Paris Hilton has revealed the fallout from the leak of her sex tape left her with PTSD.
In 2004, the reality star and heiress made global headlines when a sex tape featuring herself and ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon was released without her consent.
For a time, Paris became synonymous with the tape, and admitted in an interview with Vanity Fair that the experience took its toll on her mental health, which she still feels the effect of more than a decade later.
“It’s always there in the back of my mind,” she said. “When it happened, people were so mean about it to me.
“The way that I was spoken about on nightly talk shows and the media, to see things with my family was just heartbreaking.”
“I would be in tears every single day,” she added. “I didn’t want to leave my house, I felt like my life was over.”
Of the tape itself, Paris said: “It was a private experience between two people. You love someone, you trust someone and to have your trust betrayed like that and for the whole world to be watching and laughing…
“It was even more hurtful to me to have these people think that I did this on purpose. That killed me. It still gives me post-traumatic stress disorder to talk about it.”
Paris denounced the sex tape when it was first released in 2004. Following this, Rick Salomon sued the Simple Life star for defamation, and she countersued over the release of their tape. Eventually, the matter was settled out of court.
Last year, Paris was the subject of the YouTube documentary This Is Paris, which re-examined her rise to fame in the early 2000s.
Listen to Paris’ full interview on Vanity Fair’s website.
Useful websites and helplines
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
