Pledge This! Paris Caught Up in Ponzi Scheme
Hilton heiress once again finds herself in a situation that she had no clue about
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 6:39 PM CST, Thu, Jul 9, 2009
First, when asked by attorneys about who pays her bills, the heiress responded with a "Beats me. I didn't know I had bills."
Now it turns out the witless one's acting debut was actually the centerpiece in a Ponzi scheme that has now landed her in a lawsuit.
A federal lawsuit went to trial Thursday in Miami and attorneys told a judge Hilton didn't do enough to promote the 2006 sorority hijinks movie "Pledge This!" and is seeking about $8 million in damages from Hilton and her company, Paris Hilton Entertainment Inc.
"During the six-month period, at no time would she take 10 minutes to do a phone interview," attorney Bryan West, who represents the investors, said in opening statements.
That's so not true, Hilton's attorneys rebutted, with the heiress doing her best bobble-head impersonation in the background. Paris, who flew all the way from Dubai where she is filming episodes for her reality TV series "My New BFF, " is supposed to take the stand Friday.
The lawsuit was filed because proceeds of the movie were supposed to pay off the debts of Miami producerJack Utsick, who owes investors $300 million whom he jilted in a Ponzi scheme. Utsick lost a lawsuit earlier this year filed by 3,300 people who claim the producer lied to investors and blew their money.
Part of that money was used to produce "Pledge This," arguably the worst movie in cinema history. And poor Hilton is stuck in the middle.
In a deposition, Hilton said she tried her best to publicize the movie by doing promotional events at the Cannes Film Festival in France, appearing at the movie's Chicago premiere and generally mentioning it publicly whenever possible.
"Any chance I got, any red carpet, any press, if I was doing something for another product, even if I wasn't asked about it, I would just bring it up," she said.
Not that her promotion would have done much good to encourage people to see the movie, she may still be on the hook for Utsick's transgressions.
Meanwhile, Utsick is living it up in Brazil, where he can't be prosecuted on criminal charges.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Dallas-Fort Worth
First Published: Jul 8, 2009 2:54 PM CST
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