Barbara Walters Rejects Paris Hilton Interview

The Los Angeles Times reports that just before midnight Friday on the East coast, Paris Hilton’s mother Kathy called Barbara Walters her at home and said that the 26-year-old wanted to do the interview with the ABC host, no strings attached. Then around 2 a.m., Walters received a call from Paris Hilton herself. “She expressed her regret that all kinds of negotiations seemed to have gone outside her control and she only wanted to do this with Barbara,” said the ABC executive, who did not want to be identified discussing internal matters. In the morning, Walters received another message in her office from Hilton’s father, Rick, reiterating the family’s interest in having her do the story. Irked by the machinations, Walters and her producer David Sloan decided against it. The full story at latimes.com has since been removed/relocated.