EntertainmentParis Hilton said her mother, Kathy Hilton, is hesitant to talk about the alleged abuse she suffered.- Hilton opened up about her experience at a Utah boarding school in her documentary "
This Is Paris ."
Paris Hilton said her mother, Kathy Hilton, is hesitant to talk about the abuse she says she suffered at a boarding school in Utah when she was a teenager. Hilton first opened up about her experience at Provo Canyon School in her documentary "This Is Paris" last year.
Hilton said she and other students were victims of physical and mental abuse and that the school was a "terrifying" place to live because the staff were "sadistic" and "wanted to torture and hurt children."
Hilton subsequently testified on Capitol Hill in favor of a bill that would give children more protection at "troubled teen" facilities, saying she had been "strangled, slapped across the face, and watched in the shower by male staff" during her time there.
In a recent episode of Hilton's Peacock series "Paris in Love," she spoke to her younger brother Barron Jr about the school. Barron said he was "proud" of his sister and had no idea what she was going through at the time.
"When I was 16, we moved to New York. I started sneaking out at night, ditching school. My parents got really scared, so they sent me to a boarding school," Hilton said. "They didn't realize it was pure torture camp. I was verbally, physically, emotionally, psychologically abused on a daily basis."
Barron asked Hilton whether she believed she had "closure" from her parents about sending her there. Hilton said she felt "they just don't want to think about it."
"I didn't want to think about it and didn't talk about it for 20 years," she replied. "It's painful to think about...to open that up."
She added that every time she tried to raise it, her mom "changes the subject."
"I don't want to hurt her feelings. I don't want to upset her," she said, adding that her parents "don't like talking about things."
"Mom is just so fun and chill. She doesn't really like to get serious," she said. "I've never really had a serious, deep conversation about things like that. She doesn't like to think about that. She just likes to be happy. I don't want to kill her vibe."
Hilton revealed her parents hadn't watched her documentary yet, so they don't understand the whole story. She said she hopes to one day sit down with them and discuss all the details because she's been "holding all this in."
"I really just wish we could just talk about it so I can just let it go," she said. "Because I feel like I don't know if I'll fully ever release this unless we speak about it."
Provo Canyon School changed ownership in 2000 after Hilton had left. In a statement to People, a spokesperson said, "We, therefore, cannot comment on the operations or patient experience prior to that time."
"We are committed to providing high-quality care to youth with special, and often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs," they said.