Bella Thorne celebrated her 28th birthday with a head-turning look alongside her pals.
Over the weekend, Thorne was photographed with Paris Hilton celebrating at The Fleur Room on Oct. 25, in Los Angeles.
Thorne wore a white corset top with black lace and layered pearls, adding gloves and a feathered headpiece for a playful vintage touch.
Hilton kept it sleek in a black mini-dress with fishnet panels and thigh-high boots, finishing her look with dark shades and blunt bangs. While it wasn’t clear if the night had an official theme, both looks leaned Halloween-festive.
The two friends co-starred in “The Trainer,” a 2024 dark comedy about fame and reinvention set against Los Angeles’ fitness scene.
In February, Thorne joined Hilton for her 44th birthday celebration in Los Angeles, posting a series of photos from the night on Instagram. She captioned the post, “Who better to Slive with than the queen of Sliving herself [queen emoji pink heart emoji] HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARIS BABY @parishilton.”
The pair turned heads in bold looks, with Hilton in a glittering pink mini dress covered in star details and matching knee-high boots, and Thorne in a sheer black lace gown paired with a bright pink clutch.
Bella Thorne and Paris Hilton pose together at Hilton’s 44th birthday celebration in Los Angeles on Feb. 22, 2025.(Bella Thorne/Instagram)
The celebration at The Fleur Room came a few weeks after Thorne’s actual birthday on Oct. 8. Thorne shared on Instagram that day, “28 please be good to me,” followed by a series of celebratory emojis. She added, “To my fans, I love you ALL, thank you for making this a safe corner of the internet and always making my day [tear eye emoji].”
She continued the carousel post from Oct. 8 with a heartfelt note about the real-life challenges of directing her first feature film this year, “Color Your Hurt,” which expands on her 2024 short, “Unsettled.”
Bella Thorne and her fiancé Mark Emms celebrate her 28th birthday at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., on Oct. 10, 2025.(Bella Thorne/Instagram)
The birthday posts continued on Oct. 10 at Disneyland, where Thorne posed with her fiancé Mark Emms in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. The former Disney star shared a video over the summer of her proposal to Emms, two years after he first popped the question.
TMZ founder Harvey Levin (right), at the company’s headquarters, talks to staff members, from left: Derek Kaufman, Arielle Port, Courtney Doucette, Roger Corral and Charlie Neff.Credit: Irvin Rivera
Just as thedark hallway outside the newsroom of TMZ gives way to the bustling chaos inside, the last thing you see is a self-portrait of Paris Hilton framed on the wall. The pencil drawing is cute and girly, like something scrawled in an eighth-grade yearbook, complete with hearts dotting the “i”s. It depicts the actress locked up at the L.A. County Jail with TMZ’s Harvey Levin on the jailhouse TV. The artwork is on a greeting card sent to the entertainment news show in 2007, thanking Levin for his fair coverage of her case.
The lanky blond heiress is the star who inadvertently jump-started the celebrity news empire two decades ago. On Nov. 8, 2005, the beta version of tmz.com launched, and a day later, the site posted a video showing Hilton’s Bentley, driven by her boyfriend, Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III, crashing into a parked vehicle to escape paparazzi, then later being stopped by police, who let the couple go. TMZ’s caption notes the car “slams into a truck with a hit and run,” and then, “Paris makes things right by blowing a kiss to the cops.”
The TMZ formula of snark, sexy babes, exclusive footage and a wink back at the audience was born. Today, the TMZ brand reaches 70 million visitors each month and operates an integrated ecosystem with TV shows and websites dedicated to entertainment news, sports and hip-hop. A sister site, TooFab, focuses on fashion and red carpets. The brand also operates an array of podcasts (including one featuring Los Angeles magazine co-owner Mark Geragos), has a kiosk at LAX and boasts a documentary film division. Famous faces (think: JoJo Siwa, Ray J and Bill Maher) can sometimes be seen on TMZ’s battalion of branded Hollywood bus tours. An “After Dark” tour shuttles fans to bars to pound shots, ride a mechanical bull and hear candid tales of debauchery.
“It was just a different voice,” says Charles Latibeaudiere, an executive producer who has been with founder Harvey Levin since the beginning of the show. “It was a voice that made [reporting about celebrities] palatable, I would say, to a male audience. Yes, we’re covering entertainment news, but we’re gonna say it kind of in a mocking, snarky and, at times, funny way. It was done more for ‘let’s have a laugh.’ It’s how guys sit around stereotypically in a group and just take shots at each other. We stumbled into presenting the show that way.”
TMZ’s Charles
Latibeaudiere, Harvey Levin
and Liza Ovsianniko Credit: Irvin Rivera
Executive producer Ryan Regan thinks the show’s speed, agility and point of view put it in a unique position. “Harvey prioritizes movement,” he says. “We need to be making 100 calls. We’re good storytellers. We’re very cost-efficient and we can do things faster than anybody.”
“We are to celebrity journalism,” says Michael Babcock, head of TMZ Sports, “what the New York Times is to hard news.” Staffers report occasionally pulling all-nighters, leaving the newsroom just as the morning shift checks in. The New Yorker once quipped that “TMZ resembles an intelligence agency as much as a news organization.”
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During the first two years of the site — before the launch of the TV show that would bring celebrity chaos into American living rooms — tmz.com broke news about Mel Gibson’s DUI arrest, ensuing antisemitic rant and possible police cover-up; a bald-headed Britney Spears attacking a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella; and Seinfeld’s Michael Richards screaming the N-word at Laugh Factory hecklers. Levin was fascinated by the way law enforcement sometimes treated celebrities differently, and grew his network of informants in courthouses, law offices and police stations. He connected with the legions of omnipresent paparazzi roaming the streets of L.A. and built a newsroom of reporters doggedly chasing down leads. In short, TMZ reinvented the entire concept of Hollywood news.
TMZ offices in Marina Del ReyCredit: Irvin Rivera
In the decades that followed the probing celebrity columnists Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, entertainment coverage was filled with fawning fans like Johnny Grant, who emceed Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremonies, and softball-slinging oddballs like Skip E. Lowe, the inspiration for Martin Short’s Jiminy Glick. Levin’s plan was to subvert the sway of celebrity publicists by avoiding scheduled interviews in controlled environments and go looking for stories at the places they were unfolding.
The first version of TMZ’s TV show was similar to the competition, with glamorous anchors reading scripted news. Latibeaudiere thinks their early shows were terrible. “Our producer said these [episodes] should be in the library,” he remembers. “I said, ‘Please don’t ever play them.’”
Producers hit on the idea of inviting the entire newsroom to pitch their stories on the air. “They wanted everyone who is in the office to kind of be involved in the TV show,” says Brian Particelli, a supervising editor, who adds that anyone with a story that day is in the mix. Pitches go into a central email and get filtered through producers. “Harvey’s always been very ‘best idea wins’ no matter who it comes from,” says Particelli. “That’s kind of his motto.”
Actor David Arquette, who’s been a staple of TMZ stories from the beginning, sees the show’s interest as double-edged. “It’s typically pretty awful if they’re covering you. It’s usually for something embarrassing,” he says “The flip side is that when you have a big movie coming out, they’ll cover it. It’s the old Hollywood thing where it’s good they’re talking about you even if it’s negative. It means that you’re part of the culture and interesting enough that they’re paying attention.”
Shevonne Sullivan and
Courtney Doucette Credit: Irvin Rivera
Cast your mind back to the beginning of 2005 and a world before iPhones, YouTube and streaming Netflix. Dial-up internet was most often accessed on home computers connected to the same clunky cathode ray tubes that had powered televisions since they were invented. Most offices still had fax machines, and online video was rare. If you wanted to know who Orlando Bloom was dating back then, you might tune in to Extra or Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood around dinnertime and hope for red-carpet footage. You might have to wait until the next issue of People or the National Enquirer hit the stands.
TMZ gave the world scandal at the speed of light, pushing out story after story about celebrity shenanigans and beating the competition with the help of a huge newsroom that today sprawls over two-thirds of an acre inside a converted postal facility in Playa Vista, backed up by a New York office that filters the news overnight. At the helm is the indefatigable Levin, who his staff reports is approving stories at 3 a.m. before hitting the gym and commanding the office. The 75-year-old attorney and high-energy TV veteran has been a staple of L.A. news for almost five decades.
Levin started in media offering legal advice on the radio as “Dr. Law,” which led to regular columns in the Los Angeles Times and Herald Examiner in the 1970s before branching into long stints in TV news. Levin spent 26 years doling out legal analysis and interviewing bystanders on The People’s Court. “Harvey was always a legend for changing the game on breaking news,” says Christina McClarty Arquette, David Arquette’s wife and a former reporter for Entertainment Tonight. “Before TMZ existed, there was no source like it for breaking news. He also changed the game by making things a lot more salacious. People wanted to get the craziest stuff to compete with TMZ.”
Levin had been producing the slick syndicated TV entertainment news show Celebrity Justice when Jim Paratore, head of Warner Bros.’ Telepictures, canceled the show and offered to move Levin to a website. The company had merged with AOL and was in the market for new online content. Paratore imagined a celebrity news site with familiar coverage of TV, movies and red carpet fashion. But Levin wasn’t interested and left town. “I went to Mexico and was in this kind of margarita haze and it just hit me,” Levin says. “By the time they aired Celebrity Justice, it was old news. If you can break stories where you have producers and research and lawyers to vet everything and you don’t have a time period like a TV show, then you get it up and you beat everybody.”
Harvey Levin plans the show.
Credit: Irvin Rivera
Harvey Levin grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Meadowlark Park in Reseda was an instant neighborhood that popped up in the early 1950s, filled with quintessentially suburban midcentury tract houses that originally sold for about $10,000. A few feet from the family’s butterfly-roof home was his dad’s liquor store. Harvey remembers being fascinated by the blue and red lights outside his bedroom window as a kid— they weren’t from the store’s neon sign across the alley but from the LAPD squad cars that would show up when the store was being robbed.
“[He] would open the store at 7 in the morning and run it until 2 the next morning,” Levin remembers. “[The family was] in that store all the time. I ended up working there. My dad taught me how to be a salesman. I would learn all these terms like calling it a heady bottle of wine so I could sell a more expensive bottle. That whole experience taught me a lot.”
Levin became interested in politics at Grover Cleveland High School, where he served on multiple debate teams and became president of the Boys’ League. That’s the group that planned special events for the class of 1968, which included a performance by psychedelic band Strawberry Alarm Clock, an Arab-Israeli debate and a special assembly conducted by a skeptic of the official story of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. That one had Levin’s fingerprints all over it.
The teenager had long been fascinated by the case, and even camped out at the Reseda library to read the 888-page Warren Commission report. He repeatedly called New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner in Oliver Stone’s JFK) from an anonymous pay phone after reviewing stills from the Zapruder film, to offer a new angle on the case.
As a high school senior, Levin won a mock debate where he acted as Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in a battle against Richard Nixon. He dressed up the auditorium with fans, polls and friends costumed as a donkey and an elephant. “I started calling all the stations in town and they all came,” Levin remembers. “I was thinking, well, this is interesting how the media gets attracted to something because it was just different.”
Levin volunteered for RFK’s presidential campaign and was at the Ambassador Hotel the night he was shot. He soon left L.A. to study political science at UC-Santa Barbara and received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.
The TMZ team in the bullpen.Credit: Irvin Rivera
Levin’s interest in the Kennedys is at the root of one of TMZ’s greatest flubs. In 2009, the website published a crumpled snapshot of a man who resembled JFK partying on a yacht with naked women. It turned out to have been a Playboy magazine photo, taken years after the president’s death. “We screwed that up,” Levin says. “That one was on me. I spent the last two weeks of the year bringing in Kennedy experts, machines to analyze this thing, going to the Marina del Rey boatyards. We spent so much time on it, and we got it wrong.”
“We do what everybody is supposed to do,” Levin says. “You get a tip, you chase it down, you accept the fact that you’re going to hit 100 dead ends and, you know, you find ways around the dead ends.” Levin says that plenty of stories consume resources yet never make it on air. “If we find out that something’s unfair or untrue,” he says, “it’s dead.”
The show has been accused of paying informants, but producers deny the claim. “People do sometimes look for money,” Particelli says. “But we only pay for photos.” Sometimes an unrelated news story has such shocking video that it rises to the top. “It doesn’t have to be celebrity-driven,” says director of audience development Cameron Lazerine. “It can be a crazy viral moment of a huge tidal wave crushing a ship.”
With some 200 contributors, the show boasts veterans of CNN, Extra and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Many of the crew come from less conventional backgrounds but all share a dogged determination to tell the show’s stories. Producer Charlie Neff started out as a fashion model; TMZ Sports producer Michael Babcock was a restaurant manager in New Jersey before he sent in a winning audition tape. “One of our most successful guys Harvey met while pumping gas,” says Latibeaudiere. “This guy was at another pump and selling speakers out of his trunk, just hustling. He worked with us for at least 10 years.”
TMZ staffers enjoy the niceties that once enticed tech workers into the office. There’s a volleyball court filled with sand, and replicas of vintage military bombs stenciled with the TMZ logo hang near a ping-pong table across from the complimentary Starbucks station. Clear tubes of Frosted Flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch beckon hungry employees, as does a free convenience store stocked with Kraft Mac & Cheese and Pop-Tarts. Pizza Hut delivers on Mondays. Fox purchased TMZ for roughly $50 million in 2021.
Derek Kaufman speaks at a
morning meeting. Credit: Irvin Rivera
One of the newest staffers met his future at a scoop shop in Brentwood. Twenty-one-year-old London native Jakson Buhaj started filming skits and live streams for YouTube as a tween. He learned Python and JavaScript as he was finishing high school and faced a “what am I going to do with my life” moment before a TMZ field producer wearing a camera over his shoulder walked into his Salt & Straw location. “I made this pitch to him,” Buhaj says. “‘Please take my information,’ and to sweeten the deal I gave [him] free ice cream and sent [him] out the door.”
After graduating Santa Monica College, Buhaj had offers from several schools but instead took a spot at the TMZ intern desk. “I made this software— this bot,” he says, “that surfaces a thousand different media outlets and celebrities the moment they posted something, so we would be the first to get to it. That put me on Harvey’s radar.” Buhaj’s efforts have made TMZ on YouTube a major destination that may one day eclipse the brand’s TV efforts. “Jakson is being very humble,” Latibeaudiere says of the channel’s explosive growth since the eager Gen Zer showed up. “Once he was here … Thank the ice cream gods.”
Levin isn’t afraid to predict the future. “The reality is, YouTube is totally dominating,” he says. “I don’t think there’s going to be television in five or six years. You’ve got to pivot to where the audience is going.” In today’s age of infinite customization of personal livestreams, everyone can be a celebrity to somebody.
“People want authenticity,” Neff explains. “The new generation wants to see relatable people. Alix Earle, who is a very famous TikTok’er, is just a regular college girl who would post makeup videos. But she wasn’t fixing up the background of her bedroom. She had her tampons out, she had, you know, bloody panties in the corner, she had a Plan B package in the background. People are watching and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh! She’s so relatable!’”
Charlie Neff on the jobCredit: Irvin Rivera
But is being an internet streamer as significant in the culture today as singers, actors and comedians used to be? Kai Cenat posted skits on YouTube before turning the camera on himself all day and all night. By the time he reached 19 million followers on Twitch, more-established stars like Kim Kardashian and Mariah Carey were showing up on his livestream. “Streaming your life can be performance art. That’s what an actor is doing, right?” says Buhaj. “Nothing like that has been done in the history of entertainment.”
History buff Levin, whose life has long been colored by the promise and tragedy of the Kennedys, can relate. He has a favorite quote of RFK’s — words engraved on the late politician’s tomb: “Some men see things as they are and ask ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’”
Building on the growing arsenal of singles and videos that Paris Hilton has thus far released from her second album, Infinite Icon, “ADHD” marks the fourth single from the record. And, noticeably, it’s the first single to not rely on a feature from someone more legitimate in the music industry to buttress it (with “I’m Free,” it was Rina Sawayama; with “Chasin,” it was Meghan Trainor; with “BBA,” it was Megan Thee Stallion). As such, it makes sense that Hilton would pull out even more stops than usual for the video, directed by photographer/graphic designer Brian Ziff (who was responsible for Hilton’s album cover visuals, and has previously worked with the likes of Cardi B and Rico Nasty on other photoshoots).
To mimic the “vibe” of what it feels like to have ADHD, the video immediately starts with a frenetic barrage of various images behind Hilton as she starts to get overwhelmed by all the thoughts she’s having—all the synapses that are firing back and forth. She then appears against a black backdrop (as though to indicate that the noise has briefly quieted) wearing light-up fairy wings (or butterfly, depending on your personal preference). Indeed, Hilton is known to wear such a winged prop for various events and photo opportunities, but, in truth, her fellow 00s icon, Britney Spears, has always been the one with the fairy fetish. And, speaking of Spears, “ADHD” definitely bears the sound of a cheesy Spears ballad from one of her earlier albums (think: “Don’t Let Me Be The Last to Know”)—though it clearly wants to believe it qualifies as being of an “Everytime” caliber (Spears’ strongest ballad, unquestionably).
On the subject of “Everytime,” the video for “ADHD” also does its best to convey a certain “mental illness steez.” This being played up by a slew of dancers outfitted in white lace body stockings and matching face coverings that lend a “creepy” (for Paris Hilton standards) aura as they writhe and wriggle erratically in a manner intended to connote the manic nature of ADHD (though it kind of looks like the similarly erratic choreography from Jennifer Lopez’s “Hearts and Flowers” segment in This Is Me… Now: A Love Story). This happening as she “belts out,” “Sometimes I can’t deny it/So I just keep on trying/Sometimes I wanna crumble/Sometimes I’m gonna stumble/My mind is always running/Sometimes I feel like crying.”
In the end, of course, she realizes that her “superpower” all along has been ADHD. Not a curse, but a blessing that makes her see and process the world in a much more “special” way than everyone else (well, that and being an Aquarius). Hilton remarks upon this “special,” extrasensory worldview right at the outset of her memoir, Paris, when she says, “Dr. Edward Hallowell, author of Driven to Distraction, says the ADHD brain is like a Ferrari with bicycle brakes: powerful but difficult to control. My ADHD makes me lose my phone, but it also makes me who I am, so if I’m going to love my life, I have to love my ADHD.” Of course, it’s also easy to love one’s life—ADHD or not—when they have oodles of cash, but anyway…
While some might be wondering what a Lolitacore aesthetic (rampant throughout the video) has to do with ADHD, they obviously don’t understand that “looking hot” is not out of the question for such a serious subject matter. As Hilton also notes in her memoir, “My brain chemistry craves sensory input. Sounds, images, puzzles, art, motion, experiences—everything that triggers adrenaline or endorphins—that’s all as necessary as oxygen for the ADHD brain.” That certainly explains the barrage of sensory overloaded, sexually charged images in “ADHD,” complete with Hilton also seeming to take some inspo from Spears’ 1999 Rolling Stone photoshoot with David LaChapelle, especially via her “boudoir” scenes being punctuated by pink hues and satin sheets (on another side note: LaChapelle directed the abovementioned “Everytime” video).
Other “scenarios” in the video find Hilton standing in the middle of a hall of mirrors or against a black backdrop seemingly projecting “vintage” scenes from the 00s (there even appears to be a moment where Lindsay Lohan is projected on one of the screens behind her—unless, of course, it’s just a lookalike. And yet, it wouldn’t be out of the question considering Hilton recently said she wouldn’t rule out doing a remix song with Lohan à la Charli and Lorde).
She serves more Britney imagery by perching on a swing in a style that harkens back to Spears in the “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” video…and Lana Del Rey during the “Video Games” portion of any live show she plays. Granted, Paris’ “special swing” has a giant half-moon decoration on it and, in contrast to Britney and Lana, Paris is, naturally, sporting more Lolitacore lingerie while on it.
As for the continuation of subliminally projected images behind her that seem to borrow from TMZ’s vault of 00s footage, there’s another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it image in particular that shows Paris on the illustrious November night in 2006 (you can tell by the outfit) when her photo was snapped thousands of times as she drove away from the Beverly Hills Hotel with Spears and Lohan in tow. And so, perhaps projecting these images of the past behind her in a fast-paced, extremely subconscious way is meant to prove another point about ADHD from her book: “Because my attention span is limited, I don’t see time as linear; the ADHD brain processes past, present and future as a Spirograph of interconnected events…” Either that or she knows that playing up her 00s era at any chance she gets will always be her bread and butter (“Is butter a carb?”).
It also seems as though Hilton has been of the belief that ADHD is a superpower for a while now, having immortalized that thought in her memoir with the declaration, “Some of us have discovered that ADHD is our superpower.” So clearly, the lyrics have been brewing for quite some time. Though she seems to have lifted the uber narcissistic line, “My superpower was right inside, see/So thank you to me/Thank you to me/Thank you to me,” from Snoop Dogg accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018. Or Meghan Trainor on this year’s “I Wanna Thank Me,” which samples Niecy Nash’s Emmy award acceptance speech (itself ostensibly inspired by Snoop). But, occasionally narcissistic or not, Hilton wants everyone to know that ADHD is what got her to where she is today, not winning the birth lottery.
I honestly never thought I’d pose this question, but are we ready to push buttons again? As the era of Y2k fashion surges on, we’re constantly hankering for more nostalgia. We’ve brought back trucker hats, Juicy Couture, and now maybe even the flip phone.
When I was growing up, I loved to play with my dad’s Motorola Razr. In my eyes, there was no cooler phone in the world. I loved the way you could be so sassy and smack your phone closed when you were finished with a call.
Back then even the Blackberry was all the rage. It wasn’t a flip phone, per-se, but you there was something so camp about typing on BBM to your friends even though your fingers were too big for the buttons.
Now that the world has turned into an “iPhone or bust” culture, it’s hard to imagine the flip phone being a viable option once more. They had impossible internet service, were most functional for phone calls, and they weren’t fast.
But, never say never. Paris Hilton — our beacon for all things the Y2k aesthetic — stepped out on September 5 with her husband, Carter Reum, toting a hot pink Motorola RAZR flip phone.
Yes, the classic flip is back in production with a new twist. The razr+ is a reimagined take on our OG fave: a touchscreen phone that folds up and flips any way you’d like.
While I — like you, I’m sure — worried about the possibility of sitting on your phone and shattering the screen… It turns out the razr+ is stress tested and has the capability to last underwater for up to 30 minutes.
What a fun alternative to the iPhone — which only seems to get worse over time. And now you can hang up the phone in such a sassy manner everyone will know precisely how you feel.
As with most impactful trends, it began with Madonna. Or at least got kickstarted by her (see also: vogueing). More to the point, the pop culture tastemaker spotlighted the “About Fucking Time!” shirt by sporting it at the August 24th birthday party she threw for her twins, Stella and Estere. Soon after, Charli XCX posted a “chest shot” photo of two unidentified people (though it looks like her and Sweat Tour co-star Troye Sivan) wearing the same tank tops with the increasingly familiar phrase. Though, in truth, the t-shirt goes back much further than its current “it” moment, created by one of Madonna’s long-standing besties, Stella McCartney. The latter, in fact, appropriately donned a “prototype” at the 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony when her dad (you know, Paul) was finally inducted.
Not so coincidentally, McCartney was also present at the aforementioned “high-brow, who’s who” of a twelfth birthday party—pictured next to Madonna as the two held a cluster of balloons in each hand. Only Madonna wasn’t wearing the tank top in this image, but rather, saved it for a photo of herself sandwiched in between Stella and Estere. Thus, the shirt often tends to be worn during instances when something has been “long overdue” (like, apparently, Estere and Stella entering their final preteen year). Which also appeared to be the case with Paris Hilton wearing one for her September ’24 Nylon feature, “From Paris With Love.” Because, after all, she thinks it’s “about fucking time” that she released a sophomore album (though there aren’t that many other people who feel quite the same). Her newly unleashed Infinite Icon record being the topic that the majority of the article focuses on.
And, talking of that particular “2000s icon,” it seems that “About Fucking Time!” is fast becoming the “20s” version of one the 00s’ biggest t-shirt trends: “Jesus Is My Homeboy.” Later, “Mary Is My Homegirl” would also take celebrity closets by storm, reaching a zenith in 2004, when, yes, Madonna was spotted in arguably one of the most 2000s ensembles ever captured by a paparazzo: track pants, trainers, a Von Dutch hat and a “Mary Is My Homegirl” tee.
Like “About Fucking Time!,” the “Jesus Is My Homeboy” shirt went back much further than when it experienced a sudden uptick in sartorial cachet thanks to a clothing company called Teenage Millionaire (oft touted by the likes of Ashton Kutcher and the abovementioned Hilton)—which once boasted a store on Melrose. But long before that brand cashed in on the design, thanks to Teenage Millionaire’s Doug Williams coming across the original version of the t-shirt (the rest of the stock was lost when the screenprinting shop that the OG creator used was looted during the 1992 Rodney King riots), the story began sometime in 1980s L.A.. Specifically, when a man named Van Zan Frater was mugged and beaten by a bevy of street gang members. According to Frater, one youth’s urging to “kill him, homeboy!” inspired Frater to say, “Jesus is MY homeboy. And he’s your homeboy, and your homeboy.” This, apparently, got them to gradually scatter, leaving a bloodied Frater to recover only briefly before being mugged a second time in about as little as ten minutes (oh certain parts of L.A. in the 80s).
When the discarded shirt Frater created to commemorate the “event” was unearthed years later (some accounts say in a vintage store, others in a dumpster), Williams and his Teenage Millionaire partner, Chris Hoy, came up with a backstory about the shirt’s “origins,” claiming “they created the ‘Jesus is My Homeboy’ t-shirt while talking one afternoon about [Hoy’s] Irish Roman Catholic upbringing in a largely Latino community in Hollywood.” It didn’t take long for the shirt to absolutely blow up, appearing on the chests of everyone from Britney Spears to her number one celebrity crush, Brad Pitt. Indeed, that shirt practically was the 2000s.
Cut to twenty years after its cultural peak and now it seems there’s a new shirt with a similar kind of celebrity cachet making the rounds: “About Fucking Time!” And, in keeping with the gentrification of everything, it of course comes from the runway rather than the streets of L.A. What’s more, although McCartney’s shirt has a much less scandalous and fraught backstory, it does speak to “the trend” of the moment—especially in fashion—to make a big performative to-do about preserving the environment. Hence, McCartney’s fashion show during Paris Fashion Week centering around the theme of “Messages from Mother Earth” (in other words, what MARINA already did by writing “Purge the Poison” from Earth’s perspective). Among those messages, “Gaia’s” most ominously exhorting missive is none other than: “it’s about fucking time”—that humans paid her some respect. She is, after all, the source from which we’re all derived and sustained (the double meaning, to be sure, is that humans are running out of time to amend their behavior, which is why everything, as usual is all about [fucking] time).
To pay her respect, apparently, means buying clothes from Stella McCartney and, as a sidebar, following her lead on “sustainability.” Alas, while McCartney has been a long-standing proponent of environmentalism and animal rights, there is an almost willful naïveté (that can perhaps only come from being born into wealth) in believing that anything about the fashion industry can ever be sustainable (regardless of McCartney touting, “the sequins are plastic-free”—okay, but they’re still sequins that are probably going to end up in some fish’s mouth—and besides that, what else in the collection couldn’t avoid using plastic?).
Which is why it’s so ironic that someone like Charli XCX, recently tapped to do a campaign with one of fashion’s biggest offenders of fucking up the planet, H&M, and Paris Hilton, down to wear whatever makes her look “hot,” should have the audacity to wear these “statement” tank tops designed to “advocate” for Mother Earth. When, in truth, the biggest favor anyone in fashion could do for said mother is declare that wearing one outfit per season made out of hemp or recycled cotton is permanently chic. Either that, or come out and say that everyone should only shop at thrift stores going forward. But then, that would put every designer out of business, wouldn’t it? Thus, the idea of “overhauling” the industry instead of eradicating it altogether is the best way that people like McCartney can soothe themselves about their chosen moneymaking endeavor.
In this regard, there was a greater honesty to the backstory behind the “Jesus Is My Homeboy” t-shirt (which was also completely inauthentic when worn by any celebrity). Because even though it, too, was ridden with the kind of exploitation unique to the fashion industry (read: stealing a design), at least the original creator’s mantra was “purer” and more believable in terms of motive (not to mention more accessible by way of price range). However, contrary to McCartney’s supposed intentions, many people will have no idea that the “About Fucking Time!” shirt refers to Mother Nature (voiced, for McCartney’s purposes, by Olivia Colman). And her demand that humans treat her with more kindness before she punishes them in a way that means “looking stylish” will be the last of anyone’s concerns.
Hollywood’s favorite photographer, Vijat Mohindra, is living the dream. He’s shot Kim Kardashian multiple times since 2009, to market Skims and her scent and just because. You’ve probably seen his photos of Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton, Cardi B… the list of his subjects is long and populated by luminaries from across the spectrum of celebrity. He’s shot Pamela Anderson for Paper. Nicki Minaj for Complex.
How can you spot a photo taken by Mohindra? There’s the signature colorful, Pop-ish aesthetic possibly best described as Barbie-esque. But despite the candy pink and blue and yellow plastic fantastic backdrops, Vijat’s subjects are always vibrant, dynamic and very much portraying themselves. Perhaps that’s not surprising, as he learned the ropes from famed celebrity photographer David LaChapelle. In the years since, he’s shot music videos, magazine spreads, album covers and more for some of the world’s top talent.
Mohindra is still shooting, but he’s been branching out. Earlier this year, he opened his first studio space in downtown Los Angeles, Powder Room Studio LA, which has a dozen uniquely Mohindra-esque sets in which to shoot everything from stills to reels. The 4500-square-foot space looks like Barbie’s 1990s-era dream house, and Paris Hilton and Christina Aguilera were early fans.
We chatted with Mohindra on a busy weekday morning about the new studio, why he loves polished portraits and his advice for young photographers.
Observer: What’s the story behind the Powder Room?
Vijat Mohindra: I’ve been a photographer—a celebrity photographer—in Los Angeles for the last 15 years, and in those years, I designed and created a lot of different environments for my shoots. Over time, I started collecting all these amazing set pieces that were left over from my shoots. They were just too gorgeous to throw away. I had them in storage at one point and I looked through it all, and I said, oh my gosh, all this stuff looks so great together. Maybe I can put it together in a format that could bring it all to life. And then I realized that could also be a place where creatives, photographers, directors, filmmakers, etc., could come and see all these amazing pieces.
The Living Room in Vijat Mohindra’s Powder Room Studio LA. Courtesy Vijat Mohindra
It looks like a Barbie house to me. Why?
It has that Barbie aesthetic because a lot of my work is very synthetic—very plastic, with a kind of glossy sheen to it. And then it all just sort of happened to have these different elements that coincided with the Barbie aesthetic but with a very ‘80s take on it. Pink is the color I use a lot. In a way, it made sense to create this surrealistic Barbie dream house experience.
Selfie museums are still on the rise—can just anyone come in and take some snaps with the sets?
Honestly, the space is for everybody. I have a lot of people from Instagram and TikTok coming in who just book the space for a few hours to create their own videos.
How common is this type of space in L.A.?
I’ve heard from some other people who have studios with a similar type of setup, with standing sets. They started back maybe around like 2018 or 2019, when there were maybe a thousand or so listings online of places like this throughout the Los Angeles area that could be rented for shoots. Now in 2024, it is up to around 8,000 spaces like this. It’s something that exploded in a way. Not all the spaces listed are aesthetic and design-focused the way mine is. I feel like the Powder Room is a very special category.
Let’s talk about your work. How do you feel about Photoshop?
I’m a big fan of Photoshop. I went to school for photography at the Art Center in Pasadena around 2003—right when film was switching over to digital—and I graduated around 2007. That was when this big debate was going on as to whether film was the future or digital. But when I took a digital photography class toward the beginning of my education, I realized that it was the way of the future.
It was amazing to be able to get all these different pictures and put them on the computer right away. You didn’t have to scan or retouch negatives. Photoshop opened a whole other dimension of creativity that wasn’t there for me with film. So, I’m a huge fan. I think it is beautiful, and it enhances pictures in an amazing way. That said, I still have respect for and really love certain film photography. I think there’s value in it, and I do see a lot of people going back to that nowadays as a trend because so much digital photography is over-saturated.
How do you feel about representing celebrities in a flawless way?
In a flawless way?
Glossy. That very L.A. aesthetic.
I really love a polished celebrity photograph that is very well-lit and has that glossy, punchy aesthetic to it. I’ve always been inspired by that type of celebrity photography going back to the ‘70s and ‘80s with Andy Warhol and the Interview Magazine covers. I think that it brings that glamor and special sort of sparkle that we kind of associate with celebrities. I like photographing them that way because I think that’s the way I see them in my head. And so that’s the way I want to put them on paper—to show people how I see them. I feel like it’s very powerful and it’s kind of show-stopping.
What’s it like behind the scenes once you actually get to know these celebrities?
For most of my celebrity photographs, there have been a lot of collaborative experiences where I will work with the artist to figure out what their aesthetic is or what drives them. And we build a concept around that and bring it to life from there. I really like finding out more about a celebrity’s personality and their background and what they’re interested in and then pulling that into what we create together.
Who are some of your favorite celebrity photographers and why?
My absolute favorite is David LaChapelle; he’s just one of my icons. I have been very lucky to have been able to assist him at one point during my career, which was a huge highlight. I just love his take on celebrity photography. It’s so different from anything that I’ve seen and is so imaginative and creative. I really look up to the creativity that he brings to the celebrity photography world. He takes celebrities out of their worlds and puts them in this hyper-creative, colorful, aesthetically driven space that I just find so beautiful. I also love the work of Annie Leibovitz, as well as Pierre and Gilles, a French photography duo who shoot creative portraiture that’s aesthetically driven. I love Miles Aldridge, who’s more of a fashion photographer but shoots celebrities in ways that are highly creative and very colorful.
I’ve been working a lot on Powder Room Studio LA—trying to get it up and running. It only launched this past January, but I’m happy to say that we are pretty booked up at this point. We’ve been getting quite a few bookings from brands as well as individuals, and we’ve gotten some great celebrities into the studio, too, like Paris Hilton and Cardi B. The space has been getting some great recognition, and that’s still my focus.
Last question. What advice do you have for young photographers entering the industry?
I’d give them the same advice I was given when I was in photography school, which I still think about to this day. One of my professors told me that you should always shoot what you love, and that really left a lasting impression on me. I feel like if you’re not shooting what you love, you don’t really put the same passion behind it. Passion is what really shows in your overall body of work—it’s the thing that people connect with the most.
While some might think that “Gen Z-ifying” fame refers to how virality through TikTok is the only way to become a “star” (with no staying power) nowadays, the truth is that Chappell Roan just summed up the true meaning of it on her own TikTok account. This by demanding that fans stop being, well, creepy. As though Roan has no concept that the parasocial relationship train can’t stop once it’s left the station. But then, what is one to expect from a novice to the scene? For, even more than being a parent, the phrase “there is no manual for blah blah blah” applies to fame and how one’s life immediately changes after it hits (just ask the “very demure, very mindful” bia). But it seems the aspect of celebrity that famous people consistently wish they could do without is the obsessive nature of fans, which has only grown more dangerous and disturbing in the digital age.
For Roan, the obsession people have with her has already proven to be too much. And, even though she’s technically been in this business since 2015, when she first signed a deal with Atlantic Records, nothing prepared her for the sudden frenzy for all things Chappell as 2024 rolled around. She already addressed how overwhelming this newfound “icon status” has been for her, namely back in June during a Raleigh concert date, when Roan told the audience, “I just want to be honest with the crowd. I feel a little off today, because I think my career is going really fast and it’s hard to keep up. I’m just being honest, I’m having a hard time today.” Roan has also alluded to her disdain for fans that feel they should have constant access to her in an interview for The Comment Section with Drew Afualo, insisting that when she’s performing or giving an interview, she’s simply “clocked in” like anyone else with a “normal job” (which, again, is not what she has). When she’s offstage, however, Roan explained to Afualo, “Bitch, I’m not at work.” Thus, do not approach her as though she is.
As for the massive crowds she’s been drawing in everywhere from Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza, in spite of how “ready for it” everyone seems to be for Roan to keep releasing new music, all signs seem to point to her “pumping the brakes” on the whole goddamn thing as a result of being so sketched out by the, let’s say, intensity of certain fans. Thus, she took to TikTok to say, “If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from the window?” Roan already sets herself up for failure with that question because, for many sober men and drunk people of all creeds, the answer is a resounding yes. She goes on, “Would you harass her in public? Would you go up to a random lady and say, ‘Can I get a photo with you?’ Would you be offended if she says no to your time because she has her own time? Would you stalk her family, would you follow her around? I’m a random bitch, you’re a random bitch.” Again, Roan sets herself up for all the holes in her “argument” for privacy to be easily poked through. Because, no, she is not a random bitch at all. She has achieved that thing that so many people wish they could: fame and acclaim. Ergo, becoming a public figure. A status that automatically changes the game in terms of what can be “done” to you.
Concluding her tirade against creeps with, “Just think about that for a second. I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That does not make it okay, that doesn’t make it normal… [a word that shouldn’t really be in an drag queen enthusiast’s vocabulary, but whatever]. I don’t give a fuck if you think it’s selfish of me to say no for a photo, or for your time, or to…for a hug. It’s weird how people think that you know a person just ‘cause you see them online or you listen to the art they make.” Here, too, Roan sets herself up for disaster because a key part of the reason that many fans do listen to this “art” is precisely because they feel like they know the person who made it. See something of themselves in that person and, therefore, feel connected.
In the past, many musicians have only courted that perception, including the ultimate millennial pop star, Taylor Swift. Indeed, part of Swift’s longevity has been her acumen in cultivating parasocial relationships with fans. It can be argued, in fact, that fame wouldn’t really exist without this dynamic. At least not the kind of fame that constitutes being a global pop superstar. As for Roan continuing to insist that “it’s fucking weird” for people to glom onto a musician in such a way, she might need to be reminded that her entire shtick is centered around “weird” a.k.a. drag looks. And honestly, it’s no weirder than all of us being on some rock spinning around in the middle of space with absolutely no idea how we got here other than some unprovable postulations (including the “God theory”).
Of course, Roan isn’t the only one who has expressed disdain for fan behavior in recent years. Take, for example, a video that made the rounds after the 2018 Met Gala, when Lana Del Rey (still in her “Bible” costume) was about to oblige a fan that asked for a selfie. When he tried to re-angle the phone she was holding to take the picture, she thrust it back and him and said, “You know what, fuck it” (though it sounded sort of like “fuck off” or “fuck you” as well). It speaks to what Roan said above about not “owing” anyone a photo. That a fan should be grateful to receive any such request fulfillment at all—not further annoy the famous person by trying to control how the selfie looks. By the same token, of course, there’s always the valid argument that fans are literally paying for how famous people live, so shouldn’t they be entitled to such things? And, if Roan wants to make analogies between famous people and regular people, it can be said that regular people’s bosses do pretty much the same thing, constantly infiltrating their lives outside of work because they pay for their existence, as it were.
Roan’s disgust with fan (or “stan”) behavior is, what’s more, in direct contrast to the “teachings” millennials have carried on from generations of famous people past. Case in point, during Paris Hilton’s 2020 documentary, This Is Paris, Kim Kardashian commented, “I think the best advice that she ever could’ve given me was just watching her.” Watching her constantly pose with fans whenever they asked for a photo, watching her being bombarded by paparazzi without ever lashing out, watching her personal life get violated in all the most invasive possible ways (Kim was obviously studying the sex tape aspect of that most closely). In the same documentary, Hilton admitted, “Even though it was so hectic and insane and just nonstop…I also loved the attention.” At least she can admit that. Roan, it seems, is struggling to acknowledge that attention is what she wanted for so long, only to be met with the “be careful what you wish for” caveat.
And yet, in an interview for Q with Tom Power, Roan made a prescient remark, saying, “This industry, like, you really flourish if you don’t protect yourself.” Power clarifies, “You flourish if you don’t protect yourself?” “Mhmm, yes” she replies sagely. “Like if you don’t look after yourself you can have a pretty good, amazing career. You’ve seen that kind of thing happen?” “We’ve all seen that kind of thing happen.” (To be sure, there’s no example more textbook than Britney Spears.) In the same interview, Roan goes on to say that touring is her favorite part of the job, even though one would think that might be the ripest scenario for witnessing the apex of “creep behavior” among fans. But “creepy,” like everything else, means different things to different people. While one fan might believe it’s perfectly normal to throw their mother’s ashes onstage, another might simply want to become “iconic” in their own right by engaging with a certain opening lyric in a viral way. In effect, the shades of creep in fandoms are multi-hued and numerous, and certainly can’t be contained by a mere “read” from an honorary drag queen/Midwest princess.
To boot, there are some who would still posit that the “dark side of fame” is but a small price to pay for all the benefits that go with it, not least of which is avoiding, more than “normals,” an overpowering sense of insignificance. Hell, look at Kevin Bacon’s recent comment on how terrible it was to not be famous for a day, stating, “Nobody recognized me. People were kind of pushing past me, not being nice. Nobody said, ‘I love you.’ I had to wait in line to, I don’t know, buy a fucking coffee or whatever. I was like, ‘This sucks. I want to go back to being famous.’” Perhaps Roan ought to try out his experiment as well.
This isn’t an “asking for it” type of logic that men try so often to use on women for how they dress in terms of saying that those who want to be entertainers should know what they’re getting into. That they “asked for it” when they made the Faustian pact. But it is reminding those Gen Z famous ones, like Roan, who expect to set up “healthy boundaries” for such an uncontrollable entity that doing so is impossible without stepping out of the spotlight altogether. Something Josh Hartnett, a fellow Midwest “prince” (from Minnesota), recently addressed in an interview with The Guardian, recalling of his white-hot moment as Hollywood’s most sought-after heartthrob, “People’s attention to me at the time was borderline unhealthy… There were incidents. People showed up at my house. People that were stalking me… a guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, claiming to be my father. He ended up in prison. There were lots of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn’t going to be grist for the mill.” That word again: “weird.” As in: celebrity is fucking weird. Which is why some people are built for it, and some people aren’t. In the years (or maybe just months) ahead, the audience will soon find out if Roan is.
Who knows? Maybe her ire for “fandom” is a passing fancy. After all, she’s not the first famous person to comment on her gross fans. Take, for example, Madonna’s resurfaced 1991 interview in The Washington Post, during which she unabashedly declares, “I don’t mind when people come up to me in a restaurant and go, ‘God, I think you’re great.’ I love that. It’s the obsessive fanatics whose attention seems very hostile. It’s beyond admiration. It’s very crazy…” That might sound “Gen Z” enough to go along with Roan’s sentiments, but M gave away her boomer nature when she added, “It’s always fat people too. They are the most unattractive social outcasts, like really overweight girls or guys with lots of acne that follow me around and pester me. It’s frightening because not only are they bothering me, but they’re horrible to look at too.”
At the same time, Madonna and Roan have more in common than some might think, not just because of their “slow burn” first albums taking a full year to catch on, but also because Madonna hails from the heart of the Midwest as well. Which is exactly why she also pronounced, “It’s a very boring, humdrum place. I was raised in that world. I know the ignorance that they wallow in—and that they prefer to live in—because it’s easier for them. I’m just trying to pull all their Band-Aids off.” Roan might be trying to do the same with fans who think “creepy behavior” is acceptable/par for the course, but one doubts it will effect the kind of change that vogueing did (i.e., gay-ifying the straights without them realizing it).
Fame is one thing that can’t be Gen Z-ified, unless it becomes something else altogether. And if it did, that would likely only make it all the more “democratized.” So what’s really the point of wanting to be famous at all if everyone gets treated the same? Like the “random bitch” Roan claims she wants to be treated as.
Right after the backlash against Jennifer Lopez that began in early summer—amid news that she was canceling her tour (she said for “family reasons,” everyone else said “low ticket sales”) —Galore posted a series of photos that tried to connect Charli XCX’s Brat to J. Lo’s music and videos of the past. The reaction to a question like, “Is Brat Actually J. Lo Coded?” was met, rightly so, with comments like, “How much she paid y’all to post this?,” “No. Next question,” “She wishes,” “How dare you do this to Charli,” “Stop trying to make J. Lo happen,” “This has to be rage bait” and “April Fool’s was two months ago.”
While that “comparison” was more than a bit of a reach, the connection Hilton has to Lopez in her latest video, “I’m Free” is hard to deny. Mainly because those green lasers are a staple of the “Waiting For Tonight” video. And everyone still knows it. While Lopez herself might have lifted them from the clubs they were popular in at the time, this is the image—apart from her plunging Versace dress—that she is arguably most remembered for. What Madonna did for vogueing, J. Lo did for green laser lights, bringing them to the forefront of mainstream consciousness as never before.
More obviously, Hilton is doing her “take” on Ultra Naté’s 1997 club banger, “Free,” a track she’s long been known to play in her go-to DJing rotation. And yes, it’s bittersweetly ironic that the song was released just a few months before she would be sent away by her parents to Provo Canyon School, that oppressive institution where she was force-fed dubious “medication” and abused in ways both physical and emotional. Fortunately though, Hilton claims she didn’t actually hear the song for the first time until she was back in New York, commenting in her “I’m Free” “press release,” “I heard it for the first time at a club in New York City shortly after being released from the Provo Canyon School where I experienced mental and physical abuse. For me, the song represents the journey of healing and finding your voice. It has served as an anthem of hope and a guiding light and I’m honored to have had the chance to create this new version.” Well, it doesn’t sound all that new, and, obviously, it doesn’t even begin to hold a candle to Ultra Naté’s original. Which also has an accompanying video that likely hits too close to home for Hilton’s experience at Provo Canyon when Ultra Naté’s appears in a skin-tight metallic gown that’s also fashioned as a straitjacket (“back then,” one could make such “ableist” commentary without risk of being lambasted).
While “Free” burned up the dance charts, Hilton, alas, was stuck in “hell camp” from the summer of ’97 to January of ’99, let out a month before her eighteenth birthday. As Hilton tells it, “The only thing that saved my sanity was thinking about what I wanted to do and who I wanted to become when I got out of there. I was gonna do everything in my power to be so successful that my parents could never control me again… I just wanted to be independent.”
So yes, obviously, “Free” would have some special significance to her as an anthem. Even though, if one is being honest, it was never much of an “uncertainty” that Hilton would be successful and independent. For, even if she says she didn’t use the financial resources at hand after turning eighteen, she still had the name and the according “it” girl status to “make something happen” for herself. Which she did once she was “released.” The same year that “Waiting For Tonight” would come out, specifically on September 7th, nine months after Hilton had been given the chance to reinvent herself as New York’s premier party girl. A rebirth, as it were (even though she was already a party girl before she was sent away—hell, that’s why she was sent away). Not so coincidentally, nine months is how long it takes to give birth. And in place of the “old” “caterpillar in the chrysalis” Paris was the “butterfly” one being photographed by David LaChapelle for Vanity Fair. It was that 2000 photoshoot that launched her image for the twenty-first century. A “rich bitch” flipping off the camera in her grandma’s mansion while simultaneously insisting, “People think I’m just this party girl. Well, I’m not like that.”
In the article that accompanied it, it would become retroactively unflattering (even more so, that is) to note that, “[Conrad Hilton was] a Trumpian figure, he palled around with celebrities…and went dancing with assorted L.A. showgirls.” Fittingly, Paris had signed with Trump’s (ugh) modeling agency the same year this article came out. A modeling agency that managed to stay afloat all the way until 2017, when it was closed solely because Trump had become “president.” And yes, it’s no secret that the Hiltons were longtime family friends of the Trumps, though it’s a piece of information that Paris’ “rebrand” has helped to mitigate. Even though, as recently as 2017, she was saying shit like, “I think that [Trump’s #MeToo accusers] are just trying to get attention and get fame. I feel like, a lot of people, when something happens all these opportunists will come out. They want to get money or get paid to not say anything or get a settlement when nothing really happened. So I don’t believe any of that. And I’m sure that they were trying to be with him too. Because a lot of women, I’ve seen, like him because he’s wealthy and he’s charming and good-looking so I feel like a lot of these girls just made the story up. I didn’t really pay attention to it. I heard a couple things about it. I don’t believe it.”
Just as she doesn’t want people to believe what they’ve seen of her own Trumpian behavior in the past (i.e., the free-wheeling racism and homophobia she would later attribute to being “traumatized”). What’s more, both the Hilton and Trump families are, as Nancy Jo Sayles put it in the aforementioned “Hip-Hop Debs” article, “forever plagued by a crisp taint of new money.” They might be “free” to do what they like, but it doesn’t mean what they do is “classy.” Luckily (in some ways) for Paris, Kim Kardashian came along to epitomize “new money” in an even worse way. Yet because Kardashian became the new “queen bee,” Hilton would end up copping some of her style too in order to remain relevant(ish). It is, indeed, Kardashian’s long hair extensions look that Paris emulates in the “I’m Free” video, using the retro gimmick of a wind machine (a.k.a. industrial fan) to make her hair billow as she basks in the glow of those green laser lights. The ones Lopez approved for her Francis Lawrence-directed masterpiece (on a side note: Lawrence would also go on to direct such Britney Spears masterpieces as “I’m A Slave 4 U” and “Circus”).
And yes, “Waiting For Tonight” has the same house-influenced sound that Hilton is grafting for the present as a result of having no original ideas of her own. Though she has the gall to deliver the outro, “I am the blueprint/The real OG/This is my legacy.” One, evidently, that looks a lot like Lopez’s. Hence, not only is the song not written by Paris (in part because it’s a remake)—with credits going to Rina Sawayama, Naliya, John-Adam Howard, Pierre Blondo, Ultra Naté, Lem Springsteen and John Ciafone—but its visual concept is also lacking in much substance. At least in “Waiting For Tonight,” there was more to it than just green lasers, with a narrative centered around a “Millennium Party” (or, what one might have then preferred to call an “End of the World Party”) on New Year’s Eve. One that takes place in an underground jungle club that looks like somewhere Hilton might have attended in her aughts glory days. To honor that “Y2K” concept, there’s even a “gasp!” moment when the computerized counter for the new year briefly seems to glitch and cause a power outage. But, of course, it’s just a false alarm and everyone quickly gets back to partying even harder (though, sadly, no longer partying like it’s 1999).
In another moment, Hilton also channels Lopez in “Waiting For Tonight” (as well as some brief glimpses of certain scenes in Lopez’s video for “Play”) by bedecking her entire body in glitter. The same goes for Lopez in a similar “nude” scene (though of course, unlike Paris, she’s actually wearing a top). Except that Paris uses this moment as yet another in the pile of meaningless scenes she’s showing us for this “video,” which is conceptless (a common trend at present) apart from her languidly bopping around and engaging in some non-choreo. But, like she says, she’s “free to do what she wants to do.” As if that were ever really something that was in question apart from a brief blip that ended in 1999. The year J. Lo would rise to prominence as much as Hilton, with the former releasing her debut album, On the 6. Funnily enough, Hilton would make her DJ debut at 2012’s Pop Music Festival in São Paulo, with J. Lo headlining the concert. It seems, then, that Hilton culling her inspiration from someone almost as subpar and lacking in original ideas is not as much of a reach as calling Brat “J. Lo coded.”
“I may or may not have had some moments so far that have not been very fun for me, I will say,” Kyle confirmed. “So let’s just say, yeah. I’ve had some moments already this season that I’ve had to have a little recovery from.
“I was provoked. I was provoked. Okay. That’s all I’m going to say,” she added.
A third fan questioned Kyle about Paris’ suggestion that Mauricio used her family’s name to get attention for his “lame show,” Buying Beverly Hills.
“We’re past that,” Kyle confirmed. “She apologized. It’s fine and we’re moving on. No more family problems. I can’t handle any more.”
Also during the livestream, Sophia confirmed she’s dating, but she noted that she’s keeping her love life “private,” and she said she rarely goes back and watches herself on old episodes of RHOBH.
In harrowing testimony to U.S. Congress on Wednesday, Paris Hilton recounted abuses she faced while institutionalized as a teenager in “for-profit” youth behavioural treatment facilities.
Hilton told the House Ways and Means Committee she was “force-fed medications and sexually abused by staff” at four different residential institutions for troubled teens.
The media mogul appeared before the committee, a federal body in charge of developing fiscal legislation including taxes, tariffs, and social service programs, to advocate for better support for children in foster care.
Though Hilton was never in foster care, the 43-year-old said she “knows the harm” caused to young people placed in youth residential treatment facilities.
Paris Hilton testified before a U.S. House committee on June 26, 2024, to advocate for better youth protections in foster care facilities and juvenile residential institutions.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
“When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the first of four youth residential treatment facilities,” she described. “These programs promised healing, growth and support but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely or even look out of a window for two years.”
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Hilton said she was “violently restrained, dragged down hallways, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement” while in care.
She maintained that her parents were “completely deceived, lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing.”
Hilton said the children housed in youth facilities, whether in foster care or otherwise, are “innocent kids who have not committed crimes.”
She has long since been an advocate for better protections for institutionalized children and teens.
In 2021, she wrote an opinion for the Washington Post in which she characterized her experience in youth facilities as “parent-approved kidnapping.”
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Hilton said her parents, who were looking to manage her rebellious behaviour, were misled by the “troubled teen industry” — a billion-dollar business, including therapeutic boarding schools, military-style boot camps and behaviour modification programs.
The socialite recalled being unable to communicate with the outside world or tell her parents of the abuses she was experiencing while institutionalized. Hilton said she was “choked, slapped across the face, spied on while showering and deprived of sleep” while in treatment programs.
In recent years, advocates like Hilton have grown more vocal about the mistreatment of young people in institutionalized care, especially as news of children dying in American group homes and other facilities has made international headlines.
On Wednesday, Hilton called on Congress to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse act, which outlines better support, best practices and oversight for youth residential institutions.
In her 2020 documentary This is Paris, she discussed her time living at Provo Canyon School in Utah — an institution she has repeatedly called on to be closed. She’s said she was physically, sexually and psychologically abused while in care.
Provo Canyon School in 2021 responded to Hilton’s allegations of abuse and said they cannot comment because the organization is now under different management.
Paris Hilton shares remarks following hearing on bill to protect kids from abuse in congregate care
“My parents had no idea. They just thought it was going to be a normal boarding school,” Hilton said of Provo Canyon School. “And when I got there, there was no therapy. We would just constantly be torn down, abused, screamed at, yelled at. No education whatsoever. I learned nothing there except trauma.”
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The American troubled teen industry reportedly receives US$23 billion dollars of public funds annually to provide care to youth living in foster care or facilities specializing in treatment for minors with behavioural and psychological needs. There is an estimated 120,000 to 200,000 minors in juvenile residential programs every year in the U.S.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general’s office said many states are failing to monitor how frequently children in foster care facilities are abused. The new report said more than a dozen states do not track when abuses, including sexual assault and improper physical restraint, occur at a single facility or across institutions owned by the same company.
During her congressional appearance, Hilton offered words of support to children and teens in foster care and rehabilitation programs.
“If you are a child in the system, hear my words: I see you. I believe you. I know what you’re going through, and I won’t give up on you,” she said. “You are important, your future is important, and you deserve every opportunity to be safe and supported.”
WASHINGTON — Paris Hilton is opening up about her experience with past abuse as she continues to advocate for legislation that better protects children from suffering institutional abuse.
On Wednesday, the actor, singer, DJ and model said that she will “be the voice for the children whose voices can’t be heard” and will “not stop until America’s youth is safe” as she urged congressional action to protect child welfare while testifying at a House committee hearing on Wednesday.
Appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee for a hearing focused on foster care and the reauthorization of Title IV-B of the Social Security Act – which provides resources to states to promote child welfare – Hilton said that “families need resources and support so they don’t need to come into the child welfare system in the first place.”
Hilton has been an outspoken advocate on child welfare issues and has previously said that she experienced physical and emotional abuse at a boarding school for troubled teens in her 2020 documentary “This is Paris” and her 2023 memoir “Paris: The Memoir.” She has said that she still suffers from PTSD from her time at the institution.
She testified about her experience on Wednesday, telling the committee that when she was 16 years old, “I was ripped from my bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the first of four youth residential treatment facilities.”
“I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked, and thrown into solitary confinement. My parents were completely deceived – lied to and manipulated by this for-profit industry about the inhumane treatment I was experiencing,” she said. “So can you only imagine the experience for youth who are placed by the state and don’t have people regularly checking in on them?”
“As a mom, these stories break my heart,” Hilton, now a mother of two, also said at the hearing.
Hilton has visited Washington DC to advocate for child safety in the past, including a 2022 visit where, according to a White House official, she met with White House policy staff and other survivors to discuss “issues pertinent to the protection of institutionalized youth in America.”
“What I experienced at these places, I will never forget,” Hilton told CNN’s Brianna Keiler during a 2022 interview. “It has affected me and will affect me for the rest of my life and that’s why I am fighting for change so no child ever has to suffer in the name of treatment.”
(The-CNN-Wire & 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
With new sexual assault allegations of the Backstreet Boys member coming to light, people are pointing out Nick Carter‘s involvement with Paris Hilton‘s bruises. The allegations are a crucial part of the documentary series Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter. Paris Hilton isn’t involved in the documentary, but their relationship is examined once more by the general public.
Paris Hilton dated Nick Carter for seven months from 2003 to July 2004. In Carter’s 2013 memoir Facing the Music And Living To Talk About It, he talked negatively about their relationship, “Paris was the worst person in the world for me to hook up with. [She] fed my worst impulses as far as partying.”
In 2004, paparazzi photos of Paris Hilton with bruises emerged and people immediately accused Nick Carter of abusing the “Stars Are Blind” artist.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233) for confidential support.
Did Nick Carter give Paris Hilton bruises?
Nick Carter denied that he gave Paris Hilton the bruises. “I’ll tell you one thing: I didn’t touch her,” the singer told People in 2004. “I’m not that kind of guy. I would never do that.”
Hilton declined to press charges related to her injuries. “I’m doing okay,” she said. “I’m just so happy to be single right now.”
At the time, sources alleged to the New York Post that Carter was the one who gave Hilton the bruises. “Nick wanted to leave, Paris didn’t,” said a Hilton pal, adding, “Nick forced Paris to leave, he made her get in a cab with him.”
Friends told the outlet that Hilton was “scared to death” and added that Carter “has major anger-management issues . . . We have seen bruises on her before and asked her about them.”
In her 2020 documentary This is Paris, Hilton brought up the situation saying that five men verbally and physically assaulted her, leading to the infamous bruises photo. “We just got in an argument,” she recalled of the incident. “I was trying to leave his house and he just got really mad and was just grabbing me and pulling me. I don’t really remember most of it because I’ve had worse stuff happen.”
She continued, “I’ve been strangled, phones thrown at me, computers, and I accepted it because I almost thought it was so normal. Like, he loves me so much that he’s going this crazy. I just wanted so bad that I was willing to accept being hit or yelled at or screamed at or strangled…a lot of things.”
The feud between Paris Hilton and Kyle Richards’ family, involving Mauricio Umansky, is rooted in a business dispute that dates back to 2011.
Paris Hilton criticized Umansky for using the Hilton name to promote his show, leading to public statements from both parties.
Kyle Richards expressed her exhaustion with the ongoing family feud and a desire to avoid further drama.
Mauricio Umansky defended his actions, stating the feud was over business decisions and that he had no ill feelings towards his family.
Newsypeople – Paris Hilton and Kyle Richards’ Coachella Party Feud with Mauricio Umansky, The feud between Paris Hilton and Kyle Richards’ family, specifically Mauricio Umansky, has been a topic of discussion in the media, with the situation escalating to public attention during the Coachella Music Festival. The conflict began with Umansky’s comments on his reality show, “Buying Beverly Hills,” where he detailed his strained relationship with Rick Hilton, Paris’s father, after leaving Rick’s company over a decade ago. Umansky claimed that his contributions to the company were not recognized, leading to a rift that affected the family, particularly Kyle Richards.
Paris Hilton and Kyle Richards’ Coachella Party Feud with Mauricio Umansky
Paris Hilton responded to Umansky’s comments on social media, criticizing him for using the Hilton name to promote his show and for speaking negatively about her family, especially in the press. She emphasized her father’s reputation as a consummate gentleman who would never speak negatively about his family.
Kyle Richards, who is married to Umansky, addressed the family’s feud in an Amazon Live segment, stating that her and Umansky’s daughters had cleared up the misunderstandings between Paris and Umansky. Despite the ongoing family drama, Kyle Richards and Paris Hilton attended the Coachella Music Festival together, showcasing their friendship and musical interests. They were joined by pop star Ke$ha, and the event was marked by a blend of music and camaraderie.
Kyle Richards Weighs in on Family Drama Between Mauricio Umansky and Paris Hilton https://t.co/sCExrgPsmF
Mauricio Umansky, in response to Paris Hilton’s criticisms, defended his actions as business decisions and expressed no ill will towards the Hilton family. He highlighted his desire to take care of his family and pursue success independently 3.
The situation further complicated when Kyle Richards confirmed her split from Umansky, citing a desire to avoid bad energy and believing that the separation was beneficial for her healing process. Kathy Hilton, Paris’s mother, expressed support for the couple’s decision to separate.
Despite the family feud and the public disagreements, Paris Hilton and Kyle Richards managed to enjoy their time at Coachella, indicating that their friendship and shared interests in music can transcend personal and family conflicts. The festival provided a moment of unity and enjoyment amidst the ongoing drama.
The feud between Paris Hilton and Kyle Richards’ family, particularly with Mauricio Umansky, has been a complex issue involving personal, family, and professional dynamics. The situation has been publicly addressed and debated, with both sides expressing their views and emotions. Despite the tensions, the family members managed to find common ground and enjoy a memorable experience at Coachella, showcasing the resilience of their relationships amidst adversity.
After Kyle, 55, was seen admitting that the many cheating rumors she heard about Mauricio, 53, had chipped away at her over the years and led to insecurities, Mauricio shared his thoughts on her revelation as he also reacted to claims of having hidden their marital drama on RHOBH, weighed in on Paris Hilton, 43, calling him out, and said he deserved to be made partner at Rick Hilton‘s real estate firm.
“I don’t know what that is,” Mauricio admitted to Entertainment Tonight of his estranged wife’s concerns on March 18. “All I can tell you is that at the end of the day we were married for 29 years, we met when we were kids… I think we’ve been open and honest and I think people need to quit looking for what I always say, ‘T*ts on an ant.’”
Although he and Kyle have been accused of showing more of their marriage drama on Buying Beverly Hills than RHOBH, Mauricio said it is “not fair” to compare because RHOBH is “a completely different dynamic.”
“I’m working with these three girls all day long. I spend so much time and so many hours with them. So not only am I working with them but I’m also seeing them at home and so the conversations that are happening are totally different,” he explained, giving a nod to stepdaughter Farrah Aldjufrie, 35, and daughters Alexia Umansky, 27, and Sophia Umansky, 24, who work with him at The Agency.
There was also the matter of timing.
“Particularly in our situation, we were in the middle of rolling when all of the stuff happened with Kyle and I and the news broke and the discussions we were having, Housewives really wasn’t,” he stated. “So not super fair for people to say that about the Housewives in my opinion.”
When Mauricio was then asked about his “end goal” for his situation with Kyle, he couldn’t say.
“You got to take days at a time and sometimes when you’re looking for the end goal you don’t know what to do and life is a journey. And we are on a journey,” he shared. “You cannot control the past, we are in the present and the present will create the future. So [from] my perspective it’s really about the journey. I don’t have an end goal at this moment.”
As for Paris’ recent claim that he was using their family name to promote Buying Beverly Hills, which came after he suggested he got “f*cked” at Hilton & Hyland, Mauricio said their current family feud is “sad.”
“It’s sad that she got so upset about that, but at the end of the day, it’s two businessmen making two business decisions,” Mauricio explained, also to Entertainment Tonight. “I felt like I deserved something. I asked for something, he didn’t want to do it, and then I chose to go off on my own.”
After being denied a partner position at Hilton & Hyland, Mauricio started The Agency.
“I made that decision just to go forward with this thing. There is certainly no bad blood on my side,” he said of the past murkiness between him and Rick.
Buying Beverly Hillsseason two begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, March 22.
Like Paris Hilton saying she was “playing a character” (specifically, that of a dumb blonde) during her early to mid-00s heyday, Jennifer Lopez is the latest aughts figure to join that bandwagon. This “revelation” arrives in her documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, a companion piece to This Is Me…Now: A Love Story—itself a companion piece to This Is Me…Now the record. Her announcement of this comes about thirty minutes into the film, as she’s getting her hair styled (complete with clip-on bangs). The man “doing her up” declares, “There’s J. Lo.” Lopez confirms, “There she is.” This assertion that the alter ego of Jennifer Lopez is someone entirely different serves as a launchpad for Lopez to then narrate that the persona of “J. Lo” was a “larger-than-life character” she created to fulfill the ultimate fantasy of who she always wanted to become: rich, famous and powerful. A girl from the Bronx who done good.
As director Jason B. Bergh (who also brought us another J. Lo documentary, Halftime, in 2022) then cuts to images and footage of Lopez from that prime era of “J. Lo,” Lopez explains, “J. Lo was created back then, with those first three albums. This Is Me…Then, ‘Jenny From the Block’ and all that. In a way, she’s kind of a larger-than-life character. It was really me becoming who I always dreamt of being.” Alas, once the impossible dream/expectation becomes a reality, there’s a certain existential crisis that tends to occur. One that is unique to the world of celebrity and something that Taylor Swift spoke on in her own “intimate documentary,” Miss Americana. For Swift, the pivotal moment of her existential dread showed up at the 2016 Grammys, with the singer recalling, “I had won Album of the Year at the Grammys for a second time, which I never thought was a possibility. And I remembered thinking afterward, ‘Oh my god, that was all you wanted. Oh god, that was all you wanted, that was all you focused on.’ You get to the mountaintop and you look around and you’re like, ‘Oh god, what now?’”
For Lopez, that moment likely came with the success of her sophomore album, titled, what else, J.Lo. Released on January 23, 2001, just three days before her then-latest movie, The Wedding Planner, the chart success of the album was further complemented by the fact that The Wedding Planner would top the box office at the same time. An unprecedented coup for a woman who was very much proving her status as a triple threat: actress, singer, dancer. (Way more impressive than Lauryn Hill boasting, “Rapper-slash-actress/More powerful than two Cleopatras.) Remaining her highest-selling record to date, J.Lo did establish that larger-than-life persona Lopez refers to in Greatest Love Story Never Told. It also provided a jumping-off point for her to create entire lifestyle brands around it (similarly to Paris Hilton, who has presently branched out into cookware), from J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez to Glow by JLo—not to mention the recent establishment of her skincare line, JLo Beauty (because everyone who’s anyone has a skincare and/or makeup line now). What’s more, even before Paris Hilton tapped into her highly profitable The Simple Life “character” (which the world wasn’t officially introduced to until December of 2003), Lopez was setting the trend on what it meant to, let’s say, “become the character you always thought you could be.” The avatar of yourself that would sub in for the less glamorous version. This being part of why it’s rather ironic that one of J.Lo’s most well-known singles was titled “I’m Real.”
But, in the end, Lopez appears to want to clarify, there was nothing truly real about “J. Lo” all along. Though, like the portmanteau “Bennifer,” her personal nickname did establish another trend in shortening fellow celebrity names in an equivalent fashion (e.g., J. Law for Jennifer Lawrence). Not to mention Bennifer serving as the genesis for subsequent celebrity couple monikers, including TomKat, Brangelina, Kimye and, more recently, Traylor. Lopez herself even had another couple name with Alexander Rodriguez: J-Rod. (So much for Ben Affleck being a “special” exception for her with Bennifer.) But the artifice of Persona (that’s right, with a capital p) fortified by such names that ultimately function as distancing-from-mere-mortality alter egos seemed, by and by, too much for Lopez to live up to the pressure of. Or so she would have her audience believe in Greatest Love Story Never Told, further expounding, “This Is Me…Now is about truth. And facing the truth of who you really are and embracing that. And the truth is, I’m not the same as I was twenty years ago.” Granted, this isn’t exactly “revelatory,” as few, if any, people stay the same after the passage of two decades, but it is meant to tie into the idea that the construct of “J. Lo” never really existed.
Just as “Britney, bitch” or Paris “That’s Hot” Hilton never did. These latter two 00s personalities also appeared to suffer the same plight as Lopez when she describes, “I was always very much about show business. Put your best foot forward, don’t let them see when you’re suffering, don’t let them see when you’re hurt… Like, that’s what my life was. But then I realized that I wasn’t being kind of authentic to myself” (emphasis on the Freudian slip choice of words “kind of”—because, in the present climate, “kind of authentic” is better than full-stop inauthentic). The same epiphany eventually descended upon Hilton and Spears (finally “allowed” to be authentically herself after being freed from her oppressive and never-should-have-happened conservatorship).
And while some are still calling bullshit on J. Lo’s so-called authenticity with This Is Me…Now (see: The New York Times headline, “Jennifer Lopez and This Is Me…Now: Is She For Real?”), but it can at least be said that perhaps she’s angling closer to (some iteration of) the truth about who she really is. Or, rather, as close to “the truth” that a celebrity who’s been, for so long, larger-than-life can get. Or, as occasional J. Lo nemesis, Madonna, once put it, “I am going through the layers and revealing myself. I am on a journey, an adventure that’s constantly changing shape.” In the erstwhile J. Lo’s case, however, that shape remains consistently curvaceous.
In a series called Mondo Bullshittio, let’s talk about some of the most glaring hypocrisies and faux pas in pop culture…and all that it affects.
As though to further confirm that Mean Girls has entered into the so-called woke era, the latest development in its digital release ultimately comes as no shock. For the “slight alteration” caters to a particular person’s sensitivities, which is what life after the early twenty-first century has been all about. Pandering, bowing, capitulating, etc. Even to the very celebrities that were once so readily fed to the wolves in the era of “Lindsay Lohan supremacy.” An era that, as many know, was very short-lived once Lohan buckled under the scrutiny of child/teen fame and proceeded to pull a Miley before Miley even did. In fact, it could be argued that Lohan (in addition to Britney Spears) paved the way for women like Miley Cyrus to have their “rebellious” (read: normal reaction to their situation and lifestyle opportunities) “phase” with far less flak. Because, believe it or not, Cyrus was far less shat upon in her “shedding the Hannah Montana persona” days than Lohan or Spears in the mid-00s.
Although there were “attempts” on Lohan’s part to make a comeback (something she’s been announcing since she started to fall off after Herbie: Fully Loaded), it seemed no matter what movie she made it was 1) rather bad (even if bad in the gay-loving camp sort of way) and 2) totally mitigated by her latest drug-addled hijinks. In 2006, when the infamous “fire crotch” line that served to sting Lohan (even, when she least expected it, in 2024) came to light, it was caused by the unholy matrimony of the internet and celebrity-obsessed culture. Thus, the existence of a video like the one of Brandon Davis (who no one except Paris and Lindsay remember) calling Lohan a fire crotch could be immortalized in the annals of pop culture. But it was so much more specific than that mere “epithet,” still often used to demean the female ginger. No, Davis got extremely passionate about Lohan’s fire crotch, egged on by Paris Hilton to deliver his epic monologue on the subject while drunkenly sauntering through the streets of Hollywood after going to Hyde Lounge (the height of “seeing and being seen” in 00s LA). In fact, Davis wasn’t even naming names until Hilton goaded, “Who has a fire crotch?”
And that’s when Davis let it rip: “Lindsay Lohan has got the stinkiest, fuckin’ sweaty orange vagina anyone has ever seen. I haven’t seen it! But it shits out freckles, it’s orange and it fucking smells like diarrhea.” Elsewhere in the tirade, Davis adds, “The truth is, her movie bombed and her pussy is orange. Nobody would fuck her with a ten-foot pole” and, again, “Lindsay Lohan is a fire crotch. And she has freckles coming out of her vagina.” There’s no doubt that Lohan saw the footage of this at some point. Or was at least informed of it. Indeed, 2006 was the year of bandying insults for Paris and Lindsay, with the latter calling her a cunt on camera and then immediately taking it back to say, “Paris is my friend.” In any case, it seemed no coincidence that Lohan dyed her hair a dark shade of brown that year, almost as though to deny her ginger-ness altogether. Though, in the present, she’s obviously decided to fully embrace it by starring in a Netflix movie (yet another one) called Irish Wish (which surely has to be better than Falling For Christmas…a feat that’s not difficult to achieve). Parading that red hair of hers for good “Irish roots” measure. Perhaps if Davis ever sees the movie, he might be severely triggered again.
Just as Lohan was by the term “fire crotch” being wielded in Mean Girls 2024 by none other than Coach’s new-fangled/erstwhile Regina George, Megan Thee Stallion (who also offered her services for the lead single from the soundtrack, “Not My Fault”). The line, no doubt written by Tina Fey, comes up after Regina (Renée Rapp) falls with a major thud onstage at the Winter Talent Show (something that, of course, doesn’t happen in the original movie) and a barrage of TikTok videos commenting on the literal and metaphorical fall is unleashed. Among the commenters speaking in favor of Cady (Angourie Rice, taking on Lohan’s part) “saving the performance” is Megan Thee Stallion, who declares, “Okay so, somebody sent me this look and I was like, ‘Hot girls, we are going back to red!’ Y2K fire crotch is back!”
But, as Lohan has decreed, it apparently isn’t (even though the drama she created about the phrase being used resulted in her making far more headlines than she’s lately been accustomed to). Or at least, that “hurtful” two-word moniker isn’t…even if the look itself (for her) is. In fact, Lohan was very “disappointed” (as Ms. Norbury would say) in the use of that “slur” in the movie, taking her back to a place, emotionally speaking, that she didn’t want to revisit. Not just 2006, but also her cellblock in 2010, for it was also reported that fellow inmates would chant that nickname at her. Per a July 25, 2010 report from Intelligencer, “Lindsay Lohan has reportedly been brought to tears in jail because…inmates have been calling her ‘fire crotch.’” But hey, like the show says, “Orange is the new black.” Or maybe, like “fetch,” Lohan can’t seem to make it happen. But what she could make happen was airing her sentiments about the line out there for everyone to hear (well, everyone who’s still interested in 00s pop culture…so yeah, everyone). Except, instead of releasing a statement herself, she had her “representative” announce, “Lindsay was very hurt and disappointed by the reference in the film.”
Be that as it may, “hurt feelings” being a reason to stifle an artistic choice or a certain breed of humor is a dangerous habit to form. And yet, it is a habit that has appeared to become a “best practice” in recent years, as we’ve also seen Taylor Swift eliminate the word “fat” from her “Anti-Hero” music video and Beyoncé remove the word “spaz” from her lyrics. All of these things done pretty much instantaneously upon the expression of offense. Designed to blot out the fact that it ever happened (in true Orwellian fashion).
With the removal of Megan Thee Stallion’s “shady” comment, however, Mean Girls 2024 becomes the complete version of its overly-sanitized self—including changing “fugly slut” to “fugly cow.” Because Lohan forbid we should have any hurt feelings. And yet, even when the steps to “eradicate” the potential for such hurt occurs, most people know full well that we still live in a world of mean girls (and boys). Alas, in “girl world” (run by little boys posing as men), all the fighting continues to be “sneaky.”
Dua Lipa attends the 66th Grammy Awards. Getty Images for The Recording A
Awards season is upon us, and after a month of celebrating the best in film and television, it’s time to honor those in the recording industry. Tonight (Feb. 4), the 66th annual Grammy Awards will recognize the top artists, songs, albums and recordings of the past year, with Trevor Noah hosting the ceremony at Cypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The best and brightest in the industry always come out to celebrate the biggest night in music; tonight, performers include Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Joni Mitchell, Travis Scott, Luke Combs and Billy Joel, as well as SZA, who garnered the most nominations (a staggering nine) of any of the nominees this year. Other nominees
The 2024 Grammy Awards, which air at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, will also feature three new categories: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Pop Dance Recording.
Before the Let’s not forget about the pre-show extravaganza, though, because A-listers always bring their sartorial best when it comes to dressing for the Grammys red carpet. Below, see all the best red carpet moments from the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Kathy Hilton addressed her recent lunch date with Kyle Richardsand Morgan Wade – amid fan speculation that the two stars are more than friends. Both Morgan and Kyle have denied the rumors, though some are convinced it’s the untold chapter of Kyle’s separation from her husband, Mauricio Umansky.
Fans’ heads are still spinning over Kyle’s recent statement on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills– that she’d be willing to date a woman. Morgan, a country singer from Virginia, appeared in several episodes and got a tattoo of Kyle’s initial.
Speaking with Extra, Kathy addressed her lunch date with Kyle and Morgan.
“So, so nice, and then Morgan came by and met [my daughter] Nikki and James, her husband,” said Kathy, at the 2024 afterparty for the Golden Globes Billboard.
“And we adore her, we love her,” said Kathy, who then addressed her own stint on reality TV.
“It’s been really good except when something is edited in a way that it comes off in a different way,” she explained. “You don’t hear the entire [conversation], but you know, you sign up for these things, so, yeah, you have to expect that.”
According to Kathy, she was with her grandkids during the holidays – this included Paris’ baby daughter London.
“Oh, the best … Two of my new grandbabies, and I’m expecting another one in two months,” said the socialite. “Baron and his wife were pregnant with another little boy, so we’re going to have four boys and four girls.”
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hillsseason 13 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
There are a number of tools that your kitchen absolutely can’t do without. Sure, there’s some variation from person to person, but there are some that are simply inarguable — everyone needs a skillet and saucepan, for example. We even have a whole series dedicated to such items, and above all, practicality is the number one quality we look for. But even though function is important, it’s hard to resist a kitchen tool that hits the spot aesthetically. A little frill never hurt anybody, right?
That’s why we jump on it if we see an item that marries style and function, and apparently, so does TikTok. Just last week, a user posted a now-viral video of themselves gazing longingly at an item on a shelf in Walmart, even adding a filter to make it look like they had hearts in their eyes. We totally understand why: After all, who wouldn’t fall in love with a heart-shaped knife block set? The $49 offering is from pop culture icon Paris Hilton’s kitchen line, and it’s selling fast at Walmart (probably due to the video amassing over a million views). Here’s why you should grab it before it’s gone.
What is the Paris Hilton 10-Piece Heart-Shaped Stainless Steel Knife Block Set?
We’ve seen a ton of celebrities venture into the home and kitchen space in recent years — Drew Barrymore and Selena Gomez, just to name a couple — and Hilton’s Be An Icon collection is right up there with the best of them, according to the vastly positive reviews across all of the items. A baby pink fry pan, tea kettle, and more are included, and they’re all just as glam as one would expect from the fashionista (without the hefty price tag!).
But the knife set that the internet currently can’t get over is undoubtedly one of the best. It checks all of the boxes: It’s pink, the block is heart-shaped, and you’ll have every knife you could ever need. Seriously: There’s a chef’s knife, santoku knife, paring knife, utility knife, four steak knives, and kitchen shears — all of which are made with high-carbon, golden stainless steel. The handles, which are a glittery pink with gold detailing — are sleek and comfortable. Of course, as stunning as they are, the major showstopper is the bamboo block, which has a secure slot for each piece.
What Walmart Reviewers are Saying
You’ll be “sliving,” as Hilton would put it, once you add this knife block set to your setup. Life’s too short to own dull kitchenware, and Valentine’s Day is right around the corner — so do yourself a favor and gift it to yourself or a loved one before it sells out!
In a new interview with Romper, Hilton revealed why she’d kept her family planning under wraps – even to her own relatives. They introduced baby London to the extended Hilton clan as a Thanksgiving surprise.
“My life has been so public, so out there. I didn’t want my son coming into this world with any negative energy,” Hilton told Romper of keeping Phoenix’s imminent arrival quiet. “I’m really happy I did it that way, just for Carter and I to have that journey together without the outside world chirping in.”
The hotel heiress and lifestyle figure calls her family “the cutesy crew,” and said that she dreamed of having a daughter.
“I always imagined my mini-me, putting her in little dresses and all the mommy-and-me things we could do together,” she said. “Just having my little best friend.”
Her mother, Kathy Hilton, and sister Nicky Hilton both knew that London was on the way, but not when. The public was kept in the dark on both pregnancies, as Hilton didn’t slow her public schedule. She feared childbirth due to her past, she said, prompting the help of a surrogate for both children.
“I just have so much PTSD from what I went through as a teenager,” Hilton said. She has written in the past of sexual abuse and medical trauma that she experienced at a boarding school in Utah as a teen. “If I’m in a doctor’s office, I get a shot, anything, I will literally have a panic attack and I can’t breathe. I just knew that would not be healthy for me or the baby, growing inside of someone who has such high anxiety.”
“It’s a scary world out there, especially today. I’m just terrified when they become teenagers,” she said. She said she’d be happy to never set foot in a club again, and would keep the kids far away from the entertainment industry if she has any say at all.
“I’m hoping that they want to be scientists,” she said of her ambitions for London and Phoenix.
Hilton calls this stage of life her “mom era.”
“This is my best era yet,” she said. The 42-year-old sees the about-face from her past antics, and she loves it.
“I used to look at my friends who’d be like, ‘Oh, I have to go home to my kids and my husband,’ like, ‘You’re so lame. This is so fun. I can’t imagine being like that,’” she said. “Now I’m one of those boring people, and I couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t imagine it any other way.”
