Hey, remember how Paris Hilton defended Trump, calling him “respectful” and “sweet” as if she’d only met a Trump from an alternate universe? Unfortunately, we remember.
She’s been slammed for her comments, because … they were terrible. The interview turns out to have been from a year ago, but still.
Her thoughts on the orange man notwithstanding, Paris Hilton’s not stupid — and she’s issued an apology.
Plenty of people admire Paris Hilton for her music or her business acumen or her acting or her brand or whatever.
These past couple of years of listening to her have positive things to say about Donald Trump has been … painful.
While it was obvious that, like Clay Aiken, Paris Hilton’s statements in Trump’s defense were based upon personally knowing him and being totally unable to handle the kind of man he really is because he was always so nice to her.
(That’s so common — we’ve all seen people respond to finding out that someone’s an abuser or a serial killer or whatever and going “but he was so nice.” Monsters aren’t always monsters to everyone, folks)
Like Clay Aiken, Paris is now apologizing for her remarks defending Trump.
In a statement to Us Weekly on Wednesday, Paris Hilton said that she’s sorry for her Trump comments.
“I want to apologize for my comments from an interview I did last year.”
Always good to start with the apology itself.
Remember when we mentioned, as we covered it, that we didn’t know when the interview was actually done?
It’s kind of shady that it just popped up right after the Charlottesville Nazi rally and terrorist attack, when Trump is despised even more than usual.
“They were part of a much larger story and I am regretful that they were not delivered in the way I had intended.”
Now, they shouldn’t have been delivered at all, to be clear.
She should not have said what she did, either about Trump being a good person and especially not about the women accusing Trump of sexual assault being fame-seekers.
“I was speaking about my own experiences in life and the role of media and fame in our society and it was never my intention for my comments to be misapplied almost a year later.”
Poor phrasing isn’t the best excuse.
We do understand that Paris is talking about a man she’s known since childhood.
We just wish that his present statements and actions would speak loud enough for her to condemn him.
Paris Hilton tries to address the shaming of his accusers, specifically.
“I always believe in helping women have their voices heard and helping create an environment where women feel empowered and believe in themselves.”
That’s good.
That’s also very different from accusing Trump’s accusers of bieng liars.
“I am deeply hurt by how this has played out and also deeply sorry.”
That kind of has a “I’m sorry you were upset” vibe to it, you know?
But it’s Paris and we think that she’s being sincere.
“Moving forward I will continue to do what I can to be an advocate for girls and women with the hopes of providing a louder voice for those who may desperately need it.”
That’s not a condemnation of Trump, but it is an apology.
That has to count for something.
Honestly, we’re beginning to suspect that there’s more at play here than a personal fondness.
It’s possible that Paris’ family has business ties with Trump that could be endangered if she speaks up.
We know that Trump’s politics are very different from her own.
Remember, this is the woman who did the “Paris For President” music video back in 2008.
During that song, she talked about LGBT rights, she talked about scaling back the world’s nukes and also about the importance of environmental protections in the face of climate change.
Seriously, “intensify nuclear non-proliferation and ratify Kyoto today” was a line from the song.
She also took some well-deserved jabs at George W. Bush.
We’d love to see that from Paris again. We believe that she can be that Paris again.