Paris Hilton Says She “Wouldn't Be the Woman and Entrepreneur” She Is Today Without Having ADHD
"I have so much creativity inside of me."
From reality TV icon to business mogul and mom, Paris Hilton has always thrived while juggling multiple roles. The entrepreneur is perhaps the ultimate multi-hyphenate, and she says that living with ADHD has only fueled her “creativity” and resilience, both in the boardroom and at home.
Hilton tells Marie Claire that receiving a diagnosis in her twenties was “very healing.”
“I always just felt alone and just confused,” she says of her childhood. “I just felt no matter how hard I tried in school, it was just so hard for me to memorize things, and it was hard to focus, and my mind was always racing, and I had just such big emotions.”
Hilton says that when she looks back at her younger years now, it feels like puzzle pieces coming together. “It really gives me so much compassion for my younger self, and so much of my life makes so much sense now that I know,” she shares.
Hilton says that despite its challenges, having ADHD is part of the reason for her success.
Now that she’s a mother, the Simple Life star says her ADHD is part of what makes her a “fun mom and such a kid at heart.” Hilton shares 3-year-old son Phoenix and 2-year-old daughter London with husband Carter Reum, and she says being a mother has changed her priorities.
“With ADHD, I think it's just taught me so much about being inspiring,” she shares. “Being a mom, I want my kids to always feel like they can come and talk to me for anything, and that I’ll always be there to support them.”
She stresses the importance of Phoenix and London knowing “there’s a power in being different” when it comes time to talk about people who are neurodivergent. Hilton says she wants her kids to realize having a condition like ADHD is “something you should not be ashamed about,” emphasizing that there are many “strengths of it” along with the challenges of being neurodivergent.
“It is an amazing thing, but it also can be really difficult at times,” she says. “Things can get really overwhelming and we just feel emotions so, so big. So I think it’s just important to be able to talk about those things. And my babies are only two and three…but I’m thinking about everything all the time.”
Hilton is pictured with her daughter, London, and son, Phoenix, in January 2026.
Focusing on the strengths of having ADHD is something Hilton, who’s serving as a spokesperson for Collegium Pharmaceutical’s new campaign, “Embrace Your Sparkle,” is passionate about.
“I see my ADHD as my sparkle, and I want others to be able to feel like that as well, where they can really embrace their strengths and the things that they're passionate about,” she says. Along with the more challenging aspects of ADHD like time blindness and disorganization, Hilton shares that it’s important not to “only talk about the negative parts.”
“It's not that we can't focus. We just can't focus on boring things,” she says with a laugh. “We can hyperfocus like no other when we really love something and we're passionate about it. I feel like there's no one that can focus more than someone with ADHD.”
Hilton tells Marie Claire that she sees ADHD as a benefit when it comes to being a businesswoman. “I wouldn't be the woman and entrepreneur I am today without it,” she shares. “It's something that's given me where I'm always like, 10 steps ahead, seeing into the future. I have so much creativity inside of me, I'm always thinking outside the box. I always take risks and do things first.”
Hilton is focusing on embracing ADHD as her "sparkle."
As noted in a recent piece in The Cut, girls are often overlooked and left undiagnosed because ADHD presents differently in them versus the classic “hyperactive boy” stereotype. Today, more women like Paris are being diagnosed as adults thanks to an increased awareness of the condition versus in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Giving hope to others who have been newly diagnosed with ADHD is especially important for Hilton. “I have such deep empathy for people, and with my advocacy work, it's really inspired me for protecting children, and for also speaking about being neurodivergent, because growing up…no one, especially women, were talking about it at all,” she says.
“So, you know, I wish as a little girl, I had someone like me to look up to to be like, ‘Wow, she has ADHD too, and look how successful she is, and how much she's created, and, you know, the life that she has and lives is something I think is really inspirational and aspirational.’”
“I just want to talk about it more, just to give people hope and let them know that their mind is a beautiful thing, and they should embrace it,” Hilton adds.
