USA: Lodging heiress Paris Hilton makes first public comment on drunk driving charge

Celebrity socialite Paris Hilton was arrested in Hollywood on Thursday on suspicion of drunken driving, but she said the incident had been blown out of proportion and that she may have been speeding to get a late-night burger. Hilton, 25, the heiress to the Hilton hotel dynasty known for her hard-partying lifestyle, was pulled over by police in Hollywood at around 1 a.m. for driving erratically. She told KIIS-FM radio in an interview on Thursday morning that she had been to a charity fund-raiser party after a long day shooting a music video and had just one margarita. "I had one margarita (and) was starving because I had not eaten all day," she said. "Maybe I was speeding a little bit and I got pulled over. I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out Burger." The star of reality show "The Simple Life," who had a surprise summer hit with her first pop single "Stars are Blind", said that as usual there were a lot of photographers around. "I think they (the police) wanted to make a statement. They even said 'there are a lot of people watching. We don't want them to think we are giving you special treatment'," Hilton said. Police said Hilton failed a sobriety test but she has not been charged with any offence. That decision will be made by the Los Angles County District Attorney in the next few days. Hilton's publicist Elliot Mintz, who picked up his client from the police station, said Hilton was affected more than usual by the one drink she had because it was "one drink on an empty stomach after a full day's work". The incident made national headlines on Thursday. Hilton shot to fame for an amateur sex video that showed up on the Internet in 2003. Her party-going and complex love life have ensured that she has rarely been off the celebrity radar since. Earlier this year, a judge ordered Hilton to stay away from a Los Angeles party planner who accused her of bombarding him with angry phone calls, shoving him and threatening his life.

ITN Source | September 14, 2006

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