Paris Hilton and More Survivors Win Fight to Shut Down Former ‘Troubled Teen’ Facility

For the past six years, heiress Paris Hilton has used her platform to speak about the abuse she and other girls suffered at the “troubled teen” facility, Provo Canyon School in Utah, where she was forcibly taken in the middle of the night as a teenager. In her 2020 documentary This Is Paris, Hilton detailed the horrors she endured, like near-constant verbal abuse, forced medication, solitary confinement, and nonconsensual “cervical exams” performed by untrained staff. In 2021, Hilton and survivors of the troubled teen industry took their fight to Washington, urging lawmakers to shut down facilities like Provo, and as of Monday, Hilton and countless former students can now celebrate as state officials have ordered the school’s closure.

“For more than fifty years, children came forward with stories of abuse, neglect, and trauma,” Hilton said in a statement on Tuesday. “Today, the state confirmed what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care. I was one of those children. I know what it feels like to cry for help and believe no one is coming. Today, children still inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them.”

The school’s license has now been revoked, and it must cease all services by August 6 due to repeated infractions of failure to provide proper care and safety for students. In one incident brought before state officials, the campus failed to call emergency medical services after a physical assault left a student unconscious with severe head injuries.

“I’m still processing this incredible moment,” Hilton wrote on Instagram after the school’s closure was announced. “The news about Provo Canyon School is a reminder that change is possible when survivors refuse to stay silent. While this victory means so much, I know our work isn’t over. We will keep fighting until every child is safe. They tried to break our spirits, but they didn’t break our hearts.”

“What inspires me most is seeing so many survivors choose compassion over cruelty, hope over fear, and advocacy over silence. We were hurt, but we refused to become the people who hurt us,” she concluded. 

In December 2024, Hilton’s advocacy helped pass the bipartisan Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, a bill designed to strengthen protections for institutionalized youth and overall reform the for-profit troubled teen industry. Earlier this year, Hilton also threw her weight behind the DEFIANCE Act, which would allow victims of nonconsensual AI-generated intimate images to sue their creators. The bill has passed the Senate but has yet to become law.

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