Paris Hilton Debunks Old Image of Herself She Says Was Doctored

Over the past several months, Paris Hilton has taken back her narrative from the ’00s, calling out the paparazzi, reflecting on how she was treated and debunking myths, including the story behind one infamous photo. On Tuesday, Hilton used her social media platforms to look back on an image of herself that had made the rounds on the internet, showing the DJ wearing a tank top that read, “Stop being poor.” According to Hilton and actual photos from the event, the viral photo altered the phrase on her shirt.

“So there’s this photo online of me. I’m sure you’ve seen it,” she said. “I never wore that shirt. This was completely Photoshopped. Everyone thinks it’s real, but that’s not the truth.” Showing an unaltered photo from the 2005 event, which was held to launch her sister Nicky Hilton‘s clothing line in Las Vegas, Hilton declared, “This is what it really said,” revealing that the shirt read, “Stop being desperate.” “Don’t believe everything you read,” she added, repeating the phrase in her caption. “But I like the photoshopped one more,” wrote one TikTok user. Someone else commented, “Are you s—ting me Paris.. I’ve been quoting this my whole life.” “We didn’t take it personal tbh,” declared another fan. “I actually liked the poor one more tho lol.”

Hilton has also looked back on a few less-lighthearted moments, including an interview with David Letterman, Sarah Silverman’s jokes about her during the 2007 MTV Movie Awards and the response to her leaked sex tape. Several of those reflections came after the release of the February documentary Framing Britney Spears, which examined Spears’ negative treatment by the media in the early ’00s, something Hilton also experienced.

“I’ve been reading all of these articles coming out where they were just saying, like, Britney, Paris and just, like, a group of us were just were treated so unfairly and just, like, this really misogynistic view and just being very cruel and mean and making fun of us,” she said in a February episode of her podcast, This Is Paris. “It made me think a lot this week, reading all these new things that are coming out after the Britney film.”