Rep: Nicole Richie Not in Rehab

Wed., May. 23, 2007 11:26 AM PDT by Joal Ryan

Nicole Richie isn't in rehab; she's in Glendale.

So said the Simple Life star's publicist Wednesday in response to tabloid reports that Paris Hilton's onscreen partner in hijinks was "back in rehab."

"Yes, she did go see her therapist, but she is sober," Richie's rep Nicole Perna told E! News. "Sobriety is an ongoing process. She is not in rehab, and is home in Glendale."

In addition to being Richie's current stated locale, Glendale is the Los Angeles-adjacent city where the reality star was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence last December. The 25-year-old pleaded innocent to the resulting misdemeanor charge. The next court date in the matter is scheduled for June 8, three days after Hilton is due to begin her jail stint for probation violations.

Richie and Hilton have been trading headlines for months. When Hilton wasn't making news for her DUI-related troubles, Richie was making news for a brief hospital stop (for dehydration, her camp said), and for a medical malady (low-blood sugar, her camp said).

On Wednesday, the National Enquirer and the Star said Richie was "back in rehab," albeit as an outpatient. It is that joint report which Richie's camp shot down: "This is such a non-story," the star's rep said.

In 2003, Richie did a month in rehab following an arrest for heroin possession.

"I was the one that put myself in rehab," Richie told Larry King Live guest host Ryan Seacrest in 2005. "I was the one that went to my parents and said, you know, 'I have a problem and I need to take care of it.'

"And, if I had a problem, then I would take care of it," Richie went on to say, referencing a long-rumored eating disorder, which she has long denied. "And one thing I've always been, I've been a lot of things but one thing I've always been is honest, and I would never lie and say that I didn't have a problem if I did."

Richie and Hilton's drama-filled year did not bring down their comedy reality show. Shooting on the fifth season of The Simple Life is complete. E! is set to air the premiere on Monday. (E! Online and E! Entertainment are divisions of E! Networks.)