A great injustice has been done to Paris Hilton. And it is one of the major tragedies of the modern age that no one in the media has stood up and taken her defense. Paris Hilton is not the criminal here. She is the victim.
Let us consider some startling facts:
FACT: On September 7, 2006, Paris Hilton was pulled over on a reckless driving charge and failed a field sobriety test. Like a responsible citizen aware that she had made a mistake, she pleaded no contest to the charge and was sentenced to 36 months probation and required to enroll in an alcohol education class.
FACT: On January 15, Paris was pulled over again and informed that she was driving on a suspended license. Police let her off with a warning, but required that she sign a document acknowledging that she understood her licensewas suspended and she was not supposed to drive.
FACT! On February 27 at 11 pm, Paris was pulled over again after authorities saw her car speeding with its headlights off. In her glove compartment, police found the document acknowledging she understood she wasn’t supposed to drive.
FACT!! Paris had been required to enroll in that alcohol education program by February 12, but as of April 17, she still had not.
FACT!!! None of this is Paris’s fault.
So who is to blame if not Paris?
Well, for one, her publicist, Elliot Mintz, who had told her she could keep driving with her suspended license. This weekend, Paris rightfully fired Mintz, who said in a statement to the press:
The day after the hearing, I sent an e-mail expressing my sadness over the ruling of the judge and the irrational sentence he imposed. In that e-mail I also offered my sincerest apology for any misunderstanding she received from me regarding the terms of her probation. To the extent that I have miscommunicated information I received from her attorneys……I am deeply and profoundly sorry. I told her that I assume personal responsibility for my part in this matter. I believe when stated in court that she believed it was o.k. for her to drive under certain circumstances she was being absolutely truthful. Due to this misunderstanding, I am no longer representing Paris.
Elliott Mintz, J’accuse! You were supposed to be there for Paris. You were paid good money to releave her of the pressure of all meaningful life decisions. And you failed. When Paris got behind the wheel of her Bentley with her suspended license, she was doing so under the advice of publicist. “Shouldn’t she have been listening to her lawyers instead?” some people might say. To those people I say, “Shut up.” It is a sad day in Hollywood if we can no longer believe everything a publicist tells us.
But more than I blame Elliot Mintz, I blame you: the media. I blame you: the public. With great enthusisasm, you followed Paris’s missteps for her entire life. When, as a teenager, she drank at New York clubs, you published fawning news reports of her misbehavior, but never chastized her. When video footage leaked of her doing drugs, you laughed, but never prosecuted. When she was repeatedly caught driving with a suspended license, you snapped her picture, but never mentioned she may actually face jail time. All of her life, Paris has been taught that she could violate laws with abandon and not have to take responsibility for her actions. And now that she’s violating laws with abandon, you’re forcing her to take responsibility for her actions? It seems like the problem is you, America.
When it comes to the treatment of celebrities, our society is warped. The justice system corrupt. I ask you this: In what kind of country can OJ Simpson go free after murdering his wife, but Paris Hilton has to go to jail for driving with a suspended license? That is racist!
Paris Hilton is wrongly accused. She is the Hurrican Carter of the celebrity age.
My fellow countrymen, it is time for us to act. No longer can we sit idly by and let this level of injustice pass. Let us raise our voices and make our anger heard. Let us band together and form a resistance. Let us do what Charles De Gaulle could not. Let us free Paris.
FREE PARIS!
FREE PARIS!
FREE PARIS!
