Paris Hilton has issued a public apology for claiming President Trump’s sexual harassment accusers were just vying for ‘attention and fame’.
In a statement released to US Weekly, the socialite, 36, insisted her comments were taken out of context, and promised to ‘provide a louder voice for those who may desperately need it’ going forward.
‘I want to apologize for my comments from an interview I did last year,’ Paris said. ‘They were part of a much larger story and I am regretful that they were not delivered in the way I had intended.
‘Deeply hurt’: Paris Hilton has issued a public apology for claiming President Trump’s sexual harassment accusers were just vying for ‘attention and fame’
‘I was speaking about my own experiences in life and the role of media and fame in our society and it was never my intention for my comments to be misapplied almost a year later.’
The celebrity DJ issued an apology amid a mounting public backlash after her comments were published in the September issue of Marie Claire.
In the interview, which the Hilton hotel heiress gave in November, she slammed ‘opportunists’ who accused then-candidate Trump, 71, of sexual harassment.
‘I think that they are just trying to get attention and fame,’ she told the magazine.
Controversial: In the interview, which the Hilton hotel heiress, 36, gave in November, she slammed ‘opportunists’ who accused then-candidate Trump, 71, of sexual harassment
‘I feel like, a lot of people, when something happens, all these opportunists will come out.
‘They want to get money or get paid to not say anything or get a settlement when nothing really happened. So I don’t believe any of that.’
Insisting she is a feminist as she issued a public apology over the matter, Paris said she was ‘deeply hurt’ by the furor over her controversial comments, and promised to ‘be an advocate for girls and women’.
She said: ‘I always believe in helping women have their voices heard and helping create an environment where women feel empowered and believe in themselves.
‘I am deeply hurt by how this has played out and also deeply sorry.
‘Moving forward I will continue to do what I can to be an advocate for girls and women with the hopes of providing a louder voice for those who may desperately need it.’
In the Marie Claire interview, Paris refuted reports she voted for Trump, saying she didn’t vote for anyone during the last election.
They go way back: Paris has a history with Trump, an old family friend, whom she calls ‘an incredible businessman’ and a good president (pictured with sister Nicky in 2001)
But she admitted she thinks the politician, an old family friend, is ‘charming’ and ‘good looking’ – and thinks his accusers thought so too.
‘I’m sure that they were trying to be with him, too,’ she said. ‘Because a lot of women, I’ve seen, like him because he’s wealthy and he’s charming and good-looking so I feel like a lot of these girls just made the story up.’
Multiple women have come forward to accuse the President of sexual harassment in the past year.
They include former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos, who filed a lawsuit in January alleging the President used his platform to falsely denigrate her and other women who accused him of ‘unwanted sexual touching’.
Before the election, she accused the billionaire of inappropriate sexual advances, including groping her, when she met him at the Beverly Hills Hotel to seek career advice. However, she didn’t file a lawsuit at the time.
Backlash: The socialite insisted her comments were taken out of context, and promised to ‘provide a louder voice for those who may desperately need it’ going forward
Zervos only came forward after the release of the outtake of a 2005 Access Hollywood tape where Trump brags to Billy Bush about grabbing women by their sexual organs.
‘Grab them by the p****,’ he told Bush. ‘You can do anything. When you’re a star, they let you do it.’
Trump later claimed that the conversation with Bush was ‘locker room talk’ and denied actual sexual misconduct.
Other accusers included a pageant queen who claimed Trump groped her in 2006, and a People reporter who claimed Trump forcibly kissed her without her consent during an interview at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in 2005.
Zervos’ attorney Gloria Allred stated that after Trump was accused by several other women of sexual misconduct, he ‘knowingly, intentionally, and maliciously threw each of these women under the bus’, and repeatedly called them ‘liars’.
In the interview, Paris brushed off Trump’s lewd comments as typical guy talk.
‘I’ve heard guys say some pretty crazy things. Like, worse than that,’ she said.
One of his victims: Summer Zervos, a former contestant on the fifth season of The Apprentice, accused Trump of groping her during a meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel
‘I think it was kind of just one of those things where you’re with someone — I’ve heard guys say the craziest things ever ‘cuz I’m always around guys and I listen to them speak. So I definitely don’t think he would just say that.’
Paris has a history with Trump, an old family friend, whom she calls ‘an incredible businessman’ and a good president.
Trump previously admitted watching Hilton’s notorious sex tape, and once described the first time he met a then 12-year-old Paris who he thought was ‘beautiful.’
‘I’ve known Paris Hilton from the time she’s 12,’ Trump told Howard Stern when he appeared on his radio show. ‘Her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her, she walked into the room and I said, “Who the hell is that?”
‘At 12, I wasn’t interested. I’ve never been into that … but she was beautiful.’
When confronted whether such revelations ‘creeped’ her out, Paris blamed Trump’s answers on Stern.
‘I feel that anyone that’s on that show, Howard just loves to say weird things and people say things that they normally wouldn’t say,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t creepy at all. He’s not like that at all, he’s always been so respectful.’
Family friends: Trump previously admitted watching Hilton’s notorious sex tape, and once described the first time he met a then 12-year-old Paris who he thought was ‘beautiful’