- Demi Lovato's candid documentary inspired Paris Hilton to open up about her own life.
- Lovato released "Simply Complicated" in 2017 and Hilton released her own documentary in 2020.
- "I was as stunned as the rest of the world by how real, vulnerable, and courageous she was."
Paris Hilton has said Demi Lovato's decision to candidly open up about the difficulties she's faced inspired her to do the same.
"I had no intention of disclosing the truth about my 'boarding school' years. But then Demi Lovato rocked my world," Hilton wrote in her autobiography, "Paris: The Memoir," released on Tuesday.
"I'd known and loved Demi for a while, but I was as stunned as the rest of the world by how real, vulnerable, and courageous she was," she said of Lovato's documentary "Simply Complicated."
Released in full on YouTube, the 2017 documentary featured emotional interviews with the Grammy-nominated singer about navigating childhood stardom in the public eye. It covers her breakup with actor Wilmer Valderrama, her complicated sexuality, her ongoing eating disorder, and her drug use while acting on Disney Channel.
"In the doc, Demi shared a painful reckoning with a difficult past; in person, I saw her in the midst of an intense journey of self-acceptance and discovery," the hotel heiress continued.
"I envied that acceptance," Hilton wrote of the singer who performed at Hilton's 2021 wedding to Carter Reum.
"I wanted that discovery for myself. But most of all I was inspired by Demi's courage."
Hilton wrote that Lovato's journey "sparked courage" in herself and changed her previous decision to keep the abuse and subsequent trauma she said she experienced at a series of abusive boarding schools a secret.
"Instead of worrying about what it would mean to my brand, I started thinking about what it would do to the troubled-teen industry if I stepped out of the shadows and told my truth," Hilton explained.
Hilton didn't speak publicly about the 11 months she spent at residential treatment centers such as Provo Canyon School until 2020 in a documentary — also released on YouTube — titled "This Is Paris."
The recent mom said in the documentary that she and other students were victims of physical and mental abuse and that the school was a "terrifying" place to live because the staff were "sadistic" and "wanted to torture and hurt children."
The following year, Hilton testified on Capitol Hill in favor of a bill that would give children more protection at "troubled teen" facilities, saying she had been "strangled, slapped across the face, and watched in the shower by male staff" during her time at Provo Canyon School, which is based in Utah.
In a statement to People, a spokesperson said for the school, which changed ownership in 2000, two years after Hilton left, said: "We, therefore, cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to that time."
"We are committed to providing high-quality care to youth with special, and often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs."
"Paris: The Memoir" by Paris Hilton is out now.