A Difficult Decision?: Paris Hilton Details How She Was Pressured Into Filming A Sex Tape With Rick Salomon

Benjamin Imiewanlan
Paris Hilton
instagram | parishilton

New mom and star of The Simple Life, Paris Hilton, has given further details about her dark past with her ex-boyfriend. Her forthcoming book reveals how she was pressured into filming an adult tape in 2001.

Paris: The Memoir

Paris The Memoir book cover
Amazon | Paris Hilton

The 42-year-old reality TV star has just given fans an insight into her forthcoming book, Paris: The Memoir. In the extract of her new book, published in The Times, Paris Hilton claims she was only 18 years old when she began dating an "arrogant" man.

Weird and Uncomfortable for Her

While detailing her experience with her former boyfriend, Rick Salomon, Paris says she was "uncomfortable" with making the tape. She writes in the book, "He had often said it was something he did with other women, but I felt weird and uncomfortable about it."

The Threat

"I always told him, 'I can't. It's too embarrassing.'" The reality star has always claimed to have never wanted to make the video, but Salomon threatened to find a replacement if she didn't have sex with him on camera.

She writes, "He told me if I wouldn't do it, he could easily find someone who would, and that was the worst thing I could think of — to be dumped by this grown man because I was a stupid kid who didn't know how to play grown-up games."

'This Is Paris' Documentary

Paris Hilton's This is Paris
youtube | Paris Hilton

In her 2020 documentary, This is Paris, discussing her past, Paris compares her ordeal with Salomon to being "electronically raped." According to the star in the documentary, "It was my first real relationship. Eighteen. I was so in love with him and I wanted to make him happy." Adding, "and I just remember him pulling out the camera. And he was kind of pressuring me into it. It was like being electronically raped."

Same Story, Different Reaction

Still, in the documentary, she shares her view on how things would have been different if her 2001 video had been released today. In her words, she says, "If that happened today, it would not be the same story at all, but they made me the bad person. I did something bad...I was just so lost and desperate for love that I found the worst possible person."

Out of Mind, Out of Sight — The Reverse

She explains in her new book and in the past documentary that she didn't have the courage to face what she was about to do with Salomon; she had herself drugged and intoxicated. Paris admits to taking Quaaludes — a hypnotic sedative drug — prior to her and Salomon shooting the video.

1 Night in Paris

Paris Hilton and Rick Salomon
PageSix | Paris Hilton

The 2001 adult film by Rick Salomon involving himself and Paris Hilton would forever linger in the mind of the reality star. After their breakup, in 2004 Salomon went on to release the sex tape, naming it 1 Night in Paris, which went on to become a heartbreaking nightmare for Paris Hilton.

Thought of Losing Everything

Paris Hilton
MamaMia | Netflix

When the video became public, Hilton was just a budding TV star, and her The Simple Life show had just kicked off. Recounting how she felt in that moment, "I felt like my life was over, and in many ways it was. Certainly, the career I had envisioned was no longer possible."

Adding, "everything I wanted my brand to be, the trust and respect I was trying to rebuild with my parents, the sliver of self-worth I'd been able to recover - all that was instantly in ruins."

Mean Comments

If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all
Giphy | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

She felt the media was mean to her when referring to people's comments about what had happened. "When it happened, people were so mean about it to me. The way that I was spoken about on nightly talk shows and the media, to see things with my family, was just heartbreaking," the heiress said.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Trauma affects everybody
Giphy | GIPHY News

Speaking with Vanity Fair Cocktail Hour, Live! in 2021, Paris refers to the aftermath of the video release being traumatic for her. In her words, the reality star says, "It still gives me post-traumatic stress disorder to talk about it."

A Supposed Private Experience

Trying to hold back tears while speaking to Vanity, she remembers the incident and says, "It was a private experience between two people. You love someone, you trust someone and to have your trust betrayed like that and for the whole world to be watching and laughing … It was even more hurtful to me to have these people think that I did this on purpose — that killed me."

She Begged

Paris Hilton
Flickr | Milken Institute

In her book, she refers to Salomon as "Scum," she claims she begged him not to release the tape. But, as history can tell, Salomon failed to hear her plea not to release it, which made her feel like her "life was over."

His "Right to Sell"

Rick Salomon
Getty | Jeff Kravitz

Paris also mentions his response to her plea in the book: "He said he had every right to sell something that belonged to him — something that had a lot of financial value." She also writes, "More value than my privacy, obviously. My dignity. My future. Shame, loss and stark terror swept over me."

Her Parent's Reaction to It

Paris Hilton
Giphy

Recounting how she remembers the breaking news of the video becoming public, Hilton writes, "My mom just crumpled into bed and stayed there." For her dad, she wrote, "My dad, red-faced and furious, worked the phones, calling lawyers, calling spin doctors, trying to help me marshal any hope of damage control."

Role Model

Still speaking on how she felt after the release of the sex tape with Vanity, Paris talked about how she felt disconnected from the people she looked up to. "I had always looked up to these amazing women like Princess Diana and I just felt like when he did that to me, [he] took that all away from me and people would never look at me the same," said the supermodel.

Owning Her Mistake

I really screwed up
Giphy | VH1

Nineteen years after Salomon released the video, Paris is over it, owning her mistake and learning to move on from it. She says, "I don't remember that much about the night he wanted to make a videotape while we made love. But I did it. I have to own that. I knew what he wanted, and I went with it. The truth is, I wanted to be alive in a sensual way. I wanted to feel like a woman who's comfortable in her own skin."

Sue and Be Sued

After Salomon released the sex tape in 2004, he sued Paris Hilton for defamation after she disapproved of the leaked video. Paris eventually counter-sued over the tape's release. They both settled the case out of court in 2005, and Hilton was awarded up to $400,000.

A Forever Regret

Speaking in an interview with The Allbright, Paris talks about regret. She says, "The tape is something that I will regret for the rest of my life."

She Just Welcomed Her First Child

Paris Hilton
instagram | parishilton

While Paris Hilton announced her forthcoming book, she became a new mom earlier this year. Paris Hilton and her husband, Carter Reum, welcome their new son, Phoenix, together.