Paris Hilton was joined by her sister Nicky Hilton on the March 1 episode of her podcast, This Is Paris, where the two discussed their past and present in the spotlight. The topic partly stemmed from Paris’ comment that she became “very emotional” while watching the Hulu documentary Framing Britney Spears, which has called into question the media’s treatment of Britney Spears and other young stars in the ’90s and early 2000s. Paris noted that she could relate to Britney’s past experiences with the media, and described a 2007 interview with David Letterman, which left her feeling uncomfortable to say the least. — Watch the full interview, above.
Ahead of the interview, Paris said that Letterman’s public relations team reached out to her multiple times to request an interview, but she “kept saying no.” Finally, when her then-new “Can Can” fragrance came out, among other projects she was promoting, Paris agreed to appear on Letterman’s late night show under one condition: as long as he did not hash up her 45-day jail sentence that she served earlier that year for violating probation by driving with a suspended license in an alcohol-related case.
“I felt like it was a safe place because I’d been going on Letterman for so many years, and he’d always have fun with me and joke around,” Paris, who got engaged in February, said on her podcast. But, not even a minute into the interview, Letterman was cracking jokes about the situation. He went on to ask about her meals behind bars as well as, “Did you lose any weight while you were in prison?”, “Do you still drink when you go out?”, and “Have your friends treated you differently after you got out of the slammer?”
At one point, a visibly agitated Paris admitted that her time in jail was “a really traumatic experience.” She even repeated in a number of different ways that she didn’t want to discuss the topic. “I’ve moved on with my life so I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Paris said.
Though, Letterman continued to ask, “Did you make any friends in jail?” — to which Paris replied, “I’m not answering anymore questions about it. I’m here for my clothing line, my movie and my perfume, I’m not here to talk about that. I’ve moved on.”
During the podcast episode, Paris recalled, “There was not supposed to be one question, and then he just kept pushing me and pushing me and I was just getting so uncomfortable, and I was so upset. It was like he was just purposely trying to humiliate me. It was just very cruel and very mean,” she said. “And during commercial breaks I’d look at him, like ‘please stop doing this. You promised me you wouldn’t talk about this’ and that’s the only reason I agreed to come on the show.”
But, when the cameras started rolling, Letterman only seemed focused on making the audience laugh at her expense. “After it ended, I just looked at him, and I said, ‘I am never coming on this show again. You’ve crossed the line,'” Paris remembered, noting, “I didn’t tell him off because I’m not that type of person, but I got angry.”
Now, Paris believes “there’s no way that would happen today” because “it’s such a different world now.” As for wether or not she returned to Letterman’s show? — Following profuse apologies, Paris appeared on the late night program again, where she said that their next interview was “so much better.”
“He knew not to do that again. I think he felt bad,” Paris said.
