“They were physically abusive, hitting and strangling us.”
Paris Hilton made a shocking allegation on Saturday, saying she suffered abuse as a teenager.
Ahead of the release of her documentary “This is Paris,” the socialite, 39, claimed she was physically, mentally and emotionally abused at a boarding school, but had kept it a secret until now.
“I buried my truth for so long,” Hilton told People. “But I’m proud of the strong woman I’ve become. People might assume everything in my life came easy to me, but I want to show the world who I truly am.”
The “Simple LIfe” vet revealed her wild lifestyle as a teen living in New York caused her parents to be concerned.
“It was so easy to sneak out and go to clubs and parties,” she recalled. “My parents were so strict that it made me want to rebel. They’d [punish me] by taking away my cell phone, taking away my credit card, but it didn’t work. I would still go out on my own.”
Her parents finally had enough and sent Paris to a variety of boarding schools, where she eventually wound up at Provo Canyon School in Utah for 11 months.
“I knew it was going to be worse than anywhere else,” Paris said. “It was supposed to be a school, but [classes] were not the focus at all. From the moment I woke up until I went to bed, it was all day screaming in my face, yelling at me, continuous torture.”
In a statement to the news source, Provo Canyon School said, “Originally opened in 1971, Provo Canyon School was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000. We therefore cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to this time.”
“The staff would say terrible things,” Paris continued. “They were constantly making me feel bad about myself and bully me. I think it was their goal to break us down. And they were physically abusive, hitting and strangling us. They wanted to instill fear in the kids so we’d be too scared to disobey them.”
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At one point, Paris claimed, she was forced into solitary confinement after another student told the staff she was planning on escaping from the school.
“I was having panic attacks and crying every single day,” she added. “I was just so miserable. I felt like a prisoner and I hated life.”
When she tried to let her parents know of the alleged abuse, she said the administration would intervene.
“They would grab the phone or rip up letters I wrote telling me, ‘No one is going to believe you.’ And the staff would tell the parents that the kids were lying. So my parents had no idea what was going on.”
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In 1999, after turning 18, Paris left the school, headed back to New York, and kept the experience to herself.
“I was so grateful to be out of there, I didn’t even want to bring it up again,” she said. “It was just something I was ashamed of and I didn’t want to speak of it.”
But now she’s ready to let her family, and the world, know about it.
“It feels like my nightmare is over,” Paris explained. “And I’m going to watch the movie with my parents. I think it will be good for us, but emotional too. There are no more secrets.”
“This Is Paris” will stream for free beginning September 14 on her official YouTube channel.
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