Was Nicole Richie Upset By Paris Hilton’s Sex Tape? Watch

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There’s nothing worse than losing your best friends -- especially when you’re both famous. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were the queens of celebrity reality TV shows in the early aughts. They were introduced to American living rooms with the show A Simple Life in 2003.

The show was a an instant hit, which was mainly attributed to the curiosity surrounding the hotel heiress. A leaked sex tape co-starring Hilton and her then-boyfriend, Rick Salomon, went viral on the internet just before the first episode of the reality show aired.

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Observers began to notice the two childhood friends made fewer public appearances together, and appeared to be on the outs by the spring of 2005. It was rumored that Richie showed Hilton’s sex tape at a party to celebrate her Saturday Night Live stint in February 2005.

Neither parties spoke about what officially caused the rift, but Hilton released a statement that read: “It’s no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends. Nicole knows what she did, and that’s all I’m ever going to say about it.”