Was Paris Hilton treated unfairly by the media? Absolutely—and people are finally realizing it.
In wake of the horrific early-aughts interviews featured in Framing Britney Spears, people have been resurfacing and reevaluating past conversations with other female celebrities. One of Lindsay Lohan’s appearances on The Late Show With David Letterman, in which Letterman blindsides and mocks Lohan with questions about her addiction issues, went viral. And now another Letterman clip with Paris Hilton is making people uncomfortable.
During the 2007 chat, Letterman repeatedly asks Hilton about her recent stint in jail—she’d violated her probation after a reckless driving incident—and it’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about it. At first Hilton is polite, if reserved. She says the experience made her stronger, and she’s ready to move past it. When Letterman asks how her friend, Nicole Richie, managed to serve only 45 minutes in the clink, Hilton answers honestly: “I don’t know.” She tries, again, to move past the scandal and onto the projects she’s trying to promote, mostly her new perfume.
Letterman keeps asking about jail, but she says she won’t answer any more questions about it and seems to get uncomfortable. Eventually they do move on, and Letterman does a bit where he pretends to drink her perfume. (Commenters seem confused, but it’s probably a prop filled with water.)
Paris Hilton is a pro. She was most likely prepared for David Letterman to ask a question or two about her recent jail stint, but to belabor the issue to the point where she got uncomfortable? That crossed a line. What stands out here is Letterman, at one point, lecturing Hilton about her responsibility as a role model for kids—a position she never really signed up for—to which she says, “You’re hurting my feelings.”
This interview started gaining attention when the meme account @literally.iconic posted a clip of it to Instagram on February 15. As of publish time on this post, the video had been viewed over 50,000 times. “Paris did not deserve this,” one person wrote in the comments. Another added, “Horrible way to talk to a young girl, it’s bullying.” And a third said, “This is soooo cringe-y! I could feel her uncomfortableness.”
As I said, Hilton handled this situation like a pro—but the fact it happened at all is ridiculous.
