The Mysterious and Dramatic End to Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie's Friendship

Updated on 8/5/2017 at 5:00 PM

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were best friends for what felt like forever. The two grew up together in Hollywood and even starred in their own reality TV show, The Simple Life, from 2003 until 2007. But as friendships sometimes go, the two drifted apart, or, more specifically, really started hating each other out of nowhere. For Nicole and Paris, it all went down in early 2005 when they abruptly stopped speaking. While it's still unclear what led to their brief falling out, it was rumored that Nicole showed Paris's infamous sex tape at a party celebrating Paris's February 2005 Saturday Night Live hosting gig. Although their friendship never seemed to return to what it once was, Nicole and Paris appear to be on good terms now.

April 2005: Paris spoke out about their rift for the first time in a statement, saying, "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."
November 2005: Nicole later stopped by the Today show and briefly discussed their feud, saying that she and Paris "just grew apart" and that it "just turned into a much bigger thing than it is." "It's just not part of my life," she said. Nicole also addressed reports that Paris was trying to replace her on The Simple Life with Kimberly Stewart, saying, "That was never going to happen."
October 2006: Nicole and Paris appeared to put their feud to rest when they were spotted having dinner together at LA restaurant Dan Tana's. "They looked like best friends to me," a fellow diner told People. "It seemed as if they had never gotten into a fight. They were laughing really loud and seemed more than happy to be together. There wasn't a slow moment in their conversation — they chatted non-stop. They left hand-in-hand, smiling." Paris's publicist, Elliot Mintz, also released a statement to the publication, saying, "They had a meal last night. It's not my place to say what was discussed or the nature of the meal. But it's a good thing when people have a meal together." When asked if they were best friends again, Elliot replied, "I wouldn't characterize it that way because I don't know if it was a business or personal discussion. Let's just watch it unfold."
The ladies finally reconciled on the fifth season of The Simple Life: Goes to Camp. In the season's first episode, the duo re-created their real-life reconciliation and hugged it out. "I don't even know why we're fighting. I think it's just the tabloids," Paris told Nicole, to which Nicole replied, "I just want to let you know half the things that the tabloids said that I said were not true."
December 2010: Nicole tied the knot with Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden, and Paris was noticeably absent. Despite various reports, Paris was invited to the wedding, but she had another commitment. "This was planned months ago," a source told E! News. "Paris sent Nicole and Joel a wedding gift to congratulate them and wishes them both the best."
July 2014: During a stop on Watch What Happens Live, Nicole told Andy Cohen that she has nothing but love for Paris. "Paris is somebody that's been in my life since day one," she said. "An idea of a true friend is somebody that's going to be there with you through and through . . . I haven't spoken to her in a while, but we are very good friends. I love her and I love her family. I have a lot of respect for her."
April 2015: Paris celebrated Throwback Thursday on Instagram with a childhood snap of her and Nicole dressed up as Tinker Bell. "#Tinkerbells ✨🌟👯🌟✨ #RIPTinkerbell ✨🐺✨ #TBT," she captioned it.
November 2016: While promoting her perfume Gold Rush in Australia, Paris couldn't help but gush about Nicole in an interview, saying, "(Nicole) is literally the funniest person I've ever met in my whole life. She's always cracking me up."