Paris Hilton Breaks Down While Testifying Against Utah School For Alleged Abuse

Paris Hilton breaks down: Paris Hilton breaks down while giving her testimony in favour of a state reform on boarding schools and youth residential centres in Utah on February 8.

American media personality and socialite Paris Hilton appeared in front of Utah Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee to testify against Provo Canyon School on Monday. The 39-year old socialite and model alleged that the staff members of the boarding school inflicted emotional, physical and psychological abuse on her during her stay as a teenager.

Paris spoke to the committee in favour of a bill requiring more government surveillance and documentation of the records of boarding schools and youth residential treatment centres. Her testimony was one of three heard last Monday in support of the reform bill brought by Michael McKell, a senator from Utah.

That is when she reiterated the allegations she made against the school in the YouTube Originals documentary This Is Paris that premiered in September 2020.

Since the release of her documentary, she has been advocating to shut down the Utah boarding school and other institutions whose staff members allegedly abuse students. Paris Hilton breaks down 

Credits: Jen Rovero

In fact, Paris Hilton was reportedly pictured wiping her tears away as she broke down while testifying against the school and for the bill. 

Paris Hilton breaks down while giving her testimony

Paris Hilton started her testimony by stating, "I, Paris Hilton, am an institutional abuse survivor and I speak today on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently in residential care facilities across the United States." 

She further recalled her horrifying experiences she reportedly went through in Provo Canyon School. "For the past 20 years, I have had a recurring nightmare where I'm kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, strip-searched, and locked in a facility. I wish I could tell you that this haunting nightmare was just a dream, ​but it is not​," she told.

She went on alleging how the boarding school verbally, mentally and physically abused her daily back then and that​ she was cut off from the outside world and 'stripped of all her human rights'.

Moreover, she also talked about how she was constantly violated there; how she was forced to take medicines which made her numb and exhausted and there was no privacy even while using the bathroom and so on. Paris Hilton breaks down 

"At 16 years old — as a child — I felt their piercing eyes staring at my naked body. I was just a kid and felt violated ​every single day," she added.

Paris expressed that she decided to be vocal about it in order to throw light on the harsh reality many children live in such institutions. 

Paris said, "I tell my story not so that anyone feels bad for me, but to shine a light on the reality of what happened then and is still happening now! The people who work at, run, and fund ​these programs should be ashamed of themselves. ​How can people live with themselves knowing this abuse is happening?"

Before concluding her testimony, Paris Hilton said that she was terrified thinking that many children still endure such abuse in boarding schools. She said, "Talking about something so personal ​was​ and ​is still terrifying. And I cannot go to sleep at night knowing that there are children that are enduring the same abuse that I and so many others went through. Neither should you. I am proof that money doesn't protect against abuse."