Paris Hilton recently opened up about a painful detail that continues to ‘haunt’ her following the leak of a sex tape when she was just 19.
The video featuring the ‘Stars Are Blind’ singer was released in 2004 without her consent. It involved her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, who was 35 years old at the time.
Reports indicated Solomon sold the tape and marketed it as ‘one night in Paris’.
Hilton faced harsh ridicule from the media after the leak, and she has spoken in various interviews about the long-lasting negative impacts it has had on her life.
Now 44, Hilton discussed the traumatic experience in an episode of the Jay Shetty Podcast, which was released on Wednesday (January 21).
During the conversation, Hilton expressed her fear that people would view her differently after the tape was leaked.
Hilton shared: “Growing up, I always looked up to people like Princess Diana and Grace Kelly, amazing elegant women and I feel like when he did that [sex tape], he [Salomon] took that away from me and people would never look at me because of it.”
She added: “It’s something that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. It makes me so sad for that girl that felt so alone, and it’s so sad I didn’t want to see anyone again after that happened. I was hiding in my house and I canceled the entire press tour for the simple life.”
Hilton also mentioned her belief that she ‘will never heal’ from the incident of the tape being leaked.
The media personality has previously spoken about finding some level of ‘healing’ in the fact that non-consensual release of such footage would now be considered an act of revenge porn.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Hilton stated: “Like, that would be illegal today. People realise just how wrong it was. And that has also been healing for me, for people to be, like, ‘wow, Paris was just a teenage girl being taken advantage of by this older guy.'”
In May of last year, the Take It Down Act was enacted into US law, making it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images without consent.
If you or someone you know has had an intimate image or video released without their consent, you can visit the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative’s (CCRI) Safety Center for help deciding what to do. CCRI also has an Image Abuse Helpline at 1-844-878-CCRI (2274).