Paris Hilton felt ‘purposefully humiliated’ during 2007 David Letterman interview: ‘It was very cruel and mean’
Socialite said that Letterman had agreed not to question her about her prison sentence during the interview
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Your support makes all the difference.Paris Hilton has said that she felt “humiliated” during a 2007 interview with David Letterman, which has recently resurfaced.
Footage from the encounter went viral in February, with critics calling out the “disgusting” interview in which Letterman questioned the socialite about her 23 days behind bars for parole violation.
During his sit-down with Hilton, Letterman began with questions about life in New York City and Los Angeles before shifting gears, asking her: “How did you like being in jail?” and repeatedly questioning her about her time in prison.
After vaguely answering the questions, a clearly uncomfortable Paris said that she “didn’t really want to talk about” the “very traumatic experience”.
Appearing on her This is Paris podcast, Hilton said that the interview had been her first in months and that she had agreed to take part to discuss her new fragrance, with her prison sentence “off limits” for discussion.
“I felt like it was a safe place because I’d been going on Letterman for so many years,” she said. “He’d always have fun with me and joke around, but I thought he would keep his word on this and I was wrong.”
Read more: Paris Hilton says Britney Spears’s conservatorship is ‘not fair’
Saying that the presenter was “pushing me and pushing me" to talk about it, she continued: “I was just getting so uncomfortable and I was so upset... Just being up there, it was like he was just purposefully trying to humiliate me.
“It was just very cruel and very mean,” she said, saying that she told Letterman to stop and that he had “crossed a line”.
Hilton claimed that Letterman sent her a crate of wine to apologise and later told the reality star that he was “terribly sorry” when she returned to his show.
“I found out afterward I had offended you. I felt horrible about it because I’m not here to make enemies, honestly,” Letterman said. “So I called you, and you took the call, which I thought was very nice of you, and now you’re back and thank God, and I’m terribly sorry.”
Last week, Hilton said that she’d been reconsidering her relationship with the media in the mid-2000s following the release of Framing Britney Spears, a documentary about the singer’s conservatorship and treatment by the tabloid press.
“I’ve been reading all of these articles coming out where they were just saying, like, Britney, Paris and a group of us were treated so unfairly and just like, this really misogynistic view and just being very cruel and mean and making fun of us,” Hilton said.
The Independent has contacted Letterman’s representatives for comment.
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