How Paris Hilton went from sex tape star to Simple Life before transforming ... trends now
Paris Hilton shocked her fans and followers on Tuesday night when she revealed that she had welcomed her first child via surrogate.
The latest twist in the 41-year-old heiress life came after she reinvented herself multiple times.
After being born into the Hilton Hotels fortune and bubbling up as a headline-stealing socialite, Paris rocketed into the public consciousness with the leak of her sex tape 1 Night In Paris in late 2003.
The sex tape's leak happened just as she was introduced to audience across the country via her reality series The Simple Life, and Paris would go on to refine her image by focusing on her business ventures in subsequent years, while more recently refashioning herself as an activist.
What an evolution! To mark Paris Hilton's announcement on Tuesday that she had welcomed her first child, DailyMail.com takes a look back at her rise to fame, from her early sex tape leak and stardom on The Simple Life to her reinvention as a successful businesswoman and activist; seen with Nicole Richie in 2004
Sweet: She made the announcement via Instagram, which included a photo of the new mom clutching onto her infant's hand
Paris, who was born in New York City on February 17, 1981, spent much of her early life shuffling with her parents and four siblings between the coasts.
The family spent time in Beverly Hills, along with East Coast spots in the Hamptons on Long Island and Manhattan, though she spent most of her time on the West Coast.
But in 1996, when she was around 15, the family headed back east, which coincided with her more rebellious teen years.
At their wits' end, her parents Kathy and Richard eventually sent her to the Provo Canyon School in Utah, which catered to troubled children.
But in her 2020 documentary This Is Paris, the socialite claimed that she was physically and mentally abused at the school, and several other people who were enrolled at the school have said they were abused there.
Paris alleged that she was restrained when she was sent to the school, and she claimed that she was drugged while there.
The future reality star also said she was the subject of strip searches and was at one point forced to stay in an isolation room for 24 hours.
Bicoastal heiress: Paris, who was born in 1981, split her time between New York and Los Angeles initially; seen in 2001
Bad days: After problem behavior when her family moved back to NYC in 1996, she was sent to a boarding school in Utah, where she claimed she was abused; seen in 2003 in NYC
Paris was forced to stay at the school for 11 months, until she turned 18 in 1999.
After returning home, she started to establish herself as a model, even as she made a reputation with her hard-partying ways.
In 2001, she was featured in a sex tape filmed by her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, which was leaked on the internet in 2003.
The tape, which was privately made, came out just as she was ramping up for the release of her reality series The Simple Life, which paired her with her friend Nicole Richie after her sister Nicky Hilton passed on it.
The show had the two privileged stars living with rural families and being exposed to blue-collar jobs that were far from the tony coastal enclaves that Hilton and Richie were used to.
Paris also proved herself to be a natural performer, and she became a pop culture icon thanks to her deadpan deliver and knowing humor.
