Paris Hilton talks about the ‘cruel’ impact of nude video leaked when she was 19 years old

Paris Hilton is back on Capitol Hill, once again advocating for law reform based on her personal experience.

of simple life The 44-year-old alum put herself at risk on Thursday, Jan. 22, while advocating for the Stop Blatant Fake and Non-Consent Editing Act (DEFIANCE Act). A year after Hilton successfully campaigned for the passage of legislation enacting protections for institutionalized youth, she returned to the Capitol to share her personal and traumatic experience in hopes of making a difference.

“When I come back to the Capitol, I feel something new and strong,” she began, speaking alongside Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has played a leading role in pushing the bill. “When I was 19, my private, intimate videos were shared around the world without my consent. People called it a scandal, but it wasn’t. It was abuse. There were no laws protecting me at the time. There weren’t even words for what was done to me. The internet was new, and so were the atrocities that came with it.”

“They called me names. They laughed and made me punchlines. They click-sold my pain, and then they told me to be quiet and move on and even appreciate the attention,” Hilton continued. “These people didn’t see me as a young woman who had been exploited. They didn’t see the panic, humiliation, and shame that I felt. No one asked me what I had lost. I lost control of my body and my reputation. My sense of safety and self-worth were taken away from me.”

In the years since the leak of her 2004 sex tapes (which also included footage of Hilton and ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon), the businesswoman said she has “fought very hard to get them back” and thought so. However, advances in artificial intelligence have made it easier than ever to create sexually explicit content for anyone.

“I believed the worst was over, but it wasn’t,” Hilton declared. “What happened to me then is happening to millions of women and girls today in a new and more frightening way. Before, someone had to betray their trust and steal something real. Now, all it takes is a computer and a stranger’s imagination. Deepfake porn is all the rage.”

If passed, the DEFIANCE Act would give victims the right to take legal action against the creators and distributors of AI-generated pornographic deepfakes.

Hilton also shared that there are “over 100,000 explicit deepfake images” of her that were “generated by AI.”

“None of it is real, none of it is consensual, and every time something new comes along, that horrible feeling comes back, the fear that now someone, somewhere, is looking at it and thinking it’s real,” Hilton said. “No amount of money or lawyers can stop that or protect me from further harm. This is the latest form of harm happening on a massive scale to your daughters, sisters, friends, and neighbors.”

Hilton’s husband, Carter Ream, was also in attendance to support his wife as she spoke at the Capitol.

The socialite also claimed that one in eight girls have experienced deepfake porn, a statistic she called “staggering.”

“So many women are afraid to exist online, or sometimes even exist at all. I’ve been through that myself, so I understand that feeling,” she said. “Right now, I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. I would go to the ends of the earth to protect her. But I still can’t protect her from this situation. And that’s why I’m here. This isn’t just a technology issue, it’s a power issue. It’s using someone’s likeness to humiliate, silence, and strip them of their dignity. Victims deserve more than an after-the-fact apology. We deserve it.” Justice. ”

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Hilton acknowledged how “lucky” she is to have her voice heard, explaining that she speaks for all those who don’t have a voice.

“I had a platform to reclaim my story, and a lot of other people don’t have that,” she continued. “And what I learned is that even when your image is violated, it doesn’t go away. It lives within you, but so does your power. Speaking the truth has healed me, and I’m so proud that I’m standing here today without shame.”

She concluded her remarks by saying, “I am Paris Hilton, a woman, a wife, a mother, a survivor, and what was done to me was wrong. And I will continue to tell the truth now and in the future to protect every woman, every girl, every survivor.”