Paris Hilton leaves behind her media-crafted character and embraces music and activism in an intimate, revealing documentary
For years, Paris Hilton was viewed through a single lens: eccentric heiress, reality-TV star, and a symbol of fame built on excess and provocation. An image she now acknowledges she created as a defence mechanism—one that eventually eclipsed any other possible reading of her public identity.
That narrative begins to fracture with ‘Infinite Icon: A Virtual Memoir‘, the documentary arriving in cinemas on 30 January. The film follows Hilton through the recording of her electro-pop album Infinite Icon and the preparation of a one-off concert at the Hollywood Palladium, but its real weight lies offstage: an honest reassessment of her past and the consequences of living for decades inside a character.
“I developed that version of myself as armour,” Hilton explains. “I had been through very difficult experiences, and when The Simple Life happened, I didn’t realise that role would define me for so many years.” Constant exposure and repetition ultimately fixed a public image that bore little resemblance to her emotional reality.
At 44, Hilton is not seeking to erase that era, but to expand it. The documentary presents a more reflective figure, shaped by her relationship with music and, above all, by an activism that has become central to her present. The great-granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton speaks candidly about the physical and emotional abuse she suffered in residential youth facilities during her teens—an experience that left a lasting mark.
Rather than stopping at personal testimony, Hilton has turned pain into political action. In recent years, she has campaigned for stronger federal oversight of youth care programmes and worked alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to promote the Defiance Act, legislation designed to protect victims of deepfake pornography. “I knew I had to use my voice,” she says, noting that her involvement has helped pass 15 state laws and two federal initiatives.
Now a mother of two young children with her husband, entrepreneur Carter Reum, Hilton describes this process as the most important chapter of her life. ‘Infinite Icon: A Virtual Memoir‘ premieres on 30 January in the United States, Spain and the UK—where it will screen at ODEON cinemas—marking a turning point in how the public looks at, and listens to, Paris Hilton.
