This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Western chapter.
Before there were the Kardashians and Instagram influencers, there was Paris Hilton—a woman who needs no introduction. But a lot has changed since her infamous partying in the early 2000’s and her 45-day jail sentence: Paris has evolved into an entrepreneur with the midas touch. Here are 12 things you might not know about the infamous heiress and original reality star.
1. The premiere of The Simple Life attracted 13 million views, which is more than Keeping Up With the Kardashians (2007) or The Hills (2006).
2. She legally trademarked the phrase “that’s hot.” She actually won a lawsuit against Hallmark that released a card using the phrase.
3. She has planned properties in Dubai, New York, and Las Vegas. After a successful partnership with Century Properties in which she made a stunning beach club in the Philippines, Paris is ready to embrace her family legacy and design her own luxury hotels.
4. There are 50 Paris Hilton boutiques worldwide that sell her purses, accessories, and perfumes, with her fragrances earning $1.5 billion on their own. Variety said, “With the exception of Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds, no other celeb fragrance comes close to Hilton’s sales.”
5. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2006, Paris responded to a question on how she deals with the scrutiny of the public by saying: “No matter what a woman looks like, if she’s confident, she’s sexy.”
6. Paris created a caricature of herself on her reality show The Simple Life to create the brand that made her a household name. She told the Huffington Post, “I play dumb like Jessica Simpson plays dumb. But we know exactly what we’re doing. We’re smart blondes”.
7. Variety named Paris its “Billion Dollar Entrepreneur” in 2011.
8. On her decision to become an entrepreneur/businesswoman, Paris told Forbes, “my grandfather and great-grandfather created such a huge empire…as a little girl, I really looked up to them and wanted to do something of my own. I could never have become a trust-fund kid and lived off a monthly allowance. As a teenager, I always said I wanted to make my own money so I never had to ask for anything.”
9. Paris also told Forbes, “my grandfather jokes that he used to be known as Barron Hilton. Now people just refer to him as ‘Paris Hilton’s grandfather.’”
10. That was her actual house featured in Sofia Coppola’s movie The Bling Ring.
11. On her DJing career, Paris said, “there’s a lot that goes into it that people don’t realize: I trained for six hours a day for six months, every single day, training with the best people in the business. I’ve never played the same set twice.” Buzzfeed reported that Paris makes $347,000 an hour as a DJ, making over a $1 million per night.
12. The past few years have seen a resurgence in Paris’ iconic early 2000’s style—none more notable than when Kendall Jenner wore the exact same dress Paris did on her 21st birthday. During an interview with Vogue Magazine, Paris said that Kendall “looked stunning” and the dress “brought back a lot of memories.”
Despite all these achievements and iconic moments, there is no greater achievement than the sheer amount of self-love Paris exudes. Exhibit A: her giant portrait of herself that is made up of smaller photos of herself.
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