The 40-year-old is continuing her crusade for reform in a new interview about her time at Provo Canyon School.
Paris Hilton is tearfully continuing her crusade for reform, revealing in new detail the sexual abuse she says she suffered as a teen at a therapeutic boarding school in the 1990s.
In a New York Times expose on the "troubled teen industry," published Tuesday, Hilton says she was subjected to middle-of-the-night "medical exams" with various staff members at the Provo Canyon School in Utah.
"They would take myself and other girls into this room and they would perform medical exams," she says in an on-camera interview. "It wasn't even with a doctor, it was with a couple different staff members, where they would have us lay on the table and put their fingers inside of us. I don't know what they were doing, but it was definitely not a doctor."
Becoming visibly choked up, Hilton continues, "It was really scary and something that I really had blocked out for many years, but it's coming back all the time now and I think about it. Now, looking back as an adult, that was definitely sexual abuse."
Hilton, 40, also recounts a time that a staff member "screamed" at her, "You have your phone privileges taken away. We're going to tell your parents that you are manipulating them, that you're lying."
Sharing a link to the article, Hilton tweeted, "I opened up in a @NYTimes video about something I’ve never discussed before. At Provo Canyon School, I was woken up in the middle of the night by male staff who ushered me into a private room and performed cervical exams on me in the middle of the night."
"Sleep-deprived & heavily medicated, I didn’t understand what was happening. I was forced to lie on a padded table, spread my legs & submit to cervical exams. I cried while they held me down & said, 'No!' They just said, 'Shut up. Be quiet. Stop struggling or you’ll go to Obs," she continued. "This was a recurring experience not only for me but for other #survivors. I was violated & I am crying as I type this because no one, especially a child, should be sexually abused. My childhood was stolen from me & it kills me this is still happening to other innocent children."
She concluded her thread, "It's important to open up about these painful moments so I can heal & help put an end to this abuse. Watch the @NYTimes video that shares my story & deeply disturbing information about Provo Canyon School’s owners Universal Health Services. Help me #ShutDownProvo #UHSTakeAction."
Hilton first opened up about her childhood trauma in her 2020 YouTube documentary, This Is Paris. The following year, she advocated in support of the Accountability for Congregate Care Act on Capitol Hill.
The Provo Canyon School was purchased by Universal Health Services in 2000. In response to Hilton's allegations against the school, UHS has repeatedly said that it "cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to this time."
According to NYT, UHS eventually was targeted by federal investigators and reached a $117 million settlement in 2020 to resolve allegations -- which it continued to deny -- including holding patients longer than medically necessary and failing to provide adequate services. The news outlet notes that UHS and the rest of the industry -- which includes various boot camps, therapy programs and residential treatment centers aimed at aiding children with mental health and behavioral issues -- continues to remain free of strict federal oversight and rigorous monitoring and standards.
RELATED CONTENT:
