Paris Hilton Interviewed by CNN

Paris on CNN.com

I was very happy to see a top headline about Paris Hilton on CNN.com this morning. It was linked to a video, covering her promotional event in London. Later, they linked it to an article related to the video.

CNN.com is of course, what we call a “Hate site.” So I knew the makers of the video were going to subtly trash Paris as they always do, or at least, make it “controversial.” You know how the media is. CNN is also a very bias news network (not just about Paris).

Anyway, the first part of the video is pretty good. You can hear “Stars Are Blind” playing in the background, and the video also shows a few seconds of her music video. I personally would’ve put “Nothing in this World” instead.

In an interview with CNN Correspondent, Phil Black, Paris described Can Can and said she wanted to be known as an entrepreneur and businesswoman. She also talked about her fans. Once again, she said that she’s focusing on her work and her relationship with Benji Madden. Phil Black added that Paris is a singer and actress.

But it’s hard for journalists to stick to those career-related questions, because as Black wrote on his blog “journalists are paid to dig deeper.” Journalists always want to talk about Paris’ personal life and bring up negative subjects.

It just goes to show that we still have the same problem. With the release of Repo! and everything else, people may start seeing a different version of Paris.

From: Nicole
Time: May 16, 2008, 1:40 pm

woah, wonder why Paris was irritated by that question :/

But it was a great interview :]
She is so greatful of her fans and thats why her fan base is so big <3

From: juju
Time: May 16, 2008, 9:19 pm

i think it’s obvious why she would be irritated with that question….because it’s phenominally rude! Time was, everybody understood how crass and out-of-line it was to talk to people about their money, and even the best journalist didn’t do such things. now with the demise of journalism, sensationalism sells and “reporters” don’t honor any boundaries or sense of propriety.

i think she handled it very well.

my only problem, as usual, is benji being there.

From: Django
Time: May 17, 2008, 12:42 am

Paris has answered that question before and handled it well, but I guess she was either sick of it, had been advised not to talk about it or just didn’t feel like going into the whole story of why it’s inaccurate.

From: Fi-Fi
Time: May 18, 2008, 12:28 am

arghhh so annoyed i missed Paris when she came to London for CanCan! Cos I live in London, and have yet to meet Paris.
But uno, there was SKOOL. hmmmm
🙁
lovely interview, she was very very sweet as usual.
xoxoxoxo

From: juju
Time: May 18, 2008, 12:55 am

bottomline, it’s nobody else’s business except theirs!

From: thewaymouth
Time: May 18, 2008, 2:21 am

Yes, juju and Django are both right:

1), People didn’t use to talk about money outside of family. I think it is rude.

2), There have been hurtful inaccuracies in the past year about the story of why her grandfather is giving his money away to charity. And the story is too involved to go into in a short interview.

3), Paris has never discussed this story before so why would she now. I think charity work and donations should be private business anyway.

Unless the person announces to the press their intentions to do a project for charity. Like last summer when Paris publicly said she wants to help build a transitional home for prison inmates, or plans to go to Rwanda. In retrospect, I do think in that case that you’ve left open a door to the press to later follow up on the subject.

From: thewaymouth
Time: May 18, 2008, 2:52 am

BTW, I thought it was great when Paris flat out refused to answer the question. I think she should do that a lot more.

She is always so gracious, she will usually she put up with a lot of inappropriate questions, aka rudeness. But then the interview usually becomes awkward.

F— that. When Paris blew him off, it made her look powerful. Instead of the interviewer, it put her in control. That is where she shines most. Loves it.

From: thewaymouth
Time: May 18, 2008, 4:06 am

Nicole, in further answer to your question as to why Paris was irritated by the question about her inheritance:

Last year the media put out a lot of false rumurs about why Paris was supposedly “losing her inheritance.” The media ran stories that the family was embarrassed by her wild ways and her jail time.

The media refused to accept the real explanation, which came directly from her grandfather, Barron Hilton himself. On the day after Christmas 2007, he publicly announced, “My personal net worth today, including created trusts, is approximately $2.3 billion, and what ever value it is upon my passing, it is my intent to contribute 97% of my estate to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, following in my father’s footsteps.”

[The foundation, BTW, concentrates most of its funding on major long-term projects such as preventing blindness, providing water and sanitation systems for villagers in developing countries, helping to prevent drug abuse among youth, and providing supportive housing for the mentally ill homeless and homeless mothers and children in the United States.]

Note however, that when Barron’s father Conrad died in 1979, leaving the bulk of his estate to his foundation, and almost nothing to his children, Barron was not going out like that. He contested the will because of his lifelong career of working to build the Hilton hotel company and won his lawsuit in 1988.

Now there had been estimates that Paris was supposed to inherit anywhere from between $30 to 100 million from her grandfather. Now she is supposedly likely to get about $5 million from him.

Then there is Paris’ father, Rick Hilton. He has a personal net worth estimated to be valued at around $300 million. So she may get some of that.

But what the media and the public generally ignores is that Paris makes her own money. She earned $7 million last year alone.

From: thewaymouth
Time: May 18, 2008, 4:14 am

PS FINALLY, more of what you can’t always believe what you read:

I am glad you put up this CNN video up admin, showing how Paris stopped traffic in London. BTW, I have checked this morning and of CNN’s story is being backed up by other UK media.

PHS usually list sources and I’m glad of it. I’m going to start looking for the source of the material now whenever I read blogs. Because until I till I read this post today, I had a completely different idea of the reaction to Paris’s London visit. I thought it had bombed.

On May 16 Oh-paris.org posted a story that painted quite a different picture. Looking at the Oh-paris.org story now, I see no source listed. So I did some digging today.

On Yahoo search I found only one other blog running with the same story as Oh-paris.org: Faded Youth Blog. But on the post there as well, there was no source listed.

I had to check FYB’s pictures of the event and found the picture source to be bauergriffinonline.com. So then I went there – they do not have stories listed. It is a source of celebrity photos from paparazzi.

And I have come to the conclusion, based on the actual videotape, those particular paparazzi must hate Paris.

Here is that other BS story:
_____________________

Paris and Posh: A media showdown
16 May 2007

Paris Hilton does a little shameless self promotion as she leaves the Dorchester with boyfriend Benji Madden to dine at Langan’s Brasserie on Friday.

Meanwhile, it appears Miss Hilton’s boundless ego has suffered a severe bruising. The self-centred attention-seeker reportedly went head-to-head with Victoria Beckham in a fight for press attention yesterday — and the former Spice Girl won hands down.

The duo, who were launching new fashion lines, were battling for the attention of the paparazzi — and they all flocked to Victoria, who was in Harrods showing off her range of DVB jeans — while Paris was at Selfridges unleashing her new fragrance, Can Can.
________________

From: Django
Time: May 18, 2008, 7:19 am

juju, what you said is quite correct. However, I wasn’t disputing or disagreeing with that point. Other fans have as much right to comment or add to what’s being discussed as you. Sorry I didn’t feel like word for word repeating what you had already said.

From: admin
Time: May 18, 2008, 7:42 am

Everything thewaymouth wrote is correct. Paris has already replied to this question in one of her interviews when she was promoting “Hottie.” She said that it was a good move from her grandfather’s part and that more people should be like him, etc.

I think she hates it when reporters ask her the question because they’re being rude and ignorant of her own work. Anyway, the reporter is a blind semi-hater who doesn’t really understand the “real” Paris or how we should look up her. Check out his blog and read some of the irrelevant comments he wrote.

From: anonymous
Time: May 18, 2008, 11:37 am

Hard to get around the $$$ and heiress questions when she’s built her empire on being an heiress. Confessions of an Heiress, Heiress Records, Heir perfume and more. It’s probably a logical question to find out if she’s not an heiress anymore. Most importantly, I thought that was looking at the tree instead of the forest. it was a nice softball interview that showed Paris being nice to adoring fans, talked about her as a businesswoman with amultil-million dollar empire and had a screenshot “Paris charms London” I thought all that was pretty good

From: juju
Time: May 18, 2008, 4:17 pm

django,

I’m sorry, i don’t understand your last post. I didn’t say anything directed at you.

From: Django
Time: May 19, 2008, 1:25 am

juju, in that case I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.

From: thewaymouth
Time: May 19, 2008, 6:06 am

Anonymous, you definitely make a good point that was Paris was heavily promoted as an heiress, and her products are named accordingly.

The public still views her as an heiress, a spoiled little rich girl. And then because of the sex tape that she did not put out, as dirty rich girl.

But what’s in a name? It’s ultimately it’s just a label. The public’s label of her as spoiled rich slut has been hung like an albatross around her neck.

She has tried to turn away from the label that was put upon her since birth, something out of control, just like the sex tape. She is focused on something her own, and original – herself. Her brand is no longer Heiress but Paris.

For all along that she has said she wants to be recognized as Paris. She has played off of being an heiress, but she is so much more than that.

Which may be why she wears t-shirts that say “Paris” all the time – because the media and the general public refuse to give up on old conceptions of her. She is supposed to be ashamed of being herself. But quite to the contrary she is not, she is proud of who she is. If you’ve got it flaunt it. She is talented, has charisma, has taken what she was given and run hard with it. She works it.

I think she pays not only herself tribute when she goes out to face the public everyday. She knows there are those who are with her. Paris wants to be recognized for what her fans have seen in her all along, a true original, a marvelous marvel. She wants what we want, for her to be validated. And accepted. As Paris.