Paris Hilton made some deeply personal revelations in her new book, Paris: The Memoir. But one confession is bringing up memories of something she didn’t want to talk about.
This trip isn’t going back too far down memory lane — just to the simpler time of 2016. Yeah. It’s about Donald Trump.
In what became maybe the most contentious presidential election of all time, plenty of families and fanbases were divided over support from Trump. After all, he was courting white supremacist groups, his reputation was that of an untrustworthy grifter, there were multiple sexual misconduct accusations against him… And yet people thought, well, he seems like a standup Washington outsider. They really believed a guy who lived in a skyscraper in NYC and had a golden toilet was going to fight for Middle America against the coastal elites. It’s not hard to see how their friends and family were flabbergasted and offended.
Related: Donald Trump Is Actually Going To Face Criminal Charges?!
And here was Paris Hilton, a celeb with a huge fan base, shouting her support for the hotel magnate. Well, she’s walking back that support now. In fact, she says she lied about voting for him! When asked that November by Aussie show The Project, she said:
“I’ve known him since I was a little girl, so yes. I’ve known him my entire life, and he’s always been incredibly supportive of me.”
Now she says that wasn’t even true. She wrote in her memoir, in an excerpt published by People:
“When I was put on the spot in an interview, I pretended I voted for Donald Trump because he was an old family friend and owned the first modeling agency I signed with…”
That would be T Management, which Paris joined when she was just 19 years old. But as she continues, the lie sounds less like a favor for a family friend and more like coercion! She recalled how scared she became of him personally:
“…when I left to go to another agency, he was furious and intimidated the s**t out of me on the phone.”
Yeesh! Yeah, that’s definitely a guy you want to have his finger on the button. Someone who calls and scares teenage children of friends. Paris is now holding herself accountable for the lie, and for the truth. She admits:
“The truth is even worse: I didn’t vote at all.”
We love that she’s accepting vilification for being complacent. The large number of Americans who didn’t vote in 2016 were definitely a big factor in Trump’s surprise corner case victory, in which he won the Electoral College numbers but not the popular vote.
However, while she may have faked marking her ballot, her vocal support was all too real. Especially what she said about his sexual assault accusers.
In a shocking interview with Marie Claire — published in 2017, just days after Charlottesville but apparently recorded back in 2016, before the election — Paris maintained she thought Trump would make a good president. She also brushed off his comments about finding her attractive when he first saw her at 12 years old, and watching her sex tape despite her being a family friend. She said “it wasn’t creepy at all” and “he’s always been so respectful.”
Related: Paris Explains How Rick Salomon Manipulated Her Into Making That Sex Tape
When asked about the “grab them by the p***y” hot mic quote, she said she’s “heard guys say the craziest things ever, because I’m always around guys” and that it was no big deal. But worst of all, when asked about his dozen+ sexual assault accusers, she went full support mode:
“I think that they are just trying to get attention and get fame. I feel like, a lot of people, when something happens all these opportunists will come out. They want to get money or get paid to not say anything or get a settlement when nothing really happened. So I don’t believe any of that. And I’m sure they were trying to be with him too. Because a lot of women, I’ve seen, like him because he’s wealthy and he’s charming and good-looking so I feel like a lot of these girls just made the story up. I didn’t really pay attention to it. I heard a couple things about it. I don’t believe it.”
Not only that she doesn’t believe them, but accusing them of all being opportunists making it up for money? Whether she said all this because she was indebted to him or because she was scared of him, this is an unconscionable take. What makes it even more problematic now, of course, is the fact Paris has recently come forward with her own claims of sexual abuse. Of grooming. Of rape.
Should everyone dismiss her accusations the way she did to these women? Of course not. It’s so hard to understand how someone with experience being hurt the way she’s described could have been so demeaning to the women accusing this guy. Because he’s rich? Because he’s a family friend, he’s one of you? Or is she saying she said all of that because she was so scared by him on the phone that time? That she figured it was best to defend him with everything she had forever? Or just long enough to get him elected?
Because after that interview came out, she did apologize, saying it was before he was president. In a statement she said she believes “in helping women have their voices heard”:
“I want to apologize for my comments from an interview I did last year. They were part of a much larger story, and I am regretful that they were not delivered in the way I had intended. I was speaking about my own experiences in life and the role of media and fame in our society, and it was never my intention for my comments to be misapplied almost a year later. I always believe in helping women have their voices heard and helping create an environment where women feel empowered and believe in themselves. I am deeply hurt by how this has played out and also deeply sorry. Moving forward I will continue to do what I can to be an advocate for girls and women with the hopes of providing a louder voice for those who may desperately need it.”
We’re glad she’s been walking back her support for Trump for a long time, but whatever votes she rallied for him, whatever hearts she changed, whomever she influenced even the slightest bit with her words, that was all real.
So, Perezcious readers, do you think her influence was hot or not?
[Image via Today/NBC News/YouTube.]
