Paris Hilton says trolls who labeled her a "bimbo" two decades ago were part of a misogynistic, abusive press era that shaped how she and a circle of friends were portrayed. The 44-year-old Simple Life star spoke to i-D magazine for its fall/winter issue 375, describing the climate of tabloid culture when she was rising to fame and the toll it took on her and her peers.
During the 2000s, Hilton said, the media targeted certain girls and would repeatedly berate a small group of celebrities, effectively controlling their storylines. She cited periods when headlines and narratives centered on party photos and tabloid-driven personas, rather than the achievements of the women involved. The New York Post famously described Hilton and contemporaries such as Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan as “bimbos,” a label she says reflected a broader pattern of abuse by a press that she described as misogynistic at the time. The image accompanying the piece, a photo from 2006 showing Lohan, Hilton and Spears in a Mercedes-Benz after a night at The Beverly Hills Hotel, has become an emblem of that era’s press culture.
Hilton says she was misrepresented for years, with observers focusing on a single reality TV persona rather than her broader accomplishments. "For so long, no matter what I did in my life, or how much I had accomplished, people only saw me as The Simple Life character," she told writer Emilia Petrarca in New York City. "I wanted to show that there’s much more to me." The interview notes her long-standing relationships with Nicole Richie and Kim Kardashian, and she describes the desire to reveal a fuller self beyond the tabloid spotlight.
Photographed by Valentin Herfray and styled by Clare Byrne, the Beta Issue of i-D is being positioned as a vehicle for Hilton to articulate a broader identity. It will be available for pre-order at i-D.co from September 8 and goes on sale at newsstands and specialty stores from September 22. The piece also recounts Hilton’s early life, including a boarding-school experience she described as harsh and sleepless. She recalled, "Rebellious types slept on mattresses in the hall with the lights on and doors open—staff came along once in a while to poke us to make sure we were breathing—or just because—so I never really slept." The account of that period, she said, has brought her something close to calm in retrospect, describing it as life-changing and therapeutically healing.
Hilton’s reflections touch on the broader impact of media narratives, arguing that the way women in her orbit were covered was both abusive and misogynistic. She emphasizes that the press’s control over public perception of her life diminished her ability to define her own identity for years. "I just drifted in and out of this weird, twitchy state of semi-consciousness," she said of the period, adding that the feeling of constant scrutiny shaped her body’s response to being watched. In the interview she frames her current stance as evidence of personal growth and a deliberate effort to reclaim her story.
The interview also underscores Hilton’s ongoing relationships with figures in popular culture who were frequently scrutinized alongside her. By detailing her own experiences, she casts light on a wider conversation about how young women in entertainment were profiled in the pre-social-media era and how contemporary audiences might interpret that criticism with greater nuance. The i-D feature is part of Hilton’s broader effort to redefine her legacy beyond the party girl image that once defined her public persona, while acknowledging the real emotional impact of the era’s coverage on herself and others in her orbit.
As Hilton frames it, the process of revisiting those years is not about relitigating past grievances but about acknowledging how far she has come and how that period shaped her resolve to speak out against abusive media practices. She concludes with a sense of empowerment, expressing pride in the strong woman she has become and the therapeutic nature of sharing her experiences. The interview positions Hilton not only as a cultural figure from a defining moment in pop culture but also as a voice urging a more responsible and respectful portrayal of women in entertainment.