LOS ANGELES •Paris Hilton did not dare leave her house for months after a sex tape of her was released.
She was traumatised after her former boyfriend, Rick Salomon, released a tape of the two of them having sex in 2003.
"It's really hurtful because, my whole life, I really looked up to Princess Diana, all these elegant, amazing women and I feel like (that tape) just took that all away from me," the former socialite told Marie Claire magazine.
"I could have been like that, but because of that tape, I will always be judged and thought of as whatever they say about me because of a private moment between my boyfriend and me.
"That is actually the one regret in my life. I wish that I had never met that guy. I was so depressed, humiliated. I didn't want to be seen in public," Hilton, 36, said.
She was 18 when the tape was made. Salomon reportedly netted US$10 million from the venture.
Hilton, who now oversees a thriving portfolio of products from perfumes to clothing, said: "That's one thing that really pisses me off when I hear it, because I never, ever received one dollar from that video."