| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
LOS ANGELES: Paris Hilton has parted company with her long-time manager who she blamed for the events that led to her jail sentence for driving on a suspended license, reports said Monday.
The celebrity socialite was handed a 45-day stay in prison after a dramatic Los Angeles court hearing on Friday where she was found to have violated her parole for drink-driving by twice taking to the wheel while banned.
Hilton, 26, testified that she had only been driving on the advice of her manager Elliot Mintz, who she claimed had told her she was allowed to drive and that police officers who had stopped her must be mistaken.
In a statement reported by celebrity website TMZ.com, Mintz said he accepted the blame for the "misunderstanding" which means the Hilton hotel heiress will spend over six weeks in jail starting from June 5.
Mintz said in the statement he had sent an email to Hilton "offering my sincerest apology for any misunderstanding she received from me regarding the terms of her probation."
"I am deeply and profoundly sorry. I told her that I assume personal responsibility for my part in this matter," Mintz said, adding that he was convinced Hilton had told the truth in court.
"I believe when stated in court that she believed it was OK for her to drive under certain circumstances she was being absolutely truthful.
"Due to this misunderstanding, I am no longer representing Paris," he said.
"Paris is a wonderful person and does not deserve the punishment that was handed down by the court."
In her first comments since receiving the prison sentence, Hilton told photographers camped outside her home in the Hollywood Hills on Saturday that she had been treated unfairly.
"I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted. I don't deserve this," she said.
Hilton, the star of "The Simple Life" reality television show, must report to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood by June 5 or risk being ordered to serve 90 days in jail.
Hilton's lawyer Howard Weitzman described the sentence as "uncalled for, inappropriate and bordering on the ludicrous" and on Monday it was confirmed an appeal had been filed to the court.
Grounds for the appeal were not given but Hilton's lawyers must prove that the trial judge erred by imposing the prison sentence. - AFP/fa
|
