Sarah Silverman Just Apologized to Paris Hilton for This Old Offensive Joke

A lot has changed in recent years regarding the treatment of celebrities, including how they're questioned in interviews, how they're talked about in tabloids, and how they're discussed by comedians, too. Now—in the wake of her 2020 documentary This Is Paris and the heightened attention on our treatment of young female celebrities due to a 2021 Britney Spears documentary—Paris Hilton has returned to the spotlight, discussing what she endured in the early aughts. The 40-year-old star has recently talked about an uncomfortable interview she had with David Letterman after her time in jail in 2007, as well as another offensive radio interview from 2011. Hilton also spoke out about Sarah Silverman making fun of her prison sentence when the comedian was hosting the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Now, Silverman has apologized to Hilton for her joke, and says she regretted it from the moment it happened.

Read on to see what the regrettable moment was, what Silverman has to say about Hilton now, and how Hilton responded to the apology. And for more on Hilton's recent look back on her time in the spotlight, check out This Resurfaced Paris Hilton Radio Interview Has Fans in an Uproar.

In Jan. 2007, Hilton had been sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to enter an alcohol education class after being arrested in Sept. 2006 for driving under the influence. Then, in May 2007, Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating her probation by driving without a valid license. Shortly thereafter, the MTV Movie Awards were held on June 3, 2007, and Hilton attended even though she was set to begin her jail time right after the show. Later that month, she was released after serving half of the sentence. At this point in time, the fifth and final season of Hilton's hit show The Simple Life was airing.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

Read more about celebs in the aughts with The Biggest '00s TV Teen Idols, Then and Now.

At the awards show, Silverman joked about Hilton in her monologue. "Paris Hilton is going to jail," Silverman said to immediate cheers from the crowd. "I heard that to make her feel more comfortable in prison, the guards are going to paint the bars to look like penises. I just worry that she's going to break her teeth on those things." The camera showed Hilton during the joke and she was clearly upset by the comment.

For more on another celebrity's treatment by the media, check out This Diane Sawyer Interview With Britney Spears Has People Outraged.

During the Mar. 1 episode of her podcast, This Is Paris, the host and her sister, Nicky Hilton, spoke about some of the past media treatment young stars like themselves faced in the 2000s. Nicky brought up Silverman's joke as an example of something that wouldn't happen today. "What Sarah Silverman did was so disgusting and so cruel and mean," Hilton responded. "And I was so shocked and surprised, because I had actually met her a few years before when I was at an event and she couldn't have been nicer. So sweet."

Hilton said that she was "obviously very nervous" the night of the award show, because she knew she was going to check herself into jail in a couple of hours, but she wanted to put on a brave face. "And then just to sit in the audience with her just literally publicly humiliating me, being so mean, so cruel. I was sitting there, wanting to die," Hilton said. "I was trying to hold back my tears so hard. … I wanted to run out of the entire room."

And for another early 2000s moment gaining attention now, check out This Resurfaced Oprah Interview With Mary-Kate and Ashley Has Fans Livid.

On her own podcast, The Sarah Silverman Podcast, on Mar. 4, Silverman said that she heard what Hilton had to say. She said she is "super down with reflecting on the past and my part in perpetuating real ugly s***" while taking into account growth that has happened over one's life, too. "I did not know that she was coming to the event, which is neither here nor there, but just the truth. I didn't know also that she would be going directly from the event to jail that night," Silverman said.

"While I was thrilled at the success of my monologue, I remember spotting her in the audience," she continued. "I remember seeing that look on her face and my heart sank, because there was a person under there."

Silverman said she wrote Hilton a letter apologizing a couple of days after the show, but she didn't know that Hilton hadn't received it until hearing Hilton's podcast. "Here I am, 14 years later, telling you, Paris, that I am really sorry," Silverman said. "I was then, and I am much more completely and with far more understanding, I think, now. I can't imagine what you were going through at that time."

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After hearing Silverman's apology, Hilton released a short episode of her podcast to address it. She said she was "pleasantly surprised" when she heard that Silverman had apologized. "I wasn't expecting an apology. I wasn't asking for one," Hilton said.

"She basically made an eight-and-a-half minute apology to me. And she was so genuine and so sweet, and it really moved me. I felt emotional hearing it," Hilton said. She also confirmed that she never received the letter from Silverman back in 2007.

Hilton said that she did always think Silverman was funny when she wasn't making jokes that made fun of people. "It's nice to hear that she's had a lot of time to reflect on that, as well. Not just my situation with her, but other situations, as well," Hilton said.

And for more on young women navigating fame, find out How Mary-Kate & Ashley Stopped Elizabeth Olsen From Being a Child Star.