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Is Paris Hilton a Role Model for Girls?

By Ercan Ersoy,
Reuters
Posted: 2008-03-28 07:57:44
ISTANBUL, March 27 (March 28) - Paris Hilton, the celebrity and hotel heiress who spent a stint in jail last year, said on Thursday she sees herself as a role model for young women as she prepared to judge a contest to crown Miss Turkey.

Hilton, who will sit on a jury to select Miss Turkey 2008, said she valued not only beauty but also "good heart" when looking at the contestants' attributes.

"This is my first time judging anything like this," she told Reuters. "I'm going to look at how the girls carry themselves, what they look like, the way they dress and what they say."

It might seem ironic that Hilton, 27, sees herself as a role model and is judging what other women will say about their lives and futures. She starred in U.S. reality TV show "The Simple Life" portraying herself as a rich girl overcome by the boring routine of daily, middle-class life.

Hilton earned a lot of unwanted publicity in 2003 after an amateur sex video of her hit the Internet, and spent three weeks in a Los Angeles last year in a drunken driving case.

But her name is used to sell a host of products around the world and she is followed by paparazzi.

Hilton said 90 percent of stories about her in the media are "complete lies," and she blamed the numerous bloggers on the Internet for spreading misinformation.

"I don't pay attention to lies because I am a good person, I work very hard and I've built this empire on my own. I think this is an inspiration for a lot of girls out there."

Asked if she was happy to be seen as a role model by girls, Hilton said: "Yes."

Hilton, whose grandfather Barron Hilton decided to donate 97 percent of his $2.3 billion wealth to charity, said she did not have any hard feelings about his decision, which many presumed would drastically reduce her future inheritance.

"It won't affect me anyway," she said. "My grandfather is an incredible man. He is very generous. And what he is doing is amazing."

Hilton's latest project is a show on MTV in which people will compete to be her friend. "Paris Hilton's My New BFF" (best friend forever) is set to air on the U.S. cable network later this year.

"I obviously have a lot of friends already, but I just thought it would make great TV show," she said. "You know, most of my friends are from Hollywood. They are kind a jaded a little bit. We are going to be meeting people from all around the world."

Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-28 07:13:26
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Recent Comments

1 - 10 of 110
110 comments

cjdnpfl1 12:27:16 PM May 17 2008

role model. if you dont know how to be and your family didnt help you you got real problems.

cjdnpfl1 12:17:11 PM May 17 2008

paris is working. was she pregnant at 14? she is respectful to her family.etc. etc. etc. also i like the way her mother says put some conditioner in your hair and give yourself a facial when she is on t.v. she knows whats important in life. my mother never told me that. paris mom sounds like an awesome mom.

cjdnpfl1 12:17:11 PM May 17 2008

paris is working. was she pregnant at 14? she is respectful to her family.etc. etc. etc. also i like the way her mother says put some conditioner in your hair and give yourself a facial when she is on t.v. she knows whats important in life. my mother never told me that. paris mom sounds like an awesome mom.

rev0luti0n99 09:37:57 PM Apr 03 2008

I told you society was doomed ...

lsubabiebear 09:11:38 AM Mar 31 2008

why is everybody getting so fired up over something we could control if we didn't feed into the situation like society does?

diamondcleigh 09:10:07 AM Mar 31 2008

here piggy piggy piggy..

diamondcleigh 09:09:10 AM Mar 31 2008

here piggy piggy piggy....

anniebrowneyes 08:02:49 AM Mar 31 2008

Trash is trash. You can dress it up, give it money, cars and fancy clothes but it's still trash. As far as a role model - give me a break. This is the kind of girl who my daughter would not have been allowed to associate with back in junior high or high school. Oh, wait a minute, Paris didn't graduate from high school, did she? Ooops......what was I saying about trash? I blame it all on the parents.

bro0klyn59 06:39:05 AM Mar 31 2008

paris hilton a role model for young women ? hummm , ok , if you young women out there wanna be a pig , make porno movies , hang out with brittany spears and flash your " monte carlo " to the world , spend time in jail I say , go for it !!!!

however , I believe most parents do not have the millions upon millions to fund your " role modeling " paris hilton .

if paris hilton believes she's a role model , I say then porn star linda lovelace should,ve been a school teacher .

how embarrassing !!!!

jovaninaiken 04:05:05 AM Mar 31 2008

You want role models for girls? Look at Barbra Striesand, Linda Ronstandt, Scarlett Johannson and Sally Fields. Those are real role models for girls.

As for Paris Hilton, she isn't a role model for girls. She is a role model for boys.

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