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Paris is Burning Up the Tabloids
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 9, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 9, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The tabloids and cable news media got a weekend windfall when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered socialite Paris Hliton back to jail. The Post called her a "Wailbird" while the Daily News described her as a "blubbering blond". And let's not even discuss the ridiculous coverage of her arrest at her home and the TV helicopters following her to court on TV.
To summarize: Judge Michael Sauer was angry that the LA County Sheriff's office released Hilton only three days into her 23-day sentence. In fact, Sauer wants Hilton to serve the full 45-day sentence he handed down in May. The sheriff's office claimed that Hilton has "severe problems" of the medical sort - though they did not provide the judge with the papers explaining what those problems might be - and felt that a low-level offender like Hilton should be released. Anyway, Sauer demanded a Friday hearing, which turned into a media circus because apparently Hilton thought she could participate by phone (what?). But that was not the case, so Judge Sauer sent a deputy to forcibly take Hilton from her home in handcuffs, a scene which launched what the NY Times called "a parody of O. J. Simpson’s low-speed chase more than a decade ago." (Yes, even the Times put an article about Hilton, though really about celebrity justice, on today's front page!) You can see an assortment of Paris Hilton meets the law videos on TMZ.
Related: 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan is wearing an electronic ankle bracelet these days.
Center courtroom sketch of Hilton from Mona Shafer Edwards/AP
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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