Paris Hilton speaks out on closure of boarding school where she was allegedly abused as a teenager
A boarding school which Paris Hilton compared to 'prison' is set to close its doors after the state of Utah revoked its operating licence.
Officials announced that from Monday (6 July) the Provo Canyon School's campus in the city of Springville would be stripped of its ability to operate due to a number of noncompliance issues.
Hilton, who alleged she was the victim of 'continuous torture' there as a teen, has celebrated the news on social media and said she has been 'waiting years' for this.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services revealed the school's license has been revoked due to a myriad of concerning citations, which date back to 2025.
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Documents state that the school failed to provide 'applicable health and safety services for clients'.
The Provo Canyon School's citations include: failing to increase staff-to-client ratios, engaging in unnecessary restraint and aggressive physical contact with a client, neglecting care, and not verifying employee information or submitting timely background checks for applicants. Staff were also not trained adequately.
The Provo Canyon School now has 15 days to request a hearing with Utah officials in a bid to reverse the decision. According to Fox13, the school must shut it's doors completely by 6 August if not.
Mother-of-two Hilton, 45, has said this is her 'dream' come true and what she has spent the last few years working towards.
She has been one of the people trying to dismantle what is dubbed 'the troubled teen industry'.
Parents struggling to cope with the behaviour of their children in the US send them to outdoor wilderness programmes and residential facilities to supposedly get them on the right track.
Former students like Hilton paint a very different picture of what they experienced there though, as the Simple Life star described her time at the Provo Canyon School as deeply traumatising.
In her 2020 documentary This Is Paris, she claimed that she was physically and mentally abused by staff at the school, she was sent to solitary confinement and prescription medication was forced down her throat.
She told viewers that she believes Provo Canyon School employees 'got off' on 'torturing children and seeing them naked', or humiliating them.
Hilton previously told Sky News that she found the process of creating This Is Paris and meeting other survivors of the troubled teen industry to be a healing experience.
Discussing the response she received from fans after its debut, she said: "People saying thank you so much for being so brave. I haven't ever told anyone this either because I was just so traumatised and didn't want to talk about it. "Just the fact that it's helping make change makes it all worth it to me that I said my story and that I even went through this.
"At first I was very nervous and when I was even in the editing room [for the documentary], I was like, we need to cut this out, I don't want anyone hearing about this.
"I'm getting an outpouring of emails and people contacting me, survivors who have been at the same school, parents who, because they saw the trailer, have pulled their children out of there."
Hilton - who shares son Phoenix and daughter London with husband Carter Reum - gleefully celebrated the news that the Provo Canyon School's license has been revoked in a post on X on Tuesday (7 July).
The businesswoman, model, DJ and heiress wrote: "I’ve been waiting years to write this. The place that hurt me, and countless children before and after me, will no longer be allowed to operate.
"The children inside are going to be removed. The dream I’ve had to protect future generations from the abuse I endured is finally happening. #ShutDownPCS #Survivor."
In a statement, Hilton also added: "For more than fifty years, children came forward with stories of abuse, neglect, and trauma.
"Today, the state confirmed what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care. I was one of those children.
"I know what it feels like to cry for help and believe no one is coming. Today, children still inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them."
A spokesperson for the school told LADbible in a statement: "We disagree with the state's decision to revoke Provo Canyon School's Springville Campus license and are evaluating all available legal and administrative options, including an appeal. As this is an ongoing matter, we are limited in what we can say at this time.
"Our priority remains providing safe, high-quality care and support for adolescents and their families, and we remain committed to serving those in need."
Olivia Burke