Paris Hilton
© AFP/File Fabrice Coffrini June 22, 2007(Sawf News): After NBC denied reports of agreeing to pay $1 million to the Hiltons for a post jail interview Thursday, the Hiltons wanting to secure a deal went back to ABC with the offer which the network
LAtimes.com reports, in the hours following NBC’s announcement saying their news division had no commitment from Hilton and does not pay for interviewing the Heiress and her family — apparently fearful of losing a major network interview altogether — tried to renew discussions with ABC through a flurry of personal calls in the middle of the night to anchor Barbara Walters.
According to an ABC executive familiar with the situation, just before midnight eastern time, Paris' mother, Kathy, a friend of the ABC anchor, called Walters at home and said that the jailed heiress wanted to do the interview with her, no strings attached.
Kathy’s call was followed by a call at 2 a.m. from Paris herself.
To speak with Walters, Paris called her aunt from jail, who then connected her to Walters through a three-way call.
“[Paris] expressed her regret that all kinds of negotiations seemed to have gone outside her control and she only wanted to do this with Barbara," said the ABC executive, who did not want to be identified discussing internal matters.
The Rick Hilton, Paris’s father, grew anxious Friday morning and left a phone message for Walters, before she arrived at her office in the morning, reiterating the family's interest in having ABC do the story.
But ultimately, Walters and her producer David Sloan — disturbed by the machinations — decided against it. Sloan spoke to Rick Hilton this morning to inform the family of the decision, the network executive said.
News Copyright © Sawf News. May not be reproduced without explicit written permission