-My next guest is the original influencer.
She's also a businesswoman, a best-selling author,
and the host of the new podcast "This is Paris."
Here is Paris Hilton!
Paris, it is so great to see you again.
I haven't seen you in a -- in a while.
Thank you so much for being... -I know.
-...on the show.
We have a lot going on,
but, first, I hear congratulations are in order,
because you recently got engaged.
-Yes. -That is so exciting.
-Thank you.
-Did you have any idea that it was coming?
-No, I didn't,
because we had went on another trip a few months ago
to Bora-Bora for our anniversary,
and he got this really romantic dinner set up with,
like, all of these beautiful shells
and all those things say, "I love you,"
and then the whole dinner, I was expecting, like,
a ring to come out,
and then at the end, dessert came,
and I thought there'd be, like, a ring in the cake.
There was nothing. -[ Laughs ]
-So after the dinner, I was like, "You know, I was --
to be honest, I was a little bit bummed.
I thought you were going to propose.
This was like the perfect place."
-[ Chuckling ] No way. -He was like, "No."
-Wait, so, are you, like, forking through the cake,
going like... -Yes.
-...hear -- waiting for a clink or something?
Like, "I don't want to eat it." He's like...
-Digging through the cake, everything.
He said, "When I do do it, it's going to be incredible."
And then we went to this really beautiful private island,
like, whenever, like two weeks ago,
and he just said there was a photo shoot happening,
'cause I always like to do pictures of wherever we go.
-Of course. -And then, I think,
to like, make it -- me feel like it wasn't going to happen,
he's like, "if you're not ready in time,
we can just chill, just do it another day."
So then I didn't think that it was happening.
-Oh, it worked! -Yeah.
So, he tricked me, and then we went down to the beach,
and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him,
and it was one of the most romantic moments of my life.
-Aww! We have some photos here.
I mean, stop it right now. Don't --
-Yeah. -I mean, come on.
Are you joking? I mean -- gorgeous.
-It's so cute. Thank you. -That's awesome.
Congratulations.
I want to talk to you about -- a few months ago,
you released a documentary called "This is Paris."
It's on YouTube for anyone who hasn't seen it.
Everyone that I know said, "Have you seen this documentary?
You won't even believe this thing."
And it really is amazing, buddy,
and very honest and... [ Breathes sharply ]
It was -- You talk about so many things on it.
I was, like, blown away.
'Cause, you know, everyone thinks they know
everyone's story, but they don't.
Among the many things you talk about,
you talk about abuse that you suffered at a school
that you were sent to... -Yeah.
-...when you were 17.
Was it hard for you to speak out about this?
Did you know that you were going to?
-It was one of the hardest things
I've ever done in my life,
just to be so open and honest and vulnerable.
And that was not the original intention with the film.
I was supposed to be doing a film
just showing the businesswoman I am
and everything I've done in life
because I felt there was a lot of just,
you know, misconceptions about myself.
And then I just started opening up to the director, Alex Dean,
because we became so close,
and it was just a very therapeutic experience
and very healing to speak about all those things,
but definitely difficult.
-You definitely reached a lot of people,
so congratulations
on just getting that conversation started,
but then, even further, a few weeks ago, you --
you testified in Utah to help pass legislation
to prevent what happened to you from happening to other kids.
What was that like?
-That was very nerve-racking, as well,
but one of the most empowering moments of my life,
just to be up there and just calling them out
and really speaking to these Senators,
and they were just all so understanding and open to it,
and now I'm about to have a bill passed,
and next, we're gonna be taking it to a federal level
so this cannot happen in any state
and no child has to go through the abuse that myself
and hundreds of thousands of other children
have went through.
-It's fantastic that you're doing this.
You're going to be helping a lot of kids.
-Thanks. -In the documentary,
you also talk about the Paris Hilton persona
that we all came to know. -Mm-hmm.
-When I first met you, we did a bit, one of my --
I think it was the biggest thing I'd ever done
on "Saturday Night Live."
Do you remember -- on "Weekend Update"?
-Yeah, so funny. -And -- And we're --
But that was the thing about you --
you had such a great sense of humor,
'cause this whole scandal thing happened, and I go,
"Alright, here's the idea, and then I'm going to say this."
And, you know -- like, saying that Paris Hilton
is a building, like a Paris Hilton.
And you're like, "No, I get it, I get it. I get it.
Yeah, let's do it."
I go, "Alright. You sure?"
And you're like, "Yeah." And you crushed it.
But now I'm going, "Wait."
So how much was it -- of it was a character
and how much was it you?
-A lot of it was a character.
I think just from going through
all of those traumatic experiences as a teenager...
-Yeah. -...when I got out of there,
I just kind of built this shell around me,
almost like a mask,
where I could hide behind this character.
And I developed that.
And then I got "The Simple Life."
And then, once that happened it came on a bigger level
'cause I had to do that in public.
And then I kind of just got stuck with the character,
because it was just easier for me
to pretend to be someone else.
But I always knew exactly what I was doing.
It was just kind of playing that, like,
ditzy blond character
'cause it was just a lot easier than really remembering
everything I went through, I guess.
-No one believed at the time you kind of knew
what you were doing -- in a weird way?
-No. [ Laughs ]
No, they had no idea. I'm not a dumb blonde.
I'm just very good at pretending to be one.
-I said it in the intro, but it's --
you were one of the first influencers.
You've become extremely successful.
You have --
let me, 'cause I want to get this right --
19 product lines,
and you've sold over --
first of all, 19 product lines.
Let's just stop there. That's unbelievable.
You sold over $1 billion in perfume alone.
-Yes. -Whew! What?!
When you see influencers making careers
for themselves in social media, what -- what do you think?
And do they -- they come to you --
obviously, you're still young,
and, I mean,
but do they come to you and be like,
"Tell me everything. Like, teach me what you know"?
-I think it's incredible that
now anybody with a phone and a talent,
whether it's, like, beauty or comedy or fashion,
could literally make a huge brand out of it
and a lucrative business
that could not only support themselves, their families.
So I just think it's amazing to see that.
And, yeah. I do see a lot of just --
I'm friends with a lot of influencers,
or I just meet them, and they always say to me, like,
"Thank you so much. You're the O.G.
You created this all, and if it wasn't for you,
I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing, so thank you."
-The O.G.
It's so -- it's so cool. -Yes.
-I want to talk about your new podcast.
-Yes. -"This is Paris."
What made you want to do a podcast?
-Well, I just started listening to them a lot during quarantine,
and then my team said that we had some offers,
and iHeartRadio I love.
So now I have my own audio company.
So it's my podcast,
as well as other podcasts which I'll be producing.
So it's exciting to get in the audio business.
I really believe it's the future of media.
-When you do the show, did you know that it would be --
it's a lot of work. -Yeah.
I have so much fun with it, though.
I've been interviewed literally a billion times.
So now to turn the tables and be the one asking the questions...
So when I'm interviewing people, it's just a lot of fun,
because it's more like a conversation.
It's not like an interview. It's like two friends talking.
And then we have Hunter March, who is my co-host,
and we have the best time together.
-Who are some of the people that you'll be interviewing?
-Well, this week, we interviewed my sister Nicky
and Amy Schumer
and Whitney Cummings. -Ah.
-Then we have Demi Lovato coming up and Ashley Benson.
So it's a lot of, like, really just fun, interesting people.
-It is available wherever you may listen to podcasts.