Paris Hilton says her mom changes the subject when she talks about her alleged boarding school abuse. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)
Paris Hilton says her parents haven’t yet watched her documentary about the alleged abuse she suffered at a boarding school for troubled teens.
The entrepreneur, who married Carter Reum earlier this month, spoke about the situation in her Peacock series Paris In Love, which is about the “Stars Are Blind” singer planning her star-studded wedding. In a conversation with her brother, Barron Hilton, she talked about her YouTube documentary series This Is Paris, in which she opened up for the first time about her experience at the Provo Canyon School.
Though the school claims to help teenagers battling mental health issues, it has faced years of abuse allegations from previous students. In her documentary series, Hilton said the school was a “torture camp,” where she was “verbally, physically, emotionally, psychologically abused on a daily basis.”
Hilton, whose parents Kathy and Richard Hilton sent her to the school in the ‘90s after she acted out while living in New York City, told Barron that she and her parents have not spoken about what she discussed in This Is Paris, and that neither have watched the series.
“Every time I bring up Provo, my mom changes the subject,” she told the cameras. “I don’t want to hurt her feelings, I don’t want to upset her.”
When Barron asked if she would want to sit down with her family to discuss her experiences, Hilton said that they “don’t like talking about things.”
“Mom is just so fun and chill, she doesn’t really like to get serious,” Hilton explained. “I’ve never really had a serious, deep conversation about things like that. She doesn’t like to think about that. She just likes to be happy. I don’t want to kill her vibe.”
Since opening up about Provo, Hilton has testified against the school, appearing in front of the Utah Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee in February to share her experiences.
“My name is Paris Hilton, I am an institutional abuse survivor and I speak today on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently in residential care facilities across the United States,” she began her testimony. “For the past 20 years, I have had a recurring nightmare where I’m kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, strip-searched, and locked in a facility. I wish I could tell you that this haunting nightmare was just a dream, but it is not.”
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She added that the school forced her to take medication, as well as submit the students to “continuous torture,” which included physical and emotional abuse.
“I think it was their goal to break us down,” Hilton explained in her testimony. “They wanted to instill fear in the kids so we’d be too scared to disobey them.”
Hilton is now working to get Provo Canyon School shut down.
In a statement following the controversy, the Provo Canyon School said, “Provo Canyon School was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000. We therefore cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to that time.”
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