- The little girl in the cover photo was once locked up in a school for troubled teens, where she endured abuse.
- She finally left, and despite what she went through, she went on to become a successful millionaire and found family bliss when she became a wife and mom.
- She opened up about her story and the traumatic events she experienced.
The little girl in the cover image grew up to be a world-famous and successful millionaire who is revered as a pop culture icon. However, before achieving the incredible things she has, a considerable part of her life was embedded in a very dark and disturbing space.
Unbeknownst to the public and her loved ones, the star went through an extremely traumatic time during her formative years when she was an adolescent. Recently, having published a memoir about her life, the famous media personality has opened up about her past.
The great-granddaughter of an iconic hotel tycoon, the blonde beauty stems from a well-off family. She was born on February 17, 1981, in New York City to a dad who is a businessman and property developer and a mom who used to be a child actress. As such, her and her siblings’ childhoods were characterized by incredible privilege.
However, everything changed when she got older. Through ages 16 to 18, the girl was sent to multiple pricey schools for troubled youth that focused on behavioral modification programs. Her parents had been the ones to make the decision to send her away.
Though their choice ended up eliciting traumatic events, they only had the purest intentions in the hopes that the tough-love attitude that the schools offered would instill some discipline into their daughter, who was rebelling quite often then. They didn’t know it at that point, but a big reason, as cited by the star herself, for her acting out was as a result of her ADHD diagnosis.
One of the schools that sits at the top of the list of places that dealt her the most trauma is a treatment institution located in Utah called Provo Canyon School. She spent several months here.
In a recent interview where the media mogul discussed her book and life story, she recalled the traumatic events that happened to her. She explained that two men entered her room one night to take her to the boarding school. «You write about how, when you were first taken, you thought like, ‘Am I being kidnapped?’…» one of the hosts clarified, to which the girl said it was a manipulation by the school that even her parents weren’t aware of. «My parents thought they were sending me to this lovely boarding school,» she added.
The famous star at the Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, California on August 14, 2005 | Source: Getty Images
Recounting her devastating story, the millionaire expressed how the living conditions at the school were hell on earth, constantly. Of her traumatic experience, she divulged:
«Every day, just getting verbally, physically, psychologically, sexually abused and this is happening to hundreds of thousands of children who are still in these places right now.»
The famous star at the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood Issue party in West Hollywood, California on September 20, 2006 | Source: Getty Images
At times, her terrifying experiences would land her in solitary confinement, where they would take her and lock her in a room by herself. She said they would lock her there as a result of her refusal to take the medication that they would force-feed the kids.
The famous star at the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood Issue party in West Hollywood, California on September 20, 2006 | Source: Getty Images
After tackling her to the ground, they threw her into the room, which was windowless and covered in human waste, and took her clothes. While telling her story, the star expressed:
«I was just a little girl. I just feel like they stole my childhood…»
Paris Hilton at the Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, California on August 14, 2005 | Source: Getty Images
The TV star explained that the institution’s motive was to break the spirits of the attendees down by using tactics intertwined with bullying and fear. They used fear as a tool to attempt to silence the kids and make them obey their commands.
Concerning how she did her best to stay strong and deal with what was happening to her, the celebrity said that in addition to praying every night, she would build a fantasy world and character and imagine who she wanted to be. She would tell herself that she would one day become successful and gain control of her life.
Big inspirations that helped her model who she wanted to be were fellow iconic blondes Dolly Parton, Barbie, and Marilyn Monroe. She said adopting the character she modeled after these ladies gave her some form of escapism, which helped her not think about what was happening to her.
To make matters even worse, contact with the outside world, specifically her parents, was obstructed. Thus, any attempts she made to try and tell them what was going on ended up being futile:
«I didn’t really get to speak to my family…And when I tried to tell them once, I got in so much trouble I was scared to say it again. They would grab the phone or rip up letters I wrote…And the staff would tell the parents that the kids were lying…»
The famous star and her parents posing for a picture on July 5, 1996 | Source: Getty Images
The bottom line is her parents had no idea what was happening to their daughter, and as a result, the star says she doesn’t blame them. In fact, she deemed them as fellow victims who were kept in the dark with deceptive marketing tactics.
The famous star and her parents at the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California in 2004 | Source: Getty Images
After finally managing to leave the torturous place when she turned 18, she was so traumatized and scared that she didn’t tell anyone what had happened upon returning to New York. She ended up keeping the horrible things that had transpired to herself for 20 years.
Life after Provo: After Starring in a Controversial Show, She Went on to Achieve the Success She Had Envisioned
The young girl who had horrible things done to her, which she kept a secret for two decades, is TV personality, media mogul, and businesswoman Paris Hilton, 42. After leaving Provo Canyon School, Hilton starred in the popular series «The Simple Life,» opposite her best friend Nicole Richie.
Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton at a party for «The Simple Life 2» in Hollywood, California in 2004 | Source: Getty Images
She was 22 and told to play the dumb blonde, which further cemented the character she had built up while at boarding school. Of her time on the show, Hilton confessed:
«I got lost in the character and I forgot who I was before I was sent to Provo.»
Even though she earned roughly $300 million from the series, Hilton’s sense of identity had been messed with yet again. However, being the strong-willed and fiercely courageous woman she turned out to be, she took back her power.
The cherry on top of the cake is her loving, devoted, and supportive husband, who is a teammate in every sense of the word.
Over the past 20 years, the «House of Wax» talent has pursued acting, singing, presenting, designing, and cooking and has crafted quite an illustrious career in djing, garnering as much as $1 million per gig, making her the highest-paid female DJ across the globe. Hilton has also produced a fleet of products, 19 product lines to be exact, including lingerie, sunglasses, skincare, cookware, jewelry, and perfumes, to name a few.
Paris Hilton djing at The Pool After Dark event in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 10, 2014 | Source: Getty Images
The brave woman has also used her painful story to become an activist and help others enduring trauma. Hilton has lobbied Congress to call for regulation and reforms within the industry and has done some campaign work for the Stop Institutional Child Abuse bill.
Paris Hilton during a press conference for the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act in Washington, DC. on April 27, 2023 | Source: Getty Images
Paris Hilton Managed to Build Family Bliss as a Loving Wife and Doting Mom
In addition to the incredible success the fierce and courageous mogul has garnered from her illustrious career, Hilton has gone on to achieve personal milestones. She became a doting mama bear to her beloved son Phoenix, whom she shares with her hubby, Carter Reum, at the beginning of this year:
«I always wanted to be a mom, I just—it wasn’t—I didn’t have the right partner to do it with until Carter. I needed to find someone that I could trust and open my heart to, and this little baby is just my everything…»
Paris Hilton and Carter Reum at The Wallis Delivers: Al Fresco Night in Beverly Hills, California on September 24, 2021 | Source: Getty Images
Baby Phoenix was welcomed via a surrogate on January 16, and his parents were hush-hush about his entry into the world. Hilton and Reum were very private when it came to the birth of their son. The 42-year-old didn’t even tell her mom, and her reason for keeping things so personal stems from the fact that she wanted a little piece of her life to keep to herself, given her incredibly publicized status.
Becoming a wife and a mother meant that Hilton had to open herself back up and trust her partner wholeheartedly, and learning how to trust again was not easy for her, given her horrendous time back at Provo Canyon and other past experiences. In fact, her time at Provo had a strong influence on her decision to use a surrogate.
She spoke about still dealing with the fear remnants, which sparked anxiety about even being in a doctor’s office. Of how she came to her decision to use surrogacy, Hilton revealed:
«…I want a family so bad, it’s just the physical part of doing it. I’m just so scared…childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world.»
Paris Hilton and Carter Reum with their son Phoenix, spotted in New York City on October 18, 2023 | Source: Getty Images
Despite not having her baby herself, Hilton did not let fear keep her from achieving a dream she has wanted for a long time: becoming a mom.
The cherry on top of the cake is her loving, devoted, and supportive husband, who is a teammate in every sense of the word. Together, the lovebirds raise, love, and protect their adored bundle of joy, Phoenix.
Source: atraverslesport.com
