Today, the world is more forgiving about certain kinds of “leaked” tapes and scandalous photo hacks. We even saw renowned gossip blogger Perez Hilton apologize about posting elicit photos of Jennifer Lawrence in 2014 amidst “an onslaught of furious criticism that included being labelled a ‘rapist’ and ‘sex offender,'” according to News Corp Australia. 2004 was a wildly different online climate — one where shamed celebs were thrown into the trenches by notoriously catty bloggers and teased into submission. Paris Hilton was one of those celebrities.
Paris’s life was shattered in 2004 when her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon leaked a tape of one of the pair’s intimate romps. In the Netflix documentary The American Meme (via USA Today), the hotel heiress spoke about how the leak made her “literally” want “to die at some points.”
“It was like being raped,” she said (via USA Today). “It felt like I’d lost part of my soul and been talked about in such cruel and mean ways … I was like, ‘I just don’t want to live,’ because I thought everything was taken away from me.”
Needless to say, it’d be pretty nasty if then-BFF Nicole Richie screened Paris’ illicit video at a party meant to celebrate her 2005 Saturday Night Live hosting gig, right? Yet, that’s exactly what the tabloids claim triggered the dynamic duo’s falling out (though, according to People, representatives from Nicole’s camp deny it). Regina George, is that you?
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