Paris Hilton Addresses Claims Ghislaine Maxwell Tried to Recruit Her
The heiress discussed meeting Maxwell 25 years ago.
Paris Hilton has finally addressed claims Ghislaine Maxwell once tried to recruit her for billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The allegation first surfaced in 2020, when British writer Christopher Mason recounted in Lifetime’s Surviving Jeffrey Epstein how around 2000 Maxwell had spotted the then 19-year-old Hilton heiress at a New York party soon after she signed to Donald Trump’s modeling agency.
“Oh my god… She’d be perfect for Jeffrey,” Maxwell was alleged to have said, asking if an introduction could be arranged, according to Mason’s account.
Donald Trump and the Hiltons, with Paris on the far-right, and her father, Rick, third from right, have known each other for decades through New York’s real-estate and social circles, with Trump referring to the Hilton family as “friends.”
Neilson Barnard/Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for European School of Economics Foundation
Hilton, 44, was asked about reports in an interview with the Sunday Times—but says she doesn’t even recall encountering the convicted sex trafficker.
In the profile, Hilton says of Maxwell, 63: “I don’t even remember ever meeting her,” before adding: “I’m such a good clickbait name.”
Paris Hilton met Donald Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell at Anand Jon Fashion Show on September 18, 2000 in New York City. Hilton says she can't remember.
Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Maxwell has denied luring girls for Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 at 66 while awaiting federal sex-trafficking charges. She is serving a 20-year federal sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex-trafficking crimes linked to Epstein, a verdict upheld on appeal in 2024.
Hilton has rebranded herself as a successful entrepreneur and social activist since finding fame as the ditzy reality TV star in the early 2000s.
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In the Times interview she talks about building her 11:11 Media empire, campaigning against abuse in the “troubled teen” industry, and testifying before Congress about mistreatment in youth facilities.
Paris Hilton pictured attending the 2025 GQ Men Of The Year party at Chateau Marmont on November 13, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. She is quite different from her time as one of the original influencers.
Amy Sussman/Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Hilton claims the Maxwell reports appear to have been just another example of how her name has been used in other people’s narratives since her early-2000s tabloid heyday.
Her interview comes as Trump’s bid to bury the so-called “Epstein files” buckled under a Republican revolt, leaving the president scrambling to frame the looming disclosures as a partisan smear.
For months, Trump, 79, has leaned on House allies to stop the Department of Justice’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation files being released, blasting the issue as a “Democrat hoax” and warning MAGA diehards not to “waste time and energy” on it.
The full truth about Trump's relationship with Epstein could soon be laid bare.
Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
But after key Republicans signaled they were ready to break ranks, he issued a late-night Truth Social post on Sunday giving grudging permission to “get it over with” and vote them out so Washington can “move on.”
The climbdown has not ended the internal fight. Trump is still raging at longtime ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, 51, even as he insists unnamed Democrats—whom he accuses of “sleazy relationships” with Epstein—are the ones who should face prosecution.
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