Paris Hilton shocked her fans and followers on Tuesday night when she revealed that she had conceived her first child via surrogate.
The latest twist in the 41-year-old heiress’ life came after she reinvented herself multiple times.
After being born into the Hilton Hotels fortune and rising as a headline-stealing celebrity, Paris shot into public consciousness in late 2003 with the leak of her sex tape 1 Night In Paris.
The sex tape leak came just as she was being introduced to audiences across the country via her reality series The Simple Life, and Paris honed her image by focusing on her business ventures in the years that followed, while more recently she’s dedicated herself redesigned as an activist .
What a development! As Paris Hilton announced on Tuesday that she had given birth to her first child, takes a look back at her rise to fame, from her early sex tape leaks and fame on The Simple Life to her reinvention as a successful businesswoman and activist; seen with Nicole Richie in 2003
Sweet: She made the announcement via Instagram, which included a photo of the new mom clutching her child’s hand
Born on February 17, 1981 in New York City, Paris spent much of her early life shuffling back and forth between shores with her parents and four siblings.
The family spent time in Beverly Hills, along with East Coast spots in the Hamptons on Long Island and Manhattan, although they spent most of their time on the West Coast.
But in 1996, when she was about 15, the family moved back east, coinciding with her more rebellious teenage years.
Ultimately, at the end of their tether, her parents, Kathy and Richard, sent her to Provo Canyon School in Utah, which cared for troubled children.
But in her 2020 documentary This Is Paris, the socialite claimed she was physically and mentally abused at the school, and several other people enrolled at the school said they were abused there.
Paris claimed that she was restrained when she was sent to school and she claimed that she was drugged there.
The future reality star also said she was the subject of strip searches and at one point was forced to stay in an isolation room for 24 hours.
Bicoastal heiress: Born in 1981, Paris initially split her time between New York and Los Angeles; seen in 2001
Bad days: After problematic behavior when her family returned to NYC in 1996, she was sent to a boarding school in Utah, where she claimed to have been abused; Seen in New York in 2003
Paris had to stay at the school for 11 months until she turned 18 in 1999.
After returning home, she began to establish herself as a model, although she made a name for herself with her hard partying ways.
In 2001, she was featured in a sex tape filmed by her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon that was leaked to the internet in 2003.
The privately recorded tape came out just as she was preparing for the release of her reality series The Simple Life, which she paired with friend Nicole Richie after her sister Nicky Hilton passed it on.
The show had the two privileged stars living with rural families and being exposed to blue-collar jobs that were a far cry from the tony coastal enclaves that Hilton and Richie were used to.
Paris also proved herself to be a natural performer, becoming a pop culture icon thanks to her deadpan demeanor and knowing humor.
Controversy: A 2001 sex tape with her ex-boyfriend leaked online in 2003 before being officially released in 2004
Change of scenery: The controversy coincided with the December 2003 premiere of her hit reality series The Simple Life, in which she and Nicole Richie went to rural communities and worked manual labor jobs; seen in 2004
In 2004, Salomon self-distributed the sextape and raised his profile while trying to monetize it.
Salomon went on to sue his ex after she claimed she could not fully consent and did not agree to the release as he argued she had defamed him by suggesting he was exploiting her.
She also sued him for invasion of privacy and eventually settled with Salomon, who paid her $400,000 and part of the profits.
Meanwhile, The Simple Life ran for three seasons on Fox before issues with her relationship with Richie led to its cancellation and subsequent revival for two more seasons on E! led, although the two later rekindled their friendship.
But Paris’ reputation was temporarily tarnished by a series of run-ins with the law over her dangerous public behavior.
She received a DUI in 2006 and multiple subsequent driving violations led to her being sentenced to 45 days behind bars in 2007.
Troubled: As of 2006, Paris’s reputation was tarnished by her hard parties, a DUI and several legal battles for her dangerous driving, eventually earning her a 45-day jail sentence; seen in 2007
Reinvention: Later in the 2000s, she reinvigorated herself and her career by focusing on modeling, her fragrance lines, and bit acting roles
But after her wild years, Paris reinvigorated her image by focusing on her business and taking on small acting roles.
She also returned to reality TV with Paris Hilton’s My New BFF, which ran for two seasons and launched spin-offs based in the UK and Dubai.
The reality star changed her image, focusing on her fragrance lines while showing off her musical skills as a DJ, after making a brief attempt at pop stardom years earlier.
She also changed her relationship with fashion, opting for more elegant and sophisticated ensembles compared to the outfits she sported during her tough partying years.
In 2020, she gave her fans the deepest look into her life yet with her documentary This Is Paris, in which she detailed her abuse at boarding school in Utah and also gave fans a glimpse of her true voice as she had done before a higher pitched, giddy-sounding tone in her reality shows and many public interviews.
Throughout her career, Paris has had a varied dating life, during which she has been in relationships with Leonardo DiCaprio, Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter, reality stars and business tycoons.
In 2005, she and Greek shipping heiress Paris Latsis became engaged before calling off later that year.
Actor Chrisy Zylka proposed to her in early 2018 that they call off their engagement in November of the same year.
Finally: Her most enduring romance, however, was with entrepreneur Carter Reum, whom she began dating in 2019; seen in 2021
In love: The two got engaged on February 13, 2021 and tied the knot in a lavish multi-day ceremony in November 2021; seen in 2022
However, her most enduring romance has been with entrepreneur Carter Reum, with whom she has been dating since 2019.
The two got engaged on February 13, 2021 and were married in November 2021 in a lavish multi-day ceremony.
On Tuesday, Paris announced that she and Carter had welcomed their first child together.
She confirmed to People that she welcomed a baby boy through a surrogate.
“It has always been my dream to be a mom and I am so happy that Carter and I found each other,” she told the publication. “We are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our little boy.”
First-born mother: On Tuesday, Paris announced that she and Carter had given birth to their first child together. She confirmed to People that she welcomed a baby boy through a surrogate