Here's How Paris Felt About Britney Name-Dropping Her In Her Court Testimony

For months now, Paris Hilton has supported the #FreeBritney movement. However, after Spears’ court testimony on June 20 — in which the singer said she initially had trouble believing Hilton’s experience of abuse and trauma while in boarding school — some people thought Spears was discounting Hilton’s own experiences. But Paris Hilton’s response to Britney Spears’ conservatorship testimony is supportive, actually, and clears up a massive misunderstanding.

In Spears’ recent court testimony, she called her 13-year conservatorship — in which her finances and personal affairs are controlled by her father, Jamie Spears, and care manager Jodi Montgomery — “abusive” and “traumatizing.” (Elite Daily previously reached out to Spears’ team for any further comment on her testimony, but did not hear back.)

In regard to Spears’ conservatorship battle, Hilton has been vocal about her support for the singer. In September 2020, she said she thought Britney Spears “should be able to live [her] life” as she wants, and in February, she called Spears’ situation “unfair.” Since the release of the YouTube documentary This Is Paris in September 2020, Hilton has alleged she, too, experienced distressing abuse despite her fame and influence, specifically while attending numerous boarding schools.

At Provo Canyon School, in particular, Hilton alleges she faced “physical, emotional, and verbal” abuse, saying she couldn’t even notify her parents of her struggles without being threatened. “We’re just going to tell your parents you’re a liar and they’re not going to believe you,” school staff allegedly told her.

Since the release of Hilton’s documentary, Provo Canyon School has addressed the abuse allegations. The school clarified that the facility has been under new ownership since 2000 (Hilton reportedly attended the school in 1999), and stated they now support legislation to curb abuse and foster transparency in youth treatment centers.

For the public, the This Is Paris doc (which detailed much of Hilton’s situation) was the first introduction to the heiress’ truth. But Spears wasn’t familiar with Hilton’s story, either, and after learning more about it, she saw parallels in her and Hilton’s respective experiences.

“To be honest with you, the Paris Hilton story on what they did to her [at] that school,” she said to the Los Angeles Superior Court judge. “I didn’t believe any of it… And that’s why I didn’t want to say any of this to anybody, to the public, because I thought people would make fun of me or laugh at me and say, ‘She’s lying, she’s got everything, she’s Britney Spears.’”

While some may have interpreted Spears’ comments as casting doubt on Hilton’s experience, Hilton made it clear in a July 5 episode of her This Is Paris podcast that she wasn’t offended and entirely understood what Spears was trying to say.

“I know that she didn’t mean it in that way,” Hilton said. “What she said was, when people hear that, they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s Britney Spears, it’s Paris Hilton. They have these perfect lives. If I didn’t even believe Paris, who’s going to believe me?’ That’s [what she thought] when she first watched it.”

Hilton believes Spears’ words were “misunderstood,” which makes sense — it’s great to know Spears has so much support from her fellow Y2K icon.