I'm a brand: Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton vaulted to global fame with her sex tape in 2003, and was one of the first people to be famous for just being famous.
But she’s a hard headed and hard working businesswoman, says she, as she opens up about her scandals, her work, and her loves
PIERS morgan: Paris Hilton and her fabulous life, her loves, those scandals, and what her mother thinks of the whole shebang.Paris and Kathy Hilton tell it all. (Excerpts):
PIERS: Do you think people take you seriously?
PARIS: When people know me they do.
PIERS: Would you like to be taken more seriously?
PARIS: I would. Definitely.
PIERS: Given that your brand has built around being a ditzy blonde, why would you care about being taken seriously?
PARIS: Because I feel like I’ve really grown in the past couple of years, I just turned 30, I’m an adult, and I feel that I deserve it.
PIERS: Kathy, what’s it like being Paris Hilton’s mom?
KATHY: It’s been quite an experience, quite a ride I must say.
PIERS: She’s a phenomenon of modern times. There aren’t many others like you. You have the Kardashians and Katie Price, people who have become famous for being famous – built these incredible business empires around being a brand.
KATHY: I think with Paris, to me, she’s just my daughter, until we’re out somewhere in public, and I see all of the craziness. One day, we were in Las Vegas, and we were supposed to meet at this store in a mall, and I had stopped at another store first, and I saw all of these policemen with bats and all this craziness, like a prize fighter was coming out – that’s Paris Hilton. And it was weird because I couldn’t even get to my own daughter. Then you stop, and look, and go, wow, that’s intense.
PIERS: I’ve seen the same thing. But, it seems to be that because the media likes to ridicule you, it also loves to feed off you, Paris. I see that as a former newspaper editor, we used to sell
papers and yet, at the same time, there was nothing we used to like more than mocking Paris Hilton. Do you find that easy to deal with?
PARIS: You know, it used to really bother me when I first came out in the media when I was 15. It was really hurtful and I cried to my mom about it. But it has been happening for so long now that I just don’t pay any attention. I have so many positive amazing things in my life that I don’t really like to focus on the negative things.
PIERS: If you... If you came on “America’s Got Talent,” what would your talent be?
PARIS: Singing.
PIERS: Are you a serious singer or are you a brand singer, as an extension of your brand?
PARIS: I see myself as a businesswoman and a brand. And singing is just something that adds to my brand.
PIERS: I find this fascinating, the fact that you can build this empire, this brand out of being you. Kathy, what do you think of modern fame in that sense, that you can see Paris not going through a conventional talent like acting, but just being Paris Hilton and making all this money?
KATHY: It’s been, as you said, a long time in the making and she does work so hard.
PIERS: Why are people so fascinated by Paris?
KATHY: I think that, she has a famous last name. She’s very attractive, daring. She is willing to go out there and then if she stumbles, she picks herself right back up and dusts herself off. And she’s very ambitious.
PIERS: The misconceptions about you?
PARIS: A lot, just having the last name, people assume that everything was handed to me and I’ve never had to work a day in my life. But, in reality, I’ve worked so hard, I’ve done this all on my own, I don’t take anything from my family, I do everything myself.
PIERS: Your career was toddling along nicely and then came this sex tape, and you were suddenly catapulted into this different league of modern celebrity.
PARIS: I was in shock. I had no idea. We were in Australia when we heard the news that someone had been sent a clip, and I didn’t believe it at first. When I landed back in LA I saw what happened, and I was, it was the most embarrassing, humiliating thing that has ever happened to me in my life.
PIERS: Did you call your mum?
PARIS: Yes, I did. I was so embarrassed to even call her and tell her about it.
PIERS: How do you begin to tell your mother about that? I can’t imagine.
PARIS: I just called her crying.
KATHY: It was a very difficult time. To keep her home for like three months, you know, it had to have been very embarrassing. She wouldn’t leave the house. We lived in New York. So, wherever you are going, there are those boxes with the newspapers, and it was constantly, you know, I’d have to take my sons to school and walk them in and it would be sitting at the reception desk.
PIERS: However much people laughed at you, Paris, it’s an incredibly invasive thing for any woman to go through. You’re not in the adult entertainment industry. So, it’s not for public consumption.
PARIS: No.
PIERS: How did you get her back on track?
KATHY: We had therapy and that helped.
PIERS: What do you say to someone who was in Paris’ position? What can you say?
KATHY: I didn’t know what to say. So, that’s why I reached out for professional help. So I could explain to my sons and Nicky and my husband, the whole family was affected.
PIERS: What did you think of the people that put it out there?
PARIS: I just felt so betrayed. This was not some random guy. This was someone I was with for a few years.
PIERS: That you loved?
PARIS: I thought I did and I can’t believe that he’d do something like that to me. It’s something that changed my life forever. You know, and I was a little girl, I looked up to people like Princess Diana and these women, and I feel like he took that away from me. This is not what I planned. I didn’t want to be known as that, and now, when people look at me they think that I’m something I’m not just because of one incident one night, with someone who I was in love with. People assume – oh, she’s a slut – just because of one thing that happened to me and it’s hard because I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life, and explain it to my children. I’ll never be able to erase it.
PIERS: The worst thing is that this is always going to be there, one click away. And like you said, you’re going to have children one day, your grandchildren, they’ll find it and see it...
KATHY: It’s just stupid and we didn’t have cameras like that when I was a teenager or we weren’t – you know, you just can’t take pictures and do stupid things, even with somebody that you’re with because you never know. And that’s the one thing that really drives me crazy about Paris, she’s so trusting and daring, I think she’s learned, too.
PIERS: People now, pretty low-ranking celebrities, are almost deliberately creating sex tapes and putting them out there.
KATHY: Like it’s some recipe.
PIERS: Yes – like it’s almost part of becoming a celebrity.
KATHY: Well, I can say this, Paris already had, you know, 14 pages in Vanity Fair. I think that we have to give Donald Trump and also Graydon Carter from the magazine credit. Donald actually was handling her modeling career and talked us into even allowing her, because we were friends.
PIERS: Yes, certainly the tape wasn’t the first that we’d heard of you. When this whole tape thing blew up, what did Donald Trump say to you?
PARIS: He was furious.
KATHY: He would just see Paris, hug her, and go, I love you... Really supportive.
PIERS: When you see your mother this upset, it must really upset you, doesn’t it?
PARIS: It’s something we don’t talk about.
KATHY: We don’t ever talk about it.
PIERS: Modern fame, is it really worth it? Obviously, it’s lucrative to you, Paris. But when I see your mom, I see a downside.
PARIS: Well, I’ve been doing this for 15 years now, so half of my life, and there are its up and downs. It’s hard sometimes. There are so many amazing things that go with it, but just like anything, there’s the bad and the hard that goes with it, too.
PIERS: What are those things that you wish you didn’t have to put up with, other than what we’ve just discussed?
PARIS: One of the things is in the media, all these people who I’ve never met before, or maybe people from my past want to sell stories and make money, so they’ll make up these stories and people believe them.
PIERS: Come on Paris, you know you play this game smartly. You play it aggressively. You use the media to make money. Are you really entitled to any privacy given the amount of your private life that you put out there for commercial gain?
PARIS: When you’re in this business, this is what you sign up for. There’ll be no privacy.
PIERS: Is that a price worth paying?
PARIS: Sometimes. Sometimes not. I’ve really grown a thick skin over the years. And I’ve had so many things said about me. And it’s hard, but I feel like what else could happen at this point? Everything bad that can happen to a person has happened to me.
PIERS: Paris, you hang out with people like LiLo, some of whom have really fallen badly. Why do some manage to deal with fame and others just fall by the wayside?
PARIS: I think it has a lot to do with your family. I am so fortunate that my parents have been together forever. They’re so supportive. They’re there for me. They love me for me.
And I think these other people, you know, their parents are living off of them and I don’t know. They just don’t have that home life. If I didn’t have my parents, I don’t know where I’d be today. I feel very lucky to have my mom and dad. I have a lot of love. My parents were very strict. My mom, I think, was a little too strict. Made me rebel.
KATHY: Well, it was my first child, and I thought this is, you know, my little china cup. And I didn’t want it to break. And I was probably too overbearing and strict. And that’s why she would start to sneak out and...
PIERS: The rest is history.
KATHY:Yes.
PIERS: Paris, how many current businesses do you have?
PARIS: I have 17 different product lines. I do everything from fragrances, handbags, clothing, shoes, sunglasses, pet products, stationery, bedding.
PIERS: What kind of volumes do these sell, these things? Do you know?
PARIS: I do. But I don’t like to discuss money.
PIERS: Why?
PARIS: I don’t know. It’s something my mom taught me. It’s obnoxious when people do that.
PIERS: The most recent thing I read is you make about 10 million dollars a year. I would imagine it’s more than that, isn’t it?
PARIS: Yes.
PIERS: Is it a lot more?
PARIS: I do very well for myself. I feel really proud of what I’ve accomplished.
PIERS: What is brand Paris? If you were pitching it to me, what do you personify?
PARIS: Fashion, fun, excitement, and amazing products. I’m passionate about every single thing I do. And I really believe in everything. I worked very hard to achieve all this.
PIERS: Do you know what you’re worth? Do you keep a close eye on the money?
PARIS: I don’t like to be taken advantage of. I feel like, people, when they think you have money, they like to take advantage.
PIERS: How do you trust men?
PARIS: It’s about someone who has their own thing going on. My guy loves me for me.
PIERS: This is Cy Waits. You’ve been with him a couple years?
PARIS: Over a year now.
PIERS: Is this true love?
PARIS: I’ve never been happier. He makes me feel so safe. He’s so loyal. He’s my best friend, an incredible man. So, I feel lucky.
PIERS: Think we may be seeing some real wedding bells soon?
PARIS: We’ll see what happens. Right now, we’re so happy how we are.
PIERS: Could you imagine being 35 and not married?
PARIS: You know, I would love to have a family and children in the next couple of years, definitely. I’m just right now so busy with travelling that I wouldn’t have time.
PIERS: Do you think he’s the one?
PARIS: I do. I couldn’t imagine myself with anyone else.
(Excerpts from an interview on CNN International’s “Piers Morgan Tonight”)