September 18, 2020
Friends and family of Paris Hilton came out to show their support on Tuesday (Sept. 15) night for the debut of her new YouTube documentary ‘This Is Paris.’ The film reveals a candid look at the heiress’s private upbringing, struggles with trust, and confronting an abusive past at “emotional growth school,” Provo Canyon School in Utah, to heal her PTSD.
Hilton threw a chic backyard party at night for the screening. The Covid-19 friendly event set up, included socially distanced bean bag seating along with individual picnic baskets filled with pre-wrapped snacks for guests to enjoy. This Is Paris was projected on a large outdoor screen.
Photos of Paris Hilton ‘This Is Paris’ outdoor premier (Covid-19 friendly) party.
Hilton wore a neon yellow spaghetti strap floor-length gown adorned with two tiered lace ruffles at the bottom. Paris accessorized her look with cream framed sunglasses and waist length rainbow blonde hair extensions.
Friends of Hilton at the chic outdoor invite-only screening included; Demi Lovato, Australian DJ duo Nervo, Arta Gee, Caroline D’Amore, Farrah Aldjufrie, Paris Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Markus Molinari, Diplo, Diplo, Gigi Gorgeous, Tana Mongeau, Twan and Lele Pons, Natalie Halcro, Olivia Pierson, Rick Hilton, Kyle Richards, boyfriend Carter Reum and more.
At the end of the screening friends cheered Paris on saying “Yasss Bitch” and “We Love You Paris.” The cheering is all for a good reason.
In ‘This Is Paris’ we see the deconstruction of one of the most influential women in the world. Director Alexandra Dean connects Paris with former classmates from Provo, who suffer similar trauma as a result of the school’s rigid treatment. After meeting with other survivors, Paris joins a mental awareness campaign called, Breaking Code Silence, utilizing her fame to amplify issues surrounding abusive tactics implemented in youth rehab facilities.
After screening ‘This Is Paris’ myself, the first 30 minutes of the documentary felt scripted. After that, I was hooked. The film is a mix of current footage, home videos, animated re-enactments, alongside interviews with past friends, family members, and reunited class members from Provo Canyon School. Nicky Hilton, Kyle Richards, Kim Kardashian, and Kathy Hilton features interviews detailing what Paris was like growing up.
Paris covers her teen years in New York early on in the doc. By age sixteen, she was ditching school and hit the nightclub scene to party. Kathy Hilton explains in her interview that she and Rick (Hilton) felt they needed to take extreme measures to control Paris because they worried about her safety.
(L) Photo of Paris and Nicky Hilton posing with the late Michael Jackson and parents Rick and Kathy Hilton (R) Rare photo of Paris Hilton as a teen.
This would be the beginning of a string of “emotional growth schools” or “wilderness schools” aka therapeutic boarding schools that Paris would attempt to escape from. In her recount of events, she was dragged out of her bed in the middle of the night by two men and taken to Provo Canyon School in Utah. After several failed escape attempts, she ended up spending 11 months at Provo. Paris claims she was force fed medications and subjected to hours of manual labor and abuse by staffers. Once she reached 18, Paris checked herself out.
One of the more chilling accounts is when sister Nicky Hilton says “Then in the morning it was breakfast and Paris didn’t come down to the breakfast table and my parents were smiling like everything is fine and then we didn’t ask any questions,”she said. “And then I think they said she went to boarding school because they (Kathy and Rick) were always trying to protect us and shield us.”
The producer asks Niki if she was ever nervous that she might be subject to the same fate and Paris. Niki quickly responded with an unequivocal “no.”
Paris alleges she was forced into solitary confinement when she was caught throwing away prescribed pills. She claims that she never told her parents about the abuse at Provo. In these accounts, Paris is visibly moved to tears and emotional when talking about that period of her life.
Provo Canyon School said in a statement that PCS was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000. School officials declined to comment on the past owners but stated that the school is committed to providing high-quality care to youth with special, and often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs.
In the film Paris says her “Barbie” persona was a means for her to build her brand image into a billion dollar empire. We see Paris at her happiest while with her family or Djing on stage for “Little Hiltons” a term she coined her fans.
One of the more entertaining moments in “This Is Paris” is when she is preparing to DJ at Tomorrowland in Belgium. Paris’s now ex boyfriend, Aleks Novakovic, follows her around backstage holding her items and complaining about being ignored while she does press.
The couple's arguments escalate until about 6 minutes before Hilton is set to take the Tomorrowland stage. It’s when Novakovic accidentally Paris's computer for her performance that triggers her to lose her shit backstage. Paris hands her laptop to a hovering crew member before asking security to strip Novakovic of his all access wristbands and send him on a plane home.
About half way through the movie there is another scene with sister Nikki Hilton, where Paris expresses that she’s unsure if she wants kids and a family. She says her end goal is to be a billionaire on her own, independent of her family’s wealth. Today her retail empire is reportedly worth $3 billion and includes more than 20 product lines and 23 fragrances.
Dean worked with Paris for a year to make This Is Paris. She admits in a CNN report that filming with Hilton was challenging at times.
“She has a billion dollar empire. She runs it and whether you like it or not, whether you like her or not, you have to respect that,” Dean said. “It’s not an easy thing to do. She does it almost solo. I saw that up close, ” Dean said.
Paris claims the trauma she suffered at Provo Canyon led her to be involved in at least five past abusive relationships including her relationship with scumbag, Rick Salomon, who leaked their sex tape in 2003.
“It was like being electronically raped,” Paris says in the film about the leaked tape.
We then see the lengths Paris will go to keep her life private from ex-boyfriends and the trust issues that dominate most of her relationships. In one scene, Paris is surrounded by no less than 20 laptops piled on a coffee table. Each laptop represents an ex with their name and dates on sticker to label each computer. Hilton claims she gets rid of her laptops after breakups to avoid being hacked. Another scene shows Paris opening delivery boxes of hidden cameras to place around her room to spy on her new boyfriend while she's not home.
Paris claims to be happy for the most part and new boyfriend, Carter Reum, 39, is part of that equation. By the end of the movie you see a more human side to Paris, and whether this a real depiction or a glorified PR stunt, you can’t stop watching till the end.
Dean closes out ‘This Is Paris’ by asking if she could ever “divorce the brand.”
Paris giggles and says “No, it’ll be an expensive divorce.”
Watch This Is Paris Here:
More photos from Paris's friends and family premier of ‘This Is Paris’:
Photographed: Paris Hilton, Gigi Gorgeous, Paris Jackson, Influencer - James Charles, Model - Arta Gee, Beauty Duo - Natalie Halcro & Olivia Pierson. - photos via Instagram.