Paris Hilton has said she was left in tears after she appeared on the cover of Playboy in photos she hadn’t given the publication permission to use.
The Hilton hotel heiress, 42, has opened up about the incident in her new biography Paris: The Memoir.
In it, the socialite claimed she was approached by Playboy founder and editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner who offered Hilton a seven-figure sum to star in the magazine.
But Hilton – who recently welcomed a son, Pheonix Barron, with her husband Carter Reum via surrogate – claimed she turned the opportunity down as she was worried about her reputation following her infamous sex tape scandal.
She recalled how the late editor-in-chief offered her “more and more money” to star, promising her: “I wouldn’t have to be totally naked, just topless. And then saying, I didn’t have to be topless, just sheer. And then saying I could wear whatever lingerie I wanted.”
Hilton went on: “Even when he offered seven figures, I turned it down, because I knew my mom would lose her mind, and because I had already been branded as a sl*t after the sex tape. I felt like a Playboy pictorial would just cement that in people’s minds.”
But just four years later in 2005, Hilton did feature on Playboy’s front cover under the guise of her winning Sex Star of the Year Award. The magazine used a picture from an “old test shoot” taken by a female photographer for the image. The nature of the feature meant the magazine could claim her appearance was “news” and not a “pictorial” shoot.
In the wake of the cover, Paris recalled that her mother Kathy and father Richard were “p****d” – adding she “cried” at seeing it.
She said she didn’t confront Hefner – because at the time “you just didn’t do that.”
It comes after Hilton was hailed a “comrade” after being spotted at a picket line outside the BBC as journalists went on strike to defend local radio stations.
Ms Hilton smiled at members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) as she left Broadcasting House in London on Thursday, after speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour to promote her book.
Susana Mendonca, an NUJ representative for BBC Radio London, who was campaigning against planned cuts to local radio stations, described the moment as the “most surprising picketing experience ever”.
“We were surprised she crossed our picket lines,” Ms Mendonca told the PA news agency.
“I think this is the most surprising picketing experience that I’ve ever had.
“We didn’t expect to see Paris Hilton, but we wanted to see if we could get her support.”
A colleague who was striking with Ms Mendonca asked Ms Hilton if she supported local radio.
“She looked back and smiled at us, so I’ll take that as a yes,” Ms Mendonca said.
“I didn’t speak to her, but I waved my flag and she looked back at our flag before giving a smile.”
Twitter user @rosiehuz posted a photo of Ms Hilton smiling at onlookers as she left the BBC’s London headquarters.
“That’s hot. Comrade Paris Hilton on the BBC NUJ picket line this morning in London (yes it’s really her),” she tweeted.
Video posted to the NUJ’s Twitter account showed Ms Hilton in a navy blue dress and sunglasses.
