In her documentary “This is Paris” (2020), Hilton made it public that in her youth she experienced abuse and violence in schools for teenagers with behavioral problems.Image: keystone
A boarding school in the US state of Utah, where US singer Paris Hilton (45) said she was abused as a teenager, has to close school operations.
Jul 8, 2026, 11:52 p.mJuly 8, 2026, 11:59 p.m
The Department of Health and Human Services has revoked the license of the private Provo Canyon School in Springville, US media reported. She “fought and prayed” for this, the singer wrote on Instagram. She thanked those affected who had “courageously” spoken out over the years. Finally the children would be taken out of there. This is “a strong step to protect future generations.”
“For more than fifty years, children have come forward with stories of abuse, neglect and trauma,” Hilton told People magazine. She was one of these children. “The little girl in me who was told she would never be believed feels so validated today.”
As a reason for closing the school, the authorities cited violations and omissions by the institution, including a lack of medical care for students. According to broadcaster ABC, parents had filed lawsuits.
Hilton reported the abuse years ago
In her documentary “This is Paris” (2020), Hilton made it public that in her youth she experienced abuse and violence in schools for teenagers with behavioral problems. In Congress in Washington, the hotel heiress repeatedly called for better controls and protective measures for young people in such facilities.
“These programs promised healing, growth and support,” Hilton said at a hearing in Washington in 2024. Instead, the mother of two reported that she was neither allowed to speak freely nor move freely for two years. “I was forcibly pumped full of medication and sexually abused by the staff.” Her parents didn’t know anything about this, Hilton continued. They were deceived by the operators of the facilities – by a “for-profit industry,” as Hilton said. (sda/dpa)