By April MacIntyre Jul 11, 2009, 15:26 GMT
Paris Hilton, the jet-setting socialite who has done time in the clinker, and who has had her embarrassing personal medical records exposed when a public storage unit of hers was confiscated, is in Miami on trial for a breach of contract that allegedly stipulated she was required to promote the film, "Pledge This!"
Paris Hilton -Paris Hilton, the jet-setting socialite who has done time in the clinker, and who has had her embarrassing personal medical records exposed when a public storage unit of hers was confiscated, is in Miami on trial for a breach of contract that allegedly stipulated she was required to promote the film, "Pledge This!" © Bob Charlotte / PR Photos
Hilton was paid $1 million to star in a movie that barely made a profit, and the producers have sued the leggy MTV star claiming she fell short of her duties promoting the film abroad.
In a Miami courtroom on Friday, the Miami Herald recorded some of Paris' claims on the stand.
''Any time I was on a red carpet, any time I was at an event, I was promoting it the whole time,'' Hilton said of Pledge This!, "Any project I'm involved with, I want to give it my all.''
Hilton's civil case being tried in the courtoom of Judge Federico Moreno sans jury.
According to the Miami Herald, Hilton's 2004 contract required her to promote the movie, leaving both sides to argue what that entailed, exactly.
Michael Goldberg v. Paris Hilton Entertainment exposed the pay for play world of celebrity appearance fees, endorsements and large contracts given for cameos and film appearances.
Hilton's Los Angeles attorney, Michael Weinsten, had Hilton explain her branding value to the court.
''I want to protect my brand,'' Hilton said, "My brand is my business.''
Hilton, according to the reporters attending the hearing, tried to charm the judge with her patented obtuse comments she deliberately uses to feign an air-headedness.
''I'm an Aquarius,'' she told the judge when he asked about her entourage of assistants. "So I'm very creative. I do the creativity, and they do the business.''
Even her MTV show was plugged in the exchanges with Judge Moreno. Hilton told Moreno: ''You're my best judge, forever.''
According to the Herald, the film Pledge This! has even bigger legal issues other than if Paris hawked the film adequately. The film backers Worldwide Entertainment Group, of Miami Beach company, was found out to be a $300 million Ponzi scheme, and subsequently shut down by federal regulators in April 2006, before the movie's release. Over 3000 investors were bilked in the deal.
Goldberg is suing Hilton claiming that nine requests to promote the movie overseas were ignored.
''She had time to drive on a suspended license, and come out of nightclubs, but she didn't have time to promote our movie?'' Goldberg told the court, relaying how he tried to mollify frantic investors. He reportedly told the court that he begged Hilton's staff for even "a minor Pledge This! boost" so he could tell investors "this spoiled brat didn't take your money.''
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