Twitter Misses the Old Paris Hilton

Socialite, Paris Hilton, great-granddaughter of the legendary hotelier Conrad Hilton, was to the early and mid 2000s what her former BFF, Kim Kardashian is to today.  For a time, Paris Hilton was considered the “it girl” of the social scene and spent a lot of her free time in bars and clubs partying with celebrities such as Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.  Hilton rose to mainstream fame in 2003 when she and fellow socialite, Nicole Richie, starred in their own reality TV series on FOX, The Simple Life.  The show featured Hilton and Richie as they attempted to work average to low paying jobs.  Hilton gained popularity for her humorous ditzy persona; however, Hilton has since admitted that she “chose to play a character.”  According to sources, “The Paris we saw on television was staged for the cameras, as the program played into what we thought she was like: just another spoiled rich girl. She gave us someone to hate.” Fortunately for Hilton, her reality TV acting skills would eventually lead to scripted roles and in the spring of 2005 she starred in the horror film, House of Wax.

As Hilton’s star continued to rise, she seemed determined to prove that she possessed talents other than simply being famous.  In 2006, she released her self-titled debut album which featured the single, “Stars Are Blind” which became a worldwide hit.  However, even with a hit single and TV show, many people were still not convinced that she was actually worth all of the attention she was receiving.  Shortly after the release of her album, Hilton ran into some legal issues when she was arrested and charged for driving under the influence.  As a result, Hilton’s license was suspended and she was forced to complete 36 months of probation.  However, instead of learning from her mistake, Hilton’s legal troubles only worsened and by 2007 she had been sentenced to 45 days in jail. While the remainder of the 2000’s first decade marked Hilton’s slow decline from the public eye, MTV brought her on board in 2008 for another reality show, Paris Hilton’s My New BFF.  The show, which aired for two seasons, chronicled male and female contestants as they competed for the ultimate title of being Paris Hilton’s BFF (best friend forever). The show was successful enough to be picked up internationally and spin-offs were created in the United Kingdom and Dubai.

However, by 2011 it was even more apparent that Hilton’s time in the spotlight was almost over.  When the Oxygen network aired yet another reality series featuring Hilton, it received poor ratings and lasted only eight episodes.  The New York Times said Paris “is an attractive woman with proven talent for marketing and self-promotion, though as a reality heroine she seems a little passé — a Sony Walkman in an iPod era, a Friendster in the age of Facebook or, to put it in context, a single-process blonde in a triple-process world”, followed by she “appears to have plenty of boyfriends, present and ex. Paparazzi still snap her picture. But it’s hard to see how she can recapture the kind of audience she enjoyed in her heyday – even by streaming her premiere live on Facebook.”

After the show’s cancellation, Hilton took a hiatus from the public eye and used her time away to get her act together.  Now 33-years-old, Hilton has started several successful business ventures including a footwear line, a handbag line, and her popular self titled fragrance.  To date, Hilton has released 17 fragrances which have brought in $2 billion in sales over the years. According to Hilton her brand “is one of the best celebrity fragrances out there.”  Hilton has also inked a deal with famous hip-hop record label, Cash Money Records and has plans on releasing her sophomore album.  While her personal growth is admirable, it’s always  ad when the fun friend grows up and suddenly isn’t quite as much fun anymore.  Although Hilton hasn’t totally fallen into obscurity, she is no longer has a daily media presence and things just aren’t the same. Here are five tweets from fans who miss the old Paris Hilton.

5.

https://twitter.com/GetYaMINAJOn/status/331255262851784705

Whether or not Paris Hilton needs another show is debatable.  With so many other reality TV shows offerings now available, it is possible that even Paris Hilton wouldn’t be able to compete with the likes of The Real Housewives and the Kardashians.

4.

https://twitter.com/adamsuxxx/status/206119775028523009

Anyone who thinks Paris Hilton is “old” must have been young enough to count their age on ten fingers when Hilton was in her prime. Nevertheless, Hilton has definitely outgrown her drunk every weekend phase, leaving young party animals everywhere with one less role model.

3.

Kim Kardashian is making me miss the relatively benign annoyance of Paris Hilton.

— Whitney Dineen (@WhitneyDineen) November 13, 2014

Not so long ago, Kim Kardashian was nothing more than Paris Hilton’s quiet friend/assistant where her tasks including organizing Paris’ closet. Their relationship began to dissolve when Kim K started carving her own path to the top, and Kim attempted to distance herself from her personal assistant past.  However, the two have made a mends and both continue to pursue separate business ventures.

2.

Never thought that someone would make me MISS Paris Hilton, but alas…

— you (@MissZindzi) November 12, 2014

Is this another shot at Kim K? Or, is there some other socialite/person who is famous for no reason whose behavior is reminiscent of Hilton’s? While many people couldn’t stand Paris Hilton during her prime, there seems to be quite a few people who would trade some of today’s celebrities bring back the 2003-2007 version of Paris Hilton.

1.

does anyone else miss watching paris hilton insult innocent farm folk on the simple life or

— jo 𓃶 (@evilvalley) November 7, 2014

During The Simple Life, Paris and Nicole would often accidentally insult their temporary co-workers. While many people found their interactions problematic, fans continued to tune in every week to watch the pair of friends attempt to live simpler lives.  With the number of tweets expressing their nostalgic feelings for Hilton, I think it’s safe to say that @gracelessharry isn’t alone in missing Paris Hilton and The Simple Life.

 (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

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