The 2003 fish-out-of-water reality show, The Simple Life was a takeoff on the 1960s sitcom Green Acres, with city girls Hilton and Nicole Richie, daughter of singer Lionel Richie, spending a month on a farm in Altus, Arkansas. A big hit, the show spawned sequels in 2004 and 2005. By coincidence, the original Green Acres starred Eva Gabor, the sister of Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was married to Paris Hilton's great-grandfather Conrad Hilton

In 2004 Hilton released a book, Confessions of an Heiress.

As an actress, Paris has appeared in several minor roles, most notably in the 2001 high fashion satire Zoolander, with Ben Stiller, in which she appeared as herself, and in the 2005 horror film House of Wax.

Paris Hilton is also a partner in an Orlando nightclub, Club Paris, which opened in 2004.

In 2006 Paris released the self-titled album Paris which reached number six on the Billboard 200. In September 2006, she was arrested for driving under the influence and subsequently sentenced to 36 months probation and had her license suspended. In February 2007, she was stopped for driving at 70 mph in a 35mph zone and charged with violating her probation. Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in jail.

Known to the tabloids as "Paris the Heiress," She is the great-granddaughter of hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, granddaughter of Barron Hilton, grand-niece of Nicholas Conrad "Nicky" Hilton (the one-time husband of Elizabeth Taylor) and daughter of real estate magnate Rick Hilton.