton remembers Nicky as being her partner in crime when they were younger as well as the person who used to try to keep her out of trouble. She and her sister attend etiquette classes as children, but she still struggles to be “good.” Instead of being good, she decides to be “cute, precocious, and coy” (28). She has always loved animals, and her father takes her, as a child, to pet stores and to exotic cat shows.

Hilton describes her mother as a “power mommy” who runs both a business and the household. Her mother and her aunts modeled when they were younger, but Kathy does not want her daughters modeling, and she insists on conservative clothing. This is fine with Hilton as a young girl. In sixth grade, Hilton is invited to sneak away from school with some 10th-grade boys. She rolls her skirt and sneaks out. At the end of that year, she is asked not to return to the school. 

Hilton and Nicole Richie live near each other, and they attend school together before Hilton gets kicked out. They both want to be cool. Hilton transfers to a Catholic school and finds cheerleading helps her because it keeps her body and mind busy. It is during these years that she hears her sister, Nicky, use the phrase, “that’s hot,” and Hilton decides it is a wonderful statement because it is so positive. Soon, many of her classmates are using the phrase along with her. 

Kathy gets along very well with her sisters, and one night Paris hears her mother laughing with her sisters. Hilton realizes that her mother is reading from Hilton’s diary, and the women are all laughing at the contents. As an adult, Hilton thinks that her childhood diary was beautiful because it represents her as a creative spirit before she developed self-consciousness. 

On New Year's Eve, the Hiltons go to Las Vegas with Nicole’s family and some other people. Hilton and Nicole convince their parents to let them have a room of their own, but they are not allowed to leave the room. She and Nicole talk to two boys on the phone who they learn are in Las Vegas, and they meet up with them. They go to walk on the Las Vegas strip so their parents do not see them in the hotel. The two eventually want to get a cab, but they struggle because of the number of people out that night, so they ask a police officer for help. They try to convince the officer that they are 18 because otherwise it would be illegal for them to be out on the strip, but the officer does not believe them. Hilton gets grounded from being with Nicole. Even though they both lose phone privileges, they are able to scream from their balconies to each other.

At 14, Paris is a tomboy, but she likes practicing with her voice to make it sound like phone sex operators she hears on commercials. She and Kathy begin to argue, and she starts sneaking out of her house. She and Nicole hatch a plan to sneak into a school dance neither is allowed to attend. 

When Hilton is in eighth grade, her classmates are all attracted to a handsome teacher. He starts talking to her on the phone for hours. He makes her feel special. One night when she says her parents are not home, he tells her he is in her driveway, and she goes out to meet him. He kisses her as her parents pull in. The teacher speeds away with Hilton still in the car. He blames her for what happened. He drops her off at her house eventually, and she tries to make her parents believe she had been in her bed sleeping. No one talks about the incident after that night. Her reputation at school is tarnished. After she graduates, she is sent to live with her grandmother in Palm Springs. As an adult, she is disgusted to think of the teacher who she now understands was a pedophile. She knows what happened is not her fault, but it still bothers her, and she thinks it influenced a lot of what happened to her in the following years. She thinks she had two options at that point: admit she was deceived or believe that she was irresistible. She chose the latter, just “like Marilyn Monroe.”

Hilton calls her grandmother Gram Cracker, and she is unlike the other blue-haired ladies that live in her part of Palm Springs. One night, Hilton tells her grandmother that she is spending the weekend with her friend when really she will be spending it with a bunch of kids including her boyfriend. Her grandmother comes and takes her away. She has always understood that maintaining her family name is important, but she also wants the opportunity to be herself. After her summer with Gram Cracker is over, Kathy enrolls Paris in prep school in Palm Springs. Hilton is upset to learn that her family is back in New York City without her. Hilton understands that she is not perfect, but she never drinks or does drugs. 

One weekend, Hilton is in Los Angeles spending time with her other grandparents when she and a friend decide to go to a mall. They run into some guys they know and go back to the apartment. When they get there, one of the guys keeps trying to get Hilton to take a drink, and she finally gives in to appease him, and that is the last she remembers. When she wakes up, the guy tries to tell her that she just fell asleep, but she has some hazy memories. After, Randy Spelling, Hilton’s boyfriend, starts to get impatient about not having sex. She does not want to, but she drinks champagne and has sex with him.

The Hilton family lives in an apartment at the Waldorf Hotel. Kathy creates what she believes is a wonderful bedroom for Hilton, but Hilton does not feel like it fits her. She and Nicky used to be allowed to go to parties at the Waldorf, and other times they would sneak into the ballrooms after parties were over to sneak goodies. People start telling Paris and Nicky that they should model, but Kathy refuses this idea. Still, the two manage to get modeling jobs without their parents knowledge, until they are told about the pictures that come out. Hilton and Nicky interview at Sacred Heart school. Nicky is accepted, but Hilton is not. Hilton instead attends the Professional Children’s School. While Hilton is optimistic about this school, she finds that her ADHD is not accommodated. Hilton starts sneaking out to clubs, and paparazzi start paying attention to her. Her parents did not like this because they were afraid of kidnappers and bad publicity. Hilton is kicked out of her school. Things become tense at home as pictures of Hilton start showing up in the media. One night, men come into her home to take her away.