Child abuse, heroin… the scandal that has rocked Paris Hilton

More than 20 years after The Simple Life, the reality TV show that brought Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie to the public's attention, the two stars are reuniting for a new season. Now in their prime, the two forty-somethings have led a life that is eventful to say the least.

© Bestimage Paris Hilton: her youth marked by scandals and tragedies

IN BRIEF

• In 2003, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie became famous thanks to the reality TV show The Simple Life.
• Their youth was marked by media scandals and personal tragedies
• Today, they lead a more stable life while preparing their comeback with the series Paris & Nicole: The Encore.

In 2003, the public discovered The Simple Life, an American reality TV show in which two young jet-set stars must get by without money, without a cell phone and without a nightclub. Small jobs, life on the farm, camping… Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie discover real life in front of an audience won over by this culture clash. If the two starlets had already achieved a little notoriety at At the time, due to their influential families, they acquired a worldwide reputation thanks to the show which quickly became cult. 

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Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie: a youth between scandals and tragedies

Constantly hounded by the paparazzi, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie spend their twenties in the spotlight and all their escapades are publicized. Driving under the influence, arrest for possession of cocaine, fight in front of a nightclub, the sulphurous lifestyle of the young women fascinates the press. But if these scandals can be seen as simple mistakes of youth, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have also been marked by real tragedies.

In her documentary released in 2020, Paris Hilton had indeed revealed having been sexually abused in a boarding school when she was a child. For her part, Nicole Richie fell into alcohol and drugs – notably heroin – after her parents' divorce in 1993, when she was still only a teenager. Her father, Lionel Richie, then pushed her to go to rehab, admitting years later that he thought he had lost her.

This sad common point that links Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie

The two stars share another tragic common point: they both lost an ex-boyfriend. Adam Goldstein, the former fianc&eacute Nicole Richie's died of an overdose in 2009 while Paris Hilton's ex Aaron Carter drowned in her hot tub in 2022. In 2010, they also lost a mutual friend, heiress Casey Johnson, who died of diabetes. 

Today, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie lead a more orderly life, with their respective husbands and children. Which doesn't stop the two women from having kept their grain of madness, as promised by the mini-series Paris & Nicole: The Encore.