NBC, ABC Kill Plans for Paris Hilton Interview

By Michele Greppi

NBC has killed its plans for a Paris Hilton interview and Barbara Walters, ABC’s queen of the big celebrity sitdown, has told representatives of the so-called celebutante’s family that she has no interest in doing the interview, according to sources familiar with the situation at both networks.

On Friday afternoon came word that NBC News suddenly called off the plans it was putting in motion to have "Today" co-anchor Meredith Vieira do the first post-incarceration interview with Ms. Hilton in an exclusive that would carry a $1 million price tag.

Ms. Hilton is scheduled to be released from a Los Angeles jail next week after completing her sentence for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.

There was no immediate word about the change of plans from NBC News, whose spokesperson earlier had said, "A million dollars is not changing hands" and that she had nothing to announce.

A source familiar with what was going on in the Walters camp at ABC News said that late Thursday, Ms. Hilton’s mother, Kathy, called Ms. Walters to see what could be done to get the interview back on track after the prospect of interviews on other networks arose.

According to the ABC source, a Hilton aunt called Ms. Walters in the middle of the night and patched Ms. Hilton herself through from the Los Angeles jail.

Ms. Hilton is said to have apologized for the unexpected run-around regarding the interviews. Ms. Hilton reportedly said that she hadn’t wanted to give her interview to anyone but Ms. Walters. Ms. Walters had dutifully reported on her show "The View" the contents of a phone conversation she had with Ms. Hilton during the young woman’s first weekend in jail.

Then Paris’ father, Rick Hilton, left a message for Ms. Walters about getting the interview back on track for no fee, the ABC source said. After talking the matter over with ABC News magazine executive David Sloan, Ms. Walters told Mr. Hilton that she was no longer interested in a sit-down with Ms. Hilton.

Even though more than one person had been led to believe they had the inside track to a first post-incarceration interview, Ms. Hilton rang up E! Entertainment anchor Ryan Seacrest before her release and gave him an interview.

She told him: "I'm so much more grateful for everything that I have, even just to have a pillow at night or food. You know my gratitude has gone up so much and I just realize that the media used me to make fun of and be mean about it. [I'm] sick of it and I want to use my fame in a good way."

(Editor: Baumann)

What do you think of the networks plans to interview Paris Hilton, and their subsequent decisions to shelve those plans? Leave your comments below.