Paris Hilton Hoaxes

Paris Hilton. Mugshot taken June, 2007 when she was booked into a Los Angeles jail.

Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton is not known for perpetrating hoaxes. However, much like the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, she's proven to be a highly popular subject for hoaxers. In fact, she has easily featured in more hoaxes than any other modern celebrity.

Why is she such a favorite subject of hoaxes? Partially because she is an easy target. The media will print almost any story about Hilton. Therefore, hoaxes featuring her are almost guaranteed to attract attention.

But also, her critics say, because she is a deserving subject. Hilton was born into wealth, and achieved fame largely because of her money and love of partying. Her rise to celebrity status was facilitated in late 2003 by a leaked home-made sex video starring her and then-boyfriend Rick Salomon. She is widely perceived to be a person who is famous merely for being famous, and she has chosen to do little with her fame except continue to party and promote herself further. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, she is a symbol of a shallow, celebrity-obsessed, consumer culture. The satirical attacks directed against her are, in a broader sense, attacks upon this culture.
Savior of drunken elephants (Nov 2007)
News outlets, including the Associated Press, reported that Paris Hilton had decided to raise awareness of the problem of binge-drinking elephants rampaging in northeast India. Supposedly Hilton became aware of an incident in which six wild elephants broke into a farm in Meghalaya, discovered and drank a supply of homemade rice beer, and electrocuted themselves by pushing over a utility pole. Hilton was quoted as saying, "There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn't chased them away. And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago. It is just so sad. The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them." Animal Rights activists were reportedly pleased by Hilton''s awareness of this issue, believing that a celebrity might be able to focus global attention on the problem. However, Hilton''s publicist later denied that Hilton had made any comments about drunken elephants in India. The Associated Press published a retraction. The source of the story was not known.
Cryogenically Frozen (Oct 2007)
A news report circulated claiming that Paris Hilton had expressed a desire to have her body frozen at the Cryonics Institute in Los Angeles when she died. She also wanted her dogs Tinkerbell and Cinderella to be frozen with her. Supposedly she had invested a large sum of money in the Institute. An unidentified source quoted Hilton as saying, "It's so cool. Almost all the cells in the body are still alive when death is pronounced. And if you''re immediately cooled, you can be perfectly preserved. My life could be extended by hundreds and thousands of years." No official denial of this story has been found. However, it seems doubtful that the report is true.
Hilton Dies in Jail (June 2007)
During Hilton''s brief imprisonment in a Los Angeles jail on an alcohol-related reckless driving charge, several hoaxes circulated on the internet alleging that Hilton had died. One hoaxer posted a fake website, designed to look like a CNN report, claiming that Hilton had been stabbed multiple times. A second hoaxer issued a fake article, disguised as a news release from Australia''s ABC network, claiming that Hilton had committed suicide.
Hilton Defends Britney Spears (Dec 2006)
A web posting, supposedly written by Paris Hilton, defended the "partying ethics" of her friend, Britney Spears. The posting read, "For people to call out her parenting skills on behalf of her partying ethics is appalling. Britney loves her kids to death, and I know for a fact that it truly hurts her when she sees these cruel things being written about her. She goes home every night to her babies and partying has not come in the way of her parenting... Anyone who has called her out on this should really be ashamed. There are thousands of mothers out there who like to go out and have a good time. But, you do not see people out there calling them "bad parents." She's young, and if she wants to go out and have some fun, let her. Just because she does these things does not mean she doesn't care about her children. For the sake of Britney and her kids, be kind. Love, Paris spokesman for Hilton denied that the heiress had written the posting, but said that whoever did it "crafted a very nice piece and the sentiments that were expressed were extremely articulate".
Banksy-Doctored Paris CD (Sep 2006)
The artist Banksy sneaked 500 doctored copies of Paris Hilton''s debut album (titled "Paris") onto the shelves of stores throughout Britain. Banksy''s version of the album included a topless image of the heiress, as well as a picture of her with the head of a dog. The names of her songs were changed to titles such as "Why am I famous?" "What have I done?" and "What am I for?" Messages were also pasted into the liner notes, including "Race to the bottom of the pile!" "Thou shalt not worship false icons" "Life wasn''t meant to be fair" "Every CD you buy puts me even further out of your league" and "90% of success is just showing up." The music on the CD itself was remixed by a musician identified only as "DM." Copies of the Banksy-doctored CD soon appeared for sale on auction sites such as eBay, although Warner Music attempted to prevent their sale.
Paris Hilton as Mother Teresa (Apr 2006)
Indian filmmaker T. Rajeevnath announced his intention to cast Paris Hilton as Mother Teresa in an upcoming film about the nun's life. He claimed Hilton was a natural choice for the role, since the facial features of the two women were very similar. He also said that Paris had "expressed delight" at being considered for the role. Rajeevnath''s comments appear to have been a joke. Hilton later denied seeing any similarity between her face and Mother Teresa's. She also had not ever expressed delight at being considered for the role.
Paris Hilton Myspace Page (Dec 2005)
A fake Paris Hilton webpage was posted on Myspace, claiming to offer preview music from her forthcoming album. Four tracks were made available. One track, Screwed, was authentic but had been available on the internet for much of the year. The other three tracks were not by Hilton. MySpace quickly removed the page.
Casablanca Remake (Apr 2005)
The Toronto Star reported that Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton were going to star in a remark of Casablanca. The report was an April Fool''s Day joke.
Cell phone hacked (Feb 2005)
A hacker broke into T-mobile''s computer system and accessed information about its customers, including Hilton. He then placed the contents of Hilton''s content online, including "topless shots of the trashy heiress snogging an anonymous girlfriend, her digital notebook with cryptic entries such as ''Lenny Kravitz wants me to do'', and a list of more than 500 phone numbers belonging to the likes of Ashley Olsen, Frankie Muniz and Anna Kournikova." The hacker was soon found to be a 17-year-old Massachusetts boy. He was sentenced to eleven months in jail.
Pubic Hair For Sale (Apr 2004)
Cuttings of Paris Hilton''s pubic hair were put up for sale on eBay. The seller wrote, "This bundle of Pubic Hair was taken from Paris Hilton''s bathroom sink at one of her hotels when she visited Australia late last year, Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!! She isn''t a natural blonde!!!!!!!!!!!!" The auction was removed by eBay soon after it was put up.

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