Paris Hilton testifies about abuse she faced as a teen at Utah school

[Urbanney]

 

Quote

 

Paris Hilton testified about abuse she says she suffered years ago at a boarding school in Utah, as she lobbied Monday for a bill seeking to regulate the state’s troubled teen industry.

Hilton was sent to Provo Canyon School for 11 months at age 17 where she says she was abused mentally and physically, recalling that staff members would beat her, force her to take unknown pills, watch her shower and send her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment. The socialite and reality TV star also spoke about the abuse in a documentary titled “This is Paris” that was released this fall.

Hilton testified at a state Senate committee hearing at the Utah Capitol in favor of the bill that would require more government oversight of youth residential treatment centers and require them to document when they use restraints. The measure passed unanimously following emotional testimony from Hilton and several other survivors.

“Talking about something so personal was and is still terrifying,” Hilton told the committee. “But I can not go to sleep at night knowing that there are children that are experiencing the same abuse that I and so many others went through, and neither should you.”

The 39-year-old hilton said the treatment was so “traumatizing” that she has suffered nightmares and insomnia for years.

The Provo institution is now under new ownership and the administration has said it can’t comment on anything that came before the change, including Hilton’s time there. A statement on the school website says the previous owners sold the school in 2000. 

Since the documentary was released, other celebrities have spoken out about their experiences at the school or others like it, including Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson and tattoo artist Kat Von D.

During her testimony, Hilton called on President Joe Biden and leaders in Congress to take action and said she intends to pursue federal legislation.

“This is just the first step,” Hilton told reporters. “This bill is going to definitely help a lot of children but there’s obviously more work to do, and I’m not going to stop until change happens.”

https://apnews.com/article/reality-tv-utah-provo-bills-paris-hilton-f67a2ef0dbdace1c9a8c0d70d8798b5b/gallery/4604eda37c0243018641d95bbf3e4368

She’s so strong for this. It makes sense why she’s been such a supporter of a Britney and #FreeBritney. Both have faced abuse, misogyny, and the 2000s media whirlwind. 

[ashdeez]

Paris and Britney were my faves as a teenager.

I’m 31 and that has hardly changed. I’m so proud that she turned her terrible experience into a way to help children not face the same abuse.

[crying]

Holy ****. So many things happening. I hope her input is strong enough to make others react to such an issue. Parents really shouldn't be sending their kids to these places. Still don't understand why or how they end up in them anyway. Common sense is a virtue, it seems :(

[Invitation]

wow that could happen to anyone if that happened to the Paris Hilton tbh.

It must have been such a traumatizing experience for her.

 

[Danielle1987]

Love her so much 

[PokemonSpears]

I'm glad things are moving forward

 

also, I spent longer than I should trying to understand how that huge earring worked, until I figured out it was the mask

[monkeystar88]

The documentary was problematic but it's good to see her be strong and push to help others. I've loved the girl since Simple Life and even bought the SUPERB PARIS ALBUM(it's legit full of pop masterpieces)The main problem I've had with Paris is just her racist and homophobic past but I really think she has changed and I had to realize that I was judging her for clips and words that she said when really young coming from a probably overprotective home and she was working through her trauma. Trauma will make you do some crazy things. 

I hate seeing her cry. Kind of similar to Britney I thought it was so cruel that the world cheered as she was hauled away to prison. I'm sure even that was traumatic. 

[phinyls]

call me dumb, but I had absolutely NO IDEA what Paris Hilton's life really was, or at least what the reality was besides the barbie, chic and rich persona she markets. When I watched her documentary I was actually very shocked how she keeps managing a "lets pretend" kind of lifestyle while in reality she is struggling with these situations. Hope she finds her peace! 

[Stefi Hilton]

she's so strong and wonderful, ugh 

[Look But Don't Touch]

4 hours ago, PokemonSpears said:

also, I spent longer than I should trying to understand how that huge earring worked, until I figured out it was the mask

I- 

[BabyD01]

I watched her documentary and cried as well. I hope she finds peace and happiness. No one should go through this ever.

[SS91]

Props to her for still fighting this. I honestly wasn’t sure if she’d take action after her documentary but it seems she has. Good for her 

[Jordan Miller]

13 hours ago, Urbanney said:

She’s so strong for this.

 Good for her. I'm sure that was super hard to do.