The Biggest Lie Paris Hilton Told The World About Britney Spears
The selfie has become a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. Actor Michael B. Jordan's shirtless selfie encouraged people to get out and vote in the 2020 election. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres pulled off the selfie of the decade in 2014 when she crammed all the A-list stars in the front row at the Academy Awards into one photo. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West even published an entire book of countless selfies — including the ones she took while driving sister Khloe Kardashian to jail.
The art of the perfect selfie usually involves a Hollywood bod, professional makeup and, if you are lucky, great lighting. But when was the first selfie taken? Well, according to socialite Paris Hilton, that would be November 2006, when she and pop star Britney Spears smiled together for a quick photo. The hotel heiress took to Twitter to celebrate, once again, the first selfie, posting the 2006 photo of her and fellow blonde, Britney Spears, with the hashtag #legendsonly.
Fourteen years later, however, fans are questioning whether Hilton's bold proclamation about the two "legends" holds true — and the general consensus does not look too good for Hilton.
Did Paris Hilton really take the first selfie?
Paris Hilton first made the claim that she and friend Britney Spears originated the selfie in 2017, when the reality star tweeted two photos of the pals on a night out in 2006. Fans, however, quickly turned down the Simple Life star, citing multiple instances that came before the Hilton-Spears collaboration. The New York Times reported that selfies supposedly date back to 1839, when Robert Cornelius turned on a timer so he could run into his photo. The Times also noted that the term "selfie" became popular back in 2002, long before the two iconic blondes joined one another for a photo in 2006.
So did Hilton have anything to do with the first selfie? As on-brand as that would be for the socialite, all signs point to no. Yet, it seems Hilton plans to continue sharing this lie about her old friend Britney Spears for years to come. In 2020, Hilton yet again shared the "selfie" of her and Spears out on the town in 2006 in a tweet, captioning the photo yet again "14 years ago, @britneyspears and I invented the selfie." Sure, that might not be true, but we have no plans to discourage Hilton's annual walk down memory lane!