The bizarre world of celebrity journalism is just a bit stranger today, as the world awaits the release of inmate # 9818783 from the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Ca.
Former debutante and reality TV star Paris Hilton is more accustomed to celebrating movie releases than prison releases. But her B-movie appearances never netted her this kind of attention.
The attention is coming from both the mainstream and celebrity media realms.
The Los Angeles Times, a serious news outlet, had a story on how Hilton's Hollywood Hills neighbours are dreading her return (they endured the media crush on June 8 when Hilton made her return trip to jail and aren't fond of her wild parties). Online gossip powerhouse TMZ.com broke the news that Hilton would make a "run for the border" -- a sly way to tout their "scoop" that Hilton's first post-incarceration meal may take place at Taco Bell.
"I will definitely get a good meal because the food in here is absolutely inedible and horrible," the 26-year-old told E! News' Ryan Seacrest in a telephone interview last week.
Hilton's spot on the crime sheet began last Sept. 7, when she was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 per cent, the minimum at which it is illegal to drive in California.
In January, Hilton pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of the alcohol-related reckless-driving charge. She was sentenced to 36 months' probation, alcohol education and US$1,500 in fines. The story should have been pretty much over then.
But the Hilton hotel heiress was pulled over by police on Jan. 15. for driving with a suspended license and again on Feb. 27, for speeding and again driving with a suspended license. In May, a judge sentenced her to 45 days in jail for violating the terms of her probation.
The star of TV's "The Simple Life" had anything but a simple stay in jail. She checked into a men's facility two days early to avert the media, was transferred after three days to house arrest by a sheriff, and then sent back to county jail by a furious judge.
She spent a few days in a medical wing of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, gave phone interviews to Barbara Walters and others, and in her final week of incarceration, was the subject of intense speculation about which network would land the first post-prison interview. The winner was Larry King of CNN.
Will all the crazy coverage end when Paris Hilton gives her word to Larry King and moves on with her new, purposeful life and leaves the bad-girl celebutante act behind?
Of course, Paris Hilton could possibly move into the philanthropic world she aspires to -- she told Seacrest she wants to build a transitional home for women leaving jail -- and out of the intense media glare. And the photographers and celeb-sites might shift their focus to other targets. There's no shortage.
Lindsay Lohan should be getting out of rehab any day now, and is facing charges on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Nicole Richie, Hilton's co-star in "The Simple Life," will stand trial next month on DUI charges, and if found guilty, could face up to a year in jail because of a similar 2003 conviction.
With files from The Associated Press
