The businesswoman also spoke about what it was like watching 'The New York Times Presents Framing Britney Spears.'
Paris Hilton is opening up about her past media treatment.
In a new episode of her This Is Paris podcast with guest Nicky Hilton Rothschild, the 40-year-old businesswoman and her sister discussed how she was portrayed in the spotlight in the early 2000s. Paris specifically recalled a 2007 interview with David Letterman that recently resurfaced amid the release of The New York Times Presents Framing Britney Spears. The unauthorized documentary about the pop star's life shed a light on the sexist questions and deeply personal topics some reporters and comedians used to ask female celebrities to address at the time.
"I was heartbroken. It made me just very emotional. I was crying a lot watching it," Paris explained. "Just from knowing her, she was such a sweet, down-to-earth, kind, gentle, amazing woman. Just to watch that whole story and see what the media did, just how cruel and mean, I don't know. Just so many people using her. Also just relating to her, in so many ways, with that. It was very hard to watch. It made me really sad."
"There were certain people they targeted," she added. "I would see that with myself, with Britney, Jessica Simpson. There was a certain type of girl they targeted that they'd never do that to a man."
During Paris' 2007 chat with David, he repeatedly asked her about her time in jail, after she violated her probation following a reckless driving incident. Despite her expressions and short answers making it clear she didn't want to speak on the situation any further -- "I've moved on with my life so I don't really wanna talk about it anymore," she also said at one point -- he continued to keep digging.
"At this point I hadn't done an interview in months and months because I just didn't want to talk about it," Paris recalled on the podcast. "Months later, I had a fragrance coming out and his team called again. Basically my PR team made an agreement with him that that [topic] was off-limits and he would not discuss it, and we would only be there to promote my perfume and other business ventures. I felt like it was a safe place."
"So there was not supposed to be one question, and then he just kept pushing me and pushing me and I was just getting so uncomfortable and I was so upset," she continued. "It was like he was just purposely trying to humiliate me. During commercial breaks I would look at him and be like, 'Please stop doing this, you promised me you wouldn't talk about this.' ... It was just very cruel and very mean. After it ended, I just looked at him and I said, 'I am never coming on this show again, you crossed a line.'"
During another portion of the podcast, Paris also opened up about her recent engagement to Carter Reum. "When you find your soulmate, you don’t just know it. You feel it," Paris wrote on Instagram last month, in a post announcing the exciting news." My love & I have been together since our first date, and for my birthday, he arranged a special trip to tropical paradise."
"As we walked to dinner along the beach, Carter led us to a cabana adorned with flowers and dropped to one knee," she continued. "I said yes, yes to forever. There’s no one I’d rather spend forever with. Here's to Love - the Forever Kind."
Hear more in the video below.
RELATED CONTENT:
