Celebrity hotel heiress Paris Hilton just marked a significant victory in her ongoing campaign to bring more federal oversight to the shadowy “troubled teen” industry.
Congress passed the Stop Institutionalized Child Abuse bill on Wednesday (18 December) a piece of legislation that Hilton has been championing for years. It will soon be signed into law by President Biden.
It passed by 373 votes to 33. The people who voted against it were all Republican, most from the extreme right wing of the party, including anti-LGBTQ+ figures Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.
Since 2021, Paris Hilton has been travelling to Washington DC regularly to push for the introduction of a child abuse bill that would better regulate institutions like Provo Canyon School in Utah, where Hilton was essentially incarcerated when she was a teenager.
Hilton has repeatedly spoken out about her nightmarish experience at the facility, claiming that she was beaten by staff members, forced to take “unknown pills” and placed in solitary confinement naked, Fox 5 reports. She says she still suffers nightmares and insomnia for years as a result of her treatment.
Since first proposing the child abuse bill, the hotel heiress has had two children of her own. She and her husband Carter Reum first became parents in January 2023 when they welcomed son Phoenix Barron, followed by daughter London Marilyn, also born via surrogacy, ten months later.
“Turning my pain into purpose”
“I am so emotional right now. I have never felt prouder in my life,” Hilton told reporters after the vote, including ABC. “Just to be here today and see our bill pass in Congress has been one of the most incredible moments of my life and I just know that the teenage me would be so proud of the woman that I am today — turning my pain into purpose and being a voice for so many people who don’t have a voice.”
The 43-year old was spotted taking a very unusual – and iconic – mode of transport around Washington DC on the day before the vote: a pink motorised suitcase. She was dressed in a smart black suit and black glasses her hair immaculately coiffed, and the picture of the “serene, unbothered queen” quickly went viral.
My brother in law is in DC for work and saw Paris Hilton pass by on her motorized suitcase LMAO pic.twitter.com/WO1oCSXwFr
— St. Paul Pork Product (@DGRMSP) December 17, 2024
Since it was first shared, the tweet has been viewed almost three million times, and nearly 500 people have commented on it, almost all of them full of praise for Hilton and her recent achievements.
One of the top comments reads: “Her bill passed the House and now the Senate. Truly an accomplishment.”
Others were impressed by her eco-friendly credentials, with one person saying: “If she’s willing to travel like this I don’t want to hear about why someone needs an SUV to go a few blocks to get a pop tart and Arizona from the convenience store.”
A third announced: “She’s the world mother,” while others called her an “icon” and “inspiration.”
Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie famously starred in reality TV show The Simple Life, which saw the self-described “nepo babies” visit small towns across the US to work in ordinary jobs. They recently reunited for the first time in 20 years for the three-episode special “Paris & Nicole: The Encore”, which is now streaming.
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