Paris Whitney Hilton is an American media personality, socialite, businesswoman, model, singer, actress, and DJ. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, Hilton first attracted tabloid attention in the late 1990s, when she became a fixture in NYC's late-night scene. She ventured into modeling at age 19, signing with Donald Trump's agency Trump Model Management. After David LaChapelle photographed her, alongside her sister Nicky, for the September 2000 issue of Vanity Fair, Hilton was proclaimed "New York's leading It Girl" in 2001. In 2003, a leaked 2001 sex tape with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, later released as 1 Night in Paris, catapulted her into global fame, and the reality television series The Simple Life, in which she starred with her friend and socialite counterpart Nicole Richie, started its five-year run with 13 million viewers, on Fox.
