A leaked sex tape cemented rather than destroyed Hilton’s stardom

Evidence

But Hilton, guided by crisis communications expert Dan Klores, weathered the storm. She reframed herself as a victim of exploitation, declined most interviews, and made a self-deprecating appearance on Saturday Night Live. The tape, rather than ruining her, further cemented her status as a cultural phenomenon. By the end of 2004, she was one of Barbara Walters’s “10 Most Fascinating People,” alongside the founders of Google and conservative political mastermind Karl Rove. Ariel Levy summed up Hilton’s paradoxical appeal: “Paris Hilton isn’t some disgraced exile of our society. On the contrary, she is our mascot.” — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 147

Categorization

• SEED: Potential essay angle: how 2001-2004 was the hinge moment when scandal flipped from death sentence to asset — before social media made self-scandal routine.