At 40, Paris Hilton is Still the Queen of the Party

Photo by Ellen von Unwerth.

Welcome to Thirstory, where we whet your appetite with pages from the Interview archive that were almost too hot to print. This week, we’re hitting Les Deux like it’s 2007 and popping a bottle to celebrate Paris Hilton, the Queen of the Party on her 40th birthday by revisiting her February 2006 and February 2008 features. 

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A truth stranger than fiction? Paris Hilton celebrates her 40th birthday today. The heiress-turned model-turned TV personality has been a pretty pink fixture in pop culture from the early aughts—so much so that she seemingly hasn’t aged a single day. After starring on The Simple Life in 2003, the celebutante made it clear her ambitions far exceeded the small screen. In five years time, the socialite packed her resume with clothing, shoe, and hair extensions lines, a full-length album, acting credits in films like House of Wax and Raising Helen, and was even gracious enough to drive Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears around Hollywood in her spare time. 

Photos by Larry Sultan.

Speaking to her OG BFF Nicole Richie for this magazine in 2008, Richie told Hilton, “I think you’ve proved so many people wrong, because a lot of people predicted you would come and go, but you’ve really created a brand.” The “Stars are Blind” singer, then 27, agreed, “I know. That’s why it really annoys me—it’s such a big misconception when people are like, ‘Oh, she doesn’t work.’ I’m traveling around the globe constantly. And I’m not stupid like I was on [The Simple Life].” 13 years later, Hilton is now at the helm of a billion-dollar empire and if she’s one thing, it’s certainly not stupid. At 40, the age-defying icon, as she would like to say, is “sliving” (slaying and living life to the fullest) and is known today as a world-class DJ, master perfumer, and inventor of the selfie. She’s also a Juicy Couture connoisseur, gloves tryer-oner, humanitarian, documentarian, a purveyor of catchphrases (“That’s hot”), and so much more. And if that’s not sliving folks, tell me what is.