Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, model, and socialite. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, Hilton is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels. She first attracted tabloid attention in the late 1990s, when she became a fixture in NYC's social scene, and ventured into modeling at age 19, signing with Donald Trump's agency Trump Model Management. After David LaChapelle photographed her and her sister Nicky for the September 2000 issue of Vanity Fair, Hilton was proclaimed "New York's leading It Girl" in 2001. The reality television series The Simple Life (2003–2007), in which she starred with her friend Nicole Richie, and a leaked 2001 sex tape with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, later released as 1 Night in Paris (2004), catapulted her into global fame. Hilton published her debut book, Confessions of an Heiress (2004), which became a New York Times Best Seller, landed her first major film role in the horror remake House of Wax (2005), and released her self-titled debut studio album, Paris (2006), which reached number six on the Billboard 200 and respectively produced the successful single "Stars Are Blind". Her subsequent media ventures include the reality television series Paris Hilton's My New BFF (2008–2011), Cooking with Paris (2021), and Paris in Love (2021–2022); the documentaries Paris, Not France (2008), The American Meme (2018), and This Is Paris (2020); as well as her podcast, This is Paris (2021–present), on iHeartRadio. She has appeared in Hollywood films and television series, recorded a line of standalone singles, and performed as a disc jockey. A polarizing and often derided celebrity, Hilton is credited with influencing the revival of the "famous for being famous" phenomenon throughout the 2000s, and was, for a number of years, one of the world's most ubiquitous public figures. She appeared in the 2007 Guinness World Records as the Most Overrated Celebrity, while Forbes ranked her as the Most Overexposed Celebrity in 2006 and 2008. Critics indeed suggest that she exemplifies the celebutante—a household name not through talent or work, but through inherited wealth and lavish lifestyle. Hilton has parlayed her media fame into numerous business endeavours. Under her company, she has produced content for broadcast media, launched 19 product lines, and opened 45 boutiques worldwide as well as an urban beach club in the Philippines. Her perfume line alone has brought in over US$2.5 billion in revenue to date.
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