[imagesource: Steve Marcus/Reuters]

It’s been roughly 17 years since Paris Hilton’s infamous sex tape was publicly released just before the premiere of The Simple Life.

In case you missed The Simple Life, it was a reality TV show where Hilton, and fellow debutant Nicole Richie, tried to work on farms or live with the common folk, often failing miserably.

The show contributed heavily to what Hilton refers to in her new YouTube Originals documentary This is Paris, as “this brand and this persona and this character” which she has been “stuck with…ever since”.

In anticipation of the release of the new doccie, a number of unknown facts about Hilton’s life have come to light, including her views on the sex tape that went viral over the course of the two years after its release in 2003.

The tape was filmed in 2001, almost 20 years ago.

Hilton was 18 when it was made with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, reports Hollywood Life. She says that she made the tape because she “wanted to make him happy”.

“That was a private moment with a teenage girl not in her right head space,” she said about the tape while reportedly holding back tears. “But everyone was watching it and laughing, like it’s something funny.”

As she points out, if the tape had been released today, it would have been received very differently. As we evolve as a society, we’ve become aware of the criminal nature of ‘revenge porn’ and the implications of releasing sex tapes without the permission of the people involved.

“And I just remember him pulling out the camera,” she added. “And he was kind of pressuring me into it. It was like being electronically raped.”

Contrary to popular belief, Hilton says that she didn’t release the tape herself.

Salomon filed a lawsuit against the company, Kahatani Ltd, that distributed the tape after its release and against the Hilton family, who he accused of ruining his reputation by suggesting he exploited Hilton.

Hilton also filed a lawsuit against Kahatani Ltd.

Image: YouTube Originals

Then, the following year, Salomon started distributing the tape himself, with a new title, One Night in Paris, raking in $10 million for the video in the first year. She didn’t receive a cent.

“That’s one thing that really pisses me off when I hear it, because I never, ever received one dollar from that video,” she told Marie Claire in 2017. “That is the last thing that I would want out there.”

The sex tape has entered into popular culture. You’ll often see references to it in films as something that aspiring celebs consider to help them launch their careers.

It might be worth taking a step back to consider the fact that it contained explicit sexual footage of a teen, who says she felt pressured into being filmed.

This is Paris will debut on YouTube on September 14.

[source:hollywoodlife]