OOZING glamour in her designer bikini, Paris Hilton is the poster girl for having it all – but fame has come at a terrible price. The hotel heiress, who has long been a magnet for stalkers and burglars, has revealed she feared she would DIE at the hands of a knife-wielding maniac. Bravely she relived that terror while playing herself in a similar situation in crime film The Bling Ring, which premieres at Cannes this month.
But the incident, in August 2010, also prompted a complete change of lifestyle. Once a party animal and reality TV airhead, New Yorker Paris now plans to step out of the spotlight and build her own hotel empire. Opening up about her shocking ordeal for the first time, Paris, 32, recalls: “It was terrifying. I had never experienced anything like that before and it really shook the foundations of my world.
“It was about 5am when I heard someone banging on my window. “I went downstairs and saw a crazy guy outside with two huge kitchen knives in his hands. “He looked like he wanted to kill me and he kept banging on the windows, demanding to be let in. “I screamed. I was certain he was going to get through the windows or the door and then that would be it. “I was certain he would kill me if he could get inside.”
Crazed Nathan Lee Parada tried to force his way into Paris’s Los Angeles mansion. It was only the quick thinking of her then-boyfriend, US businessman Cy Waits, that saved her life. Paris, who reveals the attack made her scared to leave her home for nearly two years, adds: “Luckily, my boyfriend heard the noise and came tearing down the stairs. “He got his gun, went outside and put it to the man’s head. Cy forced him to the ground and held him there until the police arrived.
“If he had not acted so swiftly, I don’t think anyone would have got there in time to save me. “Seeing someone with such hate in their eyes — someone who wants to kill you — makes you question things, and it made me wonder about the price of fame. “There was so much chaos in my life at the time. After the attack I decided it was time to withdraw from the public eye before anything worse happened.” So it took a lot of courage for Paris to make The Bling Ring.
She has a cameo as herself in the movie, which also stars Emma Watson, about Hollywood homes being targeted by gangs of thieves. Paris says: “When I saw the crimes recreated for the screen, it gave me the strength to talk about my ordeal. Many people have their houses burgled and it’s a traumatic experience. You feel so violated. “I wanted to help the filmmakers get across just how serious this crime is and how frightening and hurtful it is for the victims.
“I lost so many valuable items passed down from generation to generation, things I cherished. “These are the things that matter most, they are sentimental and can’t be replaced. “With the burglaries and multiple stalkers it was a scary few years for me and no one should have to go through that. You don’t expect to be attacked in your own home. “It’s a special place where you should feel safe and secure. A lot of people see the glamorous side of being in the entertainment business, but I think it’s important to be aware that it’s not all pretty. “Your life is public, and that I understand, but being attacked by stalkers, that’s not right — that’s going too far.”
Parada, 36, was sentenced to two years for the burglary in April 2011. Then outside the LA court where the case was being heard, a SECOND stalker pounced on Paris. – Thesun
