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They were the bleach-blonde, spray-tanned darlings of the early 2000s, and it was the friendship fallout of the century. The once inseparable Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were suddenly on the outs, and tensions even pushed the two to film season four of their reality show, The Simple Life, separately.
In the nearly two decades since, the iconic duo have made amends, coming together for occasions like Hilton’s wedding and now reuniting for another reality show venture. But as ecstatic as we are to see the gang back together, the question of what spurred the culture-shifting feud all those years ago still lingers. Now, we have an answer.
Sitting down with interviewer Alex Cooper for the Call Her Daddy podcast, the pair, who have known each other since they were just two years old, spoke openly about their years-long rift—and, more importantly, what caused it.
With Richie joking that the reason wouldn’t satisfy fans because of its banality, Hilton explained that it was the toxic media cycle of the early aughts that came between them, eventually turning the relationship “sour.”
“Nothing really happened,” Richie told the host before Hilton chimed in.
“Back then, the media was just so toxic, and they loved starting feuds between people because, obviously, that sold tabloids,” she explained. “So it was mostly the media just spinning things and creating drama that didn’t exist, which was normal in the 2000s. They did it with everyone.”
Richie then noted that their age at the time didn’t help matters, as they “didn’t know how to communicate with each other,” which meant that they were susceptible to the press’ influence.
“If we were hearing something, we would assume [it was true],” she admitted, explaining that it then “blew up to be something that was so big that it became impossible to connect to or have any sort of real feeling around it.”
“We didn’t have the communication skills we have right now to have check-ins, which is so important.”
To think about all those seasons of The Simple Life we missed because of Hollywood propaganda is disheartening—a sentiment that Richie shares.
“It’s sad to think about a time without my friend,” she lamented. “I think it has really helped me [with] communicating at this stage in my life… And I think just with all relationships, it’s so important to have check-ins and to be honest and real and, you know, tender with the people you love the most.”
