USA: Music video that spoofs Paris Hilton's jail time makes comedians hot ticket on the internet

Record ID: 677427

  • Title: USA: Music video that spoofs Paris Hilton's jail time makes comedians hot ticket on the internet
  • Date: 22nd June 2007
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 15, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SEAN HAINES, CO- CREATOR OF 'PARIS IN JAIL: THE MUSIC VIDEO' ON THE IDEA BEHIND MAKING THE VIDEO, SAYING: "The world is fascinated with Paris (Hilton), she's incredible with exploiting herself and her image, the press follows her every move, no matter what she does. She's done some things that are kind of dubious, so now people are seeing her get her come-uppance,"
  • Embargoed: 7th July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA4CCWDQV7HXGS6KHRJKBRSC1P
  • Story Text: Comedians Allan Murray and Sean Haines are riding the wave of the public's perplexing fascination with Paris Hilton. Their music video "Paris in Jail: The Music Video," revamps Hilton's quasi-hit "Stars are Blind" by spoofing her current time in jail.
    "The world is fascinated with Paris, she's incredible with exploiting herself and her image, the people follows her every move, no matter what she does. She's done some things that are kind of dubious, so now people are seeing her get her come uppance," explained Haines, adding that their spoof is done without malice.
    The video features a Hilton look alike and takes shots of fellow party girls Britney Spears and Lyndsay Lohan. Murray told Reuters the inspiration behind the project.
    "In the very beginning with Paris, when she was about to go to jail, in and out of commercials, the news would play, "The Stars are Blind." The lyrics would go, "I don't mind spending some time" and in my brain I'm going "I don't mind being confined" or "I don't mind doing some time." So, I called Sean and I said I think we have a parody," laughed Murray.
    The video first appeared on the comic's website OMovies.com and then "exploded" with hits after appearing on YouTube.
    "I think were at five-million hits, in eight days. That's pretty good," explained Murray, in crediting YouTube in helping to market their video. Overall, Murray said it's the No. 1 streamed video for the month of June.
    Meanwhile, Hilton has already served more time behind bars than most people for similar probation offences, a Los Angeles Times investigation concluded on Thursday (June 15), as authorities announced yet another move for the jailed socialite.
    The newspaper's findings came as detractors accused the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department of giving preferential treatment to Hilton, who has become a symbol of privilege and the excesses of America's celebrity culture.
    Five days after being returned to jail from a 24-hour stint under house arrest, the blond, willowy hotel heiress was transferred late on Wednesday from a county jail's medical ward back to the detention centre where her incarceration began 12 days ago.
    Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said on Thursday that Hilton's "medical condition is stable" and that she would be housed for now at the health clinic of the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, a Los Angeles suburb. Hilton, 26, was expected to be released on June 25, Whitmore said. Whitmore declined to discuss her condition. But celebrity Web site TMZ.com cited law enforcement sources as saying that Hilton suffers panic attacks when confined to a small space.
    Hilton originally was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating probation in a drunken-driving case by driving on a suspended license. But her term was cut to 23 days under a standard credit applied for time served on good behaviour.
    A Los Angeles Times analysis found that 80 percent of Los Angeles County inmates sentenced for similar offences since July 2002 have served less time than Hilton will end up doing. She already has served more time than at least 60 percent of those prisoners, it said.
    Hilton originally was booked into the Lynwood facility on June 2 and spent three full days there before Sheriff Lee Baca, who oversees the jail system, reassigned her last Thursday to home detention under electronic monitoring.
    Baca cited unspecified psychological problems affecting Hilton's medical condition as the reason for his decision, which drew immediate fire from prosecutors, the judge who presided over Hilton's case and angry members of the public.
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