Crime to Pay for Paris Hilton? Hotel Heiress Offered $1 M for Interview
At least for the moment, it looks like crime may not pay for Paris Hilton. Reportedly offered between $750,000 and $1 million for her first post-incarceration interview after she is released from jail next week, the hotel heiress known for her party girl lifestyle has apparently managed to botch the deal.
News of the high-priced planned interview with NBC leaked out yesterday, after Hilton turned down a less-lucrative $100,000 deal offered by ABC, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Major television networks routinely deny–as NBC did in Hilton’s case–that they pay for news interviews, the Times writes. But, according to network sources, there are ways to maintain deniability on the subject while nonetheless providing compensation to news subjects. “Striking a production deal with the heiress could have helped the news division land the first interview with her without having to technically pay her,” the article explains. The network declined to say whether negotiations continue.
Hilton was jailed earlier this month for repeatedly violating her probation on an alcohol-related driving offense. Her incarceration took place in a media circus–particularly after she was initially released by the Los Angeles County sheriff’s office to home confinement, despite a judge’s order that this not occur. Reincarcerated a few days later, she had a hysterial outbreak in the courtroom before being returned to jail, but reportedly has since tried to learn from the experience.
In a telephone interview, she told E! News this week “I’m so much more grateful for everything that I have, even just to have a pillow at night or food,” reports the Times, noting that Hilton also characterized the media as “mean” in its portrayal of her but said she hopes to “use my fame in a good way.”
