Paris Hilton doesn’t want the world to remember that she was a reality star. She doesn’t even want people to think of her as a starlet, socialite, or heiress. She wants to be known first and foremost as a businesswoman. It’s clear that Paris is growing up and is no longer that party girl who was on the scene and in the headlines.
The 35-year-old sat down for an interview with Harper’s Bazaar to talk about her business, which involves her fragrance line, DJ gigs, and fashion and accessories brand. While Hilton was known for her sex tape and for hanging out with Kim Kardashian long before she appeared on the FOX reality series, The Simple Life , she said that she doesn’t want “to be known as a reality star.”
“I want to be known as a businesswoman,” she admitted.
“I don’t want to be known as a reality TV star, I don’t like the way that sounds.”
“I have really grown past that,” she explained.
“Now I mostly focus on my empire and my brand, rather than everything else that comes with the reality star kind of life. I spend my time working rather than just enjoying myself and being on vacation. I am very focused on my business and when you live in that mind frame, you can stay away from the trashy tabloids.”
Though Hilton says she’s moved on from her reality TV past, she does take credit for paving the way for those who became famous for being on TV. However, she knew how to market herself long before social media came along. Hilton also touched upon her DJ gig, which has made her one of the highest-paid female DJs in the world and in the industry. Hilton has reportedly earned up to $1 million per DJ set, reports The Guardian .
“When I moved to New York as a teenager I would just party all the time, but now people think I am actually smart because I have parlayed that into a very lucrative business,” she admits.
“With partying, no one had ever been paid to go to a party. I was the first one to kind of invent that in Las Vegas at 20 years old. Back in the day, a DJ would maybe get $200 and they would be hidden in a DJ booth. Now they are headliners, making millions of dollars – the whole attraction is them. I saw that coming before it was actually happening.”
Something she didn’t realize would happen was seeing the dress reality star and model Kendall Jenner were on the 21st birthday, which she confessed by Hilton’s own 21st birthday look. Both Hilton and Jenner wore sparkling silver dresses that featured plunging necklines along with diamond accessories. Hilton said that she was “flattered” that Jenner wanted to recreate her party girl look.
“[Kendall] was like, ‘I saw the pictures of you and I was obsessed, it was so beautiful so I had another designer recreate it,” Hilton admitted.
“It’s like when I was little, I wanted to copy Madonna and wear what she wore in the ’80s, so the fact that I’m seeing these beautiful girls – who are the new style icons right now – reminds me of when I wanted to look like Madonna. It’s flattering.”
Hilton’s latest statements come after she revealed that she was “trapped” playing a dumb blonde for the past five years. In a previous interview with Access Hollywood , she said that she doesn’t want to be known as a blonde bombshell or ditz anymore. With an established brand, she wants to be taken more seriously for her business empire and wants people to respect her for it. Then, she went on to explain her breakout reality show that played off her persona.
“They said ‘Nicole you play the troublemaker, Paris you play the ditzy airhead.’ We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into or what a huge success it would be and that I’d have to continue playing this character for five years.”
However, Hilton didn’t mind because she felt like she “was in on the joke.” She also didn’t mind since the series became such a success and also gave her a platform. Now Hilton is doing just fine without being a reality TV star.
[Featured Image by Michael Dodge/Getty Images]
