Jonathan Van Meter claims Paris Hilton canceled their planned interview for his Kim Kardashian biography 17 times.
The journalist, 63, told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Friday that he approached Kardashian late in the writing process for “Citizen Kim,” which hits bookshelves Tuesday. He suggested speaking with Hilton, who employed Kardashian as a personal stylist and assistant before the two became close friends in the early 2000s.
“Kim checked and said Paris agreed,” Van Meter said, “but I had to go through her publicist.”
That requirement struck the author as odd. He noted that Kardashian “just sent a text” to everyone else who contributed quotes for the book. Van Meter sent questions and connected with Hilton’s assistant, but over roughly four months, the interview was repeatedly scrapped.
“Eventually I thought the cancellations were more interesting than whatever she’d tell me,” he told the outlet.
The situation apparently struck a nerve with Kardashian. Van Meter claimed she “was so mad” upon learning of Hilton’s flakiness. “It seemed to stir up some ancient irritation between them,” he said. “The creation turning on the creator.”
However, a source disputed that characterization to the outlet, insisting Kardashian is not angry at Hilton. The source said both women remain involved in each other’s upcoming projects and continue to support one another.
The alleged tension evokes a much-documented history between the two socialites. Their friendship fractured as Kardashian’s fame exploded following her 2007 sex tape with Ray J and the launch of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” on E!. By 2008, the rift had turned public when Hilton, now 45, made a notorious crack about Kardashian’s physique on a radio show, describing her butt as “cottage cheese inside a big trash bag.”
Kardashian, 46, addressed the insult during a 2009 appearance on Howard Stern’s show. “I haven’t talked to [Hilton] in a few years,” she said then. “We were good friends … It was just one time we didn’t speak again,” She added that Hilton had called to apologize after the radio incident: “cottage cheese.”
By 2011, Kardashian made the estrangement explicit in Harper’s Bazaar. “As I always say, everyone comes into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. And she was in my life for a long time,” she said. “There comes a point in life where you just grow apart and realize you’re not as similar as you thought.” That distance persisted through 2014, when Kardashian excluded Hilton from her wedding to Kanye West.
The frost eventually thawed. The pair reunited in 2016 at Kris Jenner’s annual Christmas Eve party, posing together for photos. Their renewed connection deepened over subsequent years, with Hilton saying in 2019 that “it’s been really nice” rebuilding the friendship. “I’ve known her my whole life and we’ve been having so much fun together lately,” the “Simple Life” alum said. The mutual support became tangible in 2020 when Hilton modeled for a Skims fall campaign, and Kardashian returned the favor by attending Hilton’s November 2021 wedding to Carter Reum.
Van Meter’s account of the canceled interviews arrives as “Citizen Kim,” his deep-dive into Kardashian’s life and cultural impact, prepares for its Oct. 27 release.
