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The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- The Hilton who made the most noise in and out of court last
week wasn't named Paris.
Kathy Hilton, mother of the notorious party
girl, became a media magnet herself at her daughter's probation-violation
hearing Friday. She laughed when a city prosecutor argued that Paris deserved
jail time. When a judge ordered the 26-year-old Paris to serve 45 days in county
jail, Kathy Hilton blurted out: "May I have your autograph?"
She also
shared her feelings with reporters outside: "This is pathetic and disgusting, a
waste of taxpayer money with all this nonsense. This is a joke."
While
her media exposure doesn't rival that of her famous daughter, Hilton is no
stranger to the spotlight.
She was a guest star on "Happy Days" in 1977
and appeared on "The Rockford Files" in 1978. She hosted a program on QVC and
starred in her own NBC reality show in 2005, "I Want to Be a Hilton," in which
contestants competed for a chance to live like a socialite for a
year.
Accompanying Paris to court made Kathy Hilton a public face again.
She came as a concerned parent, said Dorian Traube, a professor of social work
at the University of Southern California.
"Anytime your kids stumble, you
question yourself as a parent," she said. "She has one daughter that's done
really well and another that keeps stumbling in the public eye. For a family
that's very prominent, it's probably quite humiliating."
It's common for
families to come and show support in high-profile court cases, Traube said, but
Hilton's outspoken behavior is a little unusual.
"Kathy Hilton acted as
if her daughter was a minor in the way she had to give a statement," Traube
said. "Not only is she enabling Paris' behavior, she's perpetuating
it."
Kathy Hilton's spokeswoman did not return calls for
comment.
Hilton was 19 when she gave birth to Paris in 1981, just two
years after marrying Rick Hilton, a real-estate developer and an heir to the
Hilton Hotel fortune. The couple have another daughter, Nicky, and two teenage
sons, Barron and Conrad.
She has publicly defended Paris before, calling
her "vulnerable."
"She's eccentric, she's herself and she never hurts
anybody," she told the London newspaper The Guardian in December 2005. "It
upsets me that she gets taken advantage of, but I think we've all learned to
deal with it."
Related news: Hilton files appeal of prison sentence
Gossip: Pals laughing at "Devastated" Paris
Video: Jail time too harsh for Paris?
