Paris Hilton's Mother Kathy Says She Didn't Know About Abuse - And Watching Documentary Put Her 'In Such A Depression'

Kathy Hilton finally brought herself to watch This Is Paris, her daughter Paris Hilton’s candid documentary in which the model revealed the abuse she suffered at boarding school. And it was just as harrowing as she expected.

While speaking to Andy Cohen on SiriusXM‘s Radio Andy on Wednesday, Kathy admitted the YouTube doc caused her severe mental health struggles, saying:

“It put me in such a depression.”

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star went on to admit that she didn’t watch the documentary when it first premiered in September 2020. In fact, she didn’t tune in until very recently!

The 62-year-old shared:

“It was too much after watching just the clips and promos … ’cause you could imagine me just finding out [about the abuse]. I’m not one of those people, ‘Oh this is about me’ — it’s not about me. But yeah, it really was so devastating… For her to keep that in for 20 years…”

Kathy suggested she did not know about any of the abuse until Paris began to open up about it for the documentary. As Perezcious readers know, the socialite revealed her traumatizing experience at Provo Canyon School nearly two years ago. As a teenager, she faced physical, emotional, and mental abuse at the school, describing it as a “prison,” adding:

“It was supposed to be a school, but [classes] were not the focus at all. From the moment I woke up until I went to bed, it was all day screaming in my face, yelling at me, continuous torture.”

She also alleged that staff would put students in solitary confinement for up to “20 hours a day.” Faculty would also allegedly hit and strangle students. Paris said:

“I was having panic attacks and crying every single day. I was just so miserable. I felt like a prisoner, and I hated life.”

Very tough stuff, especially for a mother to hear.

A few weeks ago, the New York native finally realized how “important” it was for her daughter that she sit down and watch, she explained:

“I said to her finally a few weeks ago, and then when I went to Washington with her, I said, ‘I’m just not ready to watch it.’ So when we got back, I did watch it, and we held hands. We held hands for an hour watching this thing, and just the energy that I was feeling from her and how relieved and happy that she was that I was watching.”

The fashion designer then added insight into her decision to send Paris away, referencing her husband Rick Hilton, noting she felt “so helpless,” saying:

“A lot of people understood that [we were] trying to help our daughter. We were trying to save Paris. I’m not that strict … we were worried. She was living in New York. She was sneaking out and sometimes didn’t come back home for three days, not going to school. So we put her in this boarding school, in this one, in this one. Gotta keep her away from the city and all these predators and people that wanted her to model.”

So many others have stories about the controversial Provo Canyon School, as well, so Kathy knows she’s not alone when it comes to feeling sick and shocked about what happened inside those walls. Listen to the full interview segment (below):