In the mid-aughts, and at the height of their fame, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie went
from BFFs to giving each other the cold shoulder.
There were public disses, a wedding snub, and finally, a reconciliation.
Let's look back at how things got so complicated for the stars of The Simple Life.
Could Paris' 'tape' be to blame?
Today, the world is more forgiving about certain kinds of "leaked" tapes and scandalous photo
hacks.
We even saw renowned gossip blogger Perez Hilton apologize about posting elicit photos
of Jennifer Lawrence in 2014 amidst an "onslaught of furious criticism" according to News Corp
Australia.
But 2004 was a wildly different online climate, one where shamed celebs were thrown into the
trenches by notoriously catty bloggers and teased into submission.
And Paris Hilton was one of those celebrities.
Paris's life was shattered in 2004 when her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon leaked a tape
of one of the pair's intimate romps.
In the Netflix doc, The American Meme, the hotel heiress spoke about how the leak made
her "literally" want "to die at some points."
"It felt like I'd lost part of my soul."
The socialite confessed her feelings at the time, saying,
"I literally wanted to die at some points.
I was like, 'I just don't want to live,' because I thought everything was taken away from me."
Needless to say, it'd be pretty nasty if then-BFF Nicole Richie screened Paris' illicit video
at a party meant to celebrate Hilton's 2005 Saturday Night Live hosting gig, right?
Yet, that's exactly what the tabloids claim triggered the dynamic duo's falling out, though,
according to People, representatives from Nicole's camp deny it.
It's complicated
"Hi, I'm Paris Hilton…"
"... and I'm Nicole Richie…"
"... and we're here to talk to you about mad cow disease."
A month after Paris' SNL gig, news of her falling out with Nicole was just a rumor.
Regardless, the pair were spotted ignoring each other all over tinseltown, which certainly
didn't help dispel any tall tabloid tales.
According to People, the rift was pretty obvious at the 2005 Vanity Fair Oscar party.
Paris, who was wearing a glitzy Chloe dress, reportedly hung out with her sister Nicky.
Nicole, who was engaged to DJ AM at the time, allegedly stuck with her fiancé.
A few days later, things didn't appear to be any friendlier between the former besties.
According to People, they were both spotted at the luxury Beverly Hills Chinese restaurant,
Mr. Chow.
Paris arrived there first, and Nicole later took a seat at "the other side of the restaurant,
out of Paris' view."
Paris officially dumps Nicole
"What do these friends have in common besides fame?
They're giving up their plush lifestyle to live on a farm."
In April 2005, Paris officially dumped Nicole, at least as much as she could while still
having a contract with The Simple Life.
According to USA Today, the hotel heiress was spotted at Us Weekly's Young Hot Hollywood
Style Awards, where she announced that Nicole would no longer be a part of their famed reality
series.
Instead, Rod Stewart's daughter, Kimberly Stewart, would be filling in as her BFF for
Season 4.
Paris said at the time.
"It's my show; I've had it three seasons, and I just want to freshen it up, make it
newer and funner."
Seem a little too drama free for a mid-2000's celebrity spat?
Don't worry.
Nicole also showed up at the event.
She reportedly told Us Weekly that she wouldn't be doing any press, and "darted" out almost
as soon as she arrived.
"Maybe I should say to her, like, we're not gonna be together anymore…"
"Mm-hmm."
"... but like let's just do it one more time."
Paris blames Nicole
Shortly after the Us Weekly party, Paris finally came clean about the rumors surrounding her
split with Nicole.
The star infamously released one of the coldest celebrity statements to ever grace gossip
magazines, saying, via People,
"It's no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends.
Nicole knows what she did, and that's all I'm ever going to say about it."
"I don't really trust people."
The statement seemed like it almost confirmed the tabloid's illicit tape snafu story, but
not everyone was convinced.
Regardless, Paris and Nicole tried their best to move on.
According to People, Richie was busy pitching a Newlyweds-style series to MTV, while Hilton
was promoting her role in the movie House of Wax.
Though Hilton claimed she was recasting Richie in The Simple Life with her "hysterical and
crazy fun" friend Kimberly Stewart, FOX hadn't yet made a decision.
New phone, who dis?
"How do I cut off her air supply?"
Though Paris blamed Nicole for the dissolution of their epic partnership and continued to
fuel nasty rumors that Nicole possessed a nearly unimaginable level of pettiness, Richie
had a totally different understanding of their issues.
According to People, Nicole appeared on Today to promote her book The Truth About Diamonds
in November 2005, about six months after Paris publicly dumped her.
Nicole reportedly claimed the pair wouldn't even speak if they ran into each other at
the mall.
Regardless, there apparently wasn't a whole lot of drama there.
Nicole told Today,
"We just grew apart.
[It] turned into a much bigger thing than it is.
It's just not part of my life."
A separate People report confirmed Nicole's story.
Apparently, her friends claimed the star had done a lifestyle 180 and quit drinking.
Meanwhile, Paris was months away from getting her infamous 2006 DUI.
That's not hot
In the summer of 2005, The Simple Life got really complicated.
At the time, the pair was thought to be contractually obligated to Season 4, and FOX was trying
everything to make it work.
According to E! News, the network tried to shift around the format of the show so Paris
and Nicole could film separately.
Another idea involved explaining their ongoing feud and helping them patch things up.
According to The New York Post, producers even considered formatting the season like
Wife Swap, where Nicole and Paris would stay in separate households with different cultural
backgrounds and play the role of "wife."
Instead of dealing with the headache, FOX ended up giving The Simple Life the ax after
the girls separately filmed their parts for Season 4, according to Today.
But that didn't mean they were totally off the hook.
The Age reports the series was picked up by E!, who sent Paris and Nicole to camp.
The iconic duo get dinner
In October 2006, things took a turn for the better.
Paris and Nicole were even spotted in public looking like actual friends again.
According to People, the former BFFs were dining at Dan Tana's in West Hollywood and
eating carbs.
Though a restaurant patron told People the duo looked like "best friends," Paris' publicist
was hesitant to consider it a reconciliation.
He confirmed the fact that they had a meal, but claimed he didn't know if it was "business
or personal."
Either way, it was reportedly The Simple Life that led to the unlikely reunion.
According to show producer Jon Murray, via People, a mutual "disdain" for a supposed
"survival via desert island" Simple Life concept, reportedly helped them make amends.
"That show was the first of its kind.
It definitely invented a new type of celebrity."
The babes are back
The duo's ongoing feud may have been one of the most iconic celebrity spats in Hollywood
history, but it was short-lived.
By 2007, the pair were flaunting their on-again friendship in a Harper's Bazaar spread.
So, how did they go from public snubs to pals?
Paris extended the olive branch with an e-mail.
Nicole even shrugged off Paris' notoriously callous "Nicole knows what she did" statement,
telling Harper's Bazaar,
"I can't get mad at her for talking s--- about me.
We were in a fight!"
"That's hot."
As for what Nicole actually did, she had no idea.
Paris told the mag that it had little do with her bestie's behavior and a whole lot to do
with gossip, saying,
"We believed what other people were saying.
People are really two-faced in this town, and they were trying to play us against each
other."
Wedding bells-a-ringing
Nothing is sacred in the tabloids, not even holy matrimony, so it wasn't surprising when
Nicole's upcoming nuptials to Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden in 2010 raised some speculation
about the state of her mended friendship with Paris.
According to Page Six, the hotel heiress was nixed from the guest list, but was it all
fake news?
As it turned out, Paris was invited to Nicole's wedding, but she wasn't a bridesmaid, which
signaled that the pair might never be as close as they were during The Simple Life years.
The heiress ended up not attending the nuptials at all because she had already committed to
filming The World According to Paris, which was planned months prior.
"I'm constantly traveling, 250 days a year I'm on a plane in a different country."
Fast forward to 2018, and a newly-engaged Paris confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that
Nicole would be invited to her wedding, too.
But T.B.D. on whether Richie will actually show.
That was then, this is now
In 2014, we got a closer look at the complicated relationship between Paris and Nicole thanks
to an episode of Watch What Happens Live.
Apparently, things weren't what they used to be.
Nicole told Andy Cohen of her former gal pal,
"I haven't spoken to her in a while technically."
But to her, that wasn't necessarily a sign of bad times.
"My view of a friendship is someone that you don't necessarily have to talk to you every
day.
It's somebody that you can call when you need them, and they're just going to be there."
The following year, Paris proved that you don't need to be a constant presence in someone's
life to still be thick as thieves.
The heiress posted an adorable throwback pic of the pair as children.
The following year, she gushed about her lifelong friend in an interview and claimed she was
"the funniest person" she's ever met.
So what's next for the TV duo?
A Simple Life reboot?
It's been more than 10 years since TV viewers got a chance to watch Paris and Nicole wreak
havoc on the lives of innocent blue collar workers.
So it's about time for a Simple Life reboot, right?
As much as we'd love to watch Paris and Nicole pretend they can't do menial tasks despite
Nicole taking on the difficult challenge of raising children while running a fashion line
and Paris owning an estimated $2.5 billion perfume empire, it looks like it won't happen
anytime soon.
In a 2018 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Paris admitted she has been asked about rebooting
her famed reality series, but has too much in the pipeline to focus on the past.
"I had so much fun doing the show, but, I don't know, I'm focusing on all my businesses
and really wouldn't have time to go over to a farm again and do that."
But even a decade later, she sure doesn't hate the memories.
"It was so much fun and it's such a hilarious show.
I still watch it."
"Yeah."
"It's fun that everyone's enjoying it, and it'd be amazing for it to come back."
Hoping for more
Paris and Nicole sparked Simple Life reunion rumors in April of 2018 when the pair were
spotted sharing a laugh at The Daily Front Row Fashion Awards.
According to People, both of the former co-stars were presenting awards.
After a photo of the two surfaced, fans reportedly went nuts online, with one even desperately
tweeting at the stars, "Oh my god!
Oh my god!
Please please please please please please do a reboot."
Unfortunately, Paris still isn't down to head back to a farm quite yet.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paris called the show "timeless and iconic," but
claimed both she and Nicole were way too busy to make it happen.
Paris said,
"I'm getting tons of offers to do a docuseries show, basically on my business, my life, the
wedding.
Just the next chapter of my life.
I'm very busy, but we'll see what happens."
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