Paris Hilton claimed staff members at Utah’s Provo Canyon School would forcefully “perform cervical exams” on her and other female students.
“Very late at night, this would be around like 3 or 4 in the morning, they would take myself and other girls into this room and they would perform medical exams,” Hilton, 41, claimed in a New York Times article published Tuesday.
She further alleged that it “wasn’t even with a doctor” but rather “it was a couple of different staff members who would have us lay on the table and put their fingers inside of us.”
As her voice quavered during the video interview, the socialite continued, “And I don’t know what they were doing, but it was definitely not a doctor. And it was really scary, and it’s something that I really had blocked out for many years.”
She continued, “But it’s coming back all the time now, and I think about it. And now, looking back as an adult, that was definitely sexual abuse.”
Reps for Provo Canyon did not immediately respond for comment.
The “Simple Life” star also detailed her horrifying experience on Twitter, writing that she was “forced to lie on a padded table,” spread her legs and submit to a “cervical exam.”
“I cried while they held me down & said, ‘No!’ They just said, ‘Shut up. Be quiet. Stop struggling or you’ll go to Obs,’” Hilton wrote, adding, “It’s important to open up about these painful moments so I can heal & help put an end to this abuse.”
Hilton has continuously spoken out about her time at the controversial boarding school in the past, publicly advocating for the type of facilities that Hilton attended to be reformed.
When she was 16 years old, Rick and Kathy Hilton sent their oldest daughter to Provo Canyon School in Utah due to her rebellious nature. She was there for 11 months before being brought back home.
In 2020, the “Stars Are Blind” artist released the documentary “The Is Paris,” painting a larger picture of her troubled youth and traumatic experience at the boarding school.
“I knew it was going to be worse than anywhere else,” Paris said of the Utah school, adding, “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.”
Paris spoke of her struggles at the school alongside three of her former classmates who corroborated the heiress’ claims of abuse. The now-successful businesswoman shared in the documentary that the attendees were force-fed medication, held down by restraints as punishment and sometimes tossed into solitary confinement for as long as “20 hours a day.”
“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,” she said.
The seemingly hellish experience Paris had at the school ended when she turned 18 in 1999, and she headed back to New York, refusing to speak of her experience until recent years.
“I was so grateful to be out of there, I didn’t even want to bring it up again. It was just something I was ashamed of and I didn’t want to speak of it.”
The “House of Wax” actress teamed up with Unsilenced.org and Breaking Code Silence in May to urge federal action against these facilities, speaking alongside 200 other survivors in Washington, DC.
Paris has worked with lawmakers to push through legislation, including the “Troubled Teen” Industry Law — SB127 — that was signed into law in 2021. The bill was intended to put more government oversight on Utah’s youth residential treatment centers.
In May, she visited Washington alongside lawmakers to support the Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act which intends to further research the alleged abuse at these facilities as well as create a Youth in Congregate Care Bill of Rights.
Today, Paris and other survivors are still advocating for change.