Paris Bounced from Club
Sure, you might think Paris Hilton's a party girl. But as far as the owner of two nightspots bearing her name is concerned, she doesn't go clubbing nearly enough.
Fred Khalilian, the owner of Club Paris in Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida, recently cut ties with Hilton after she failed to live up to an agreement to occasionally show her face at the nightclubs bearing her name.
Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, had no comment on the situation.
Though Hilton was contracted to appear at the clubs at least four times a year, Khalilian said she only showed up twice at the Orlando location in the two years since it has been open—once for the grand opening party on New Year's Eve 2005, to which she arrived six hours late, and once on her birthday.
He said he was tired of disappointing club patrons with an empty promise that the heiress might one day materialize.
"The reality is, I couldn't take it anymore," Khalilian told E! Online. "I don't want a bait and switch."
Khalilian took exception to media reports claiming he had "fired" Hilton, stating that wasn't accurate. However, he confirmed that the socialite would no longer be associated with the club, and that Club Paris would refer instead to the city.
The Florida entrepreneur stressed that he was fond of Hilton as a person, just not as a business partner.
"She's a wonderful person, and I was honored to know her," he said.
"But I'm moving on. The damage is done…as Justin Timberlake said in his song."
Khalilian said he has invested millions in the clubs, but declined to discuss the specific financial terms of his agreement with Hilton. However, he denied that he paid her $1 million for the use of her name, as has been widely reported.
He confirmed that he had gifted Hilton with an array of luxury cars, including a $550,000 custom Mercedes McLaren, which he said he had shipped to her after she failed to show up at the opening of the Jacksonville club in June 2006, and for which he was never thanked.
It was at that point, he said, he realized he needed to reevaluate his professional dealings with the "Stars Are Blind" singer.
Since ending his business dealings with Hilton, Khalilian said that he has spoken with no one from her camp regarding his decision.
"When she's done with you, she's done with you," Khalilian said.
Meanwhile, rather than trying to replace Hilton with one of her starlet peers—a choice he said he made out of respect for the heiress—Khalilian is preparing to launch a nationwide search for the next Miss Club Paris USA, who will serve as the new face of the nightclub chain.
Contestants will be gradually narrowed down from a pool of 300 finalists, with the top 18 women in the contest guaranteed a spot in the Miss Club Paris USA calendar. The winner will receive a luxury apartment for a year, her choice of a Mercedes or Ferrari to drive during that time, a reasonable salary and all of her expenses paid.
The audition process will reportedly be turned into a reality series, though Khalilian declined to offer many details, explaining that the deal was not yet finalized.
Hilton, on the other hand, will soon resume work on the fifth season of The Simple Life, alongside her reinstated best friend Nicole Richie. Production on the series was put on hold in October, while Richie entered diagnostic treatment to determine why she was having difficulty gaining weight.
The upcoming season features the celebutantes working as camp counselors in Malibu and will air on E! Entertainment Television. (E! Online and E! Entertainment are divisions of E! Networks.)




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