Paris Hilton achieved the closure of an elite school where she studied and where children were abused
“There are no words to describe what it feels like to become the person you so desperately needed as a child.”
The state of Utah has officially revoked the license and ordered the closure of the well-known private boarding school Provo Canyon School. This is the same closed-type institution for teenagers where the famous model and businesswoman Paris Hilton spent a year in the late 1990s.
The authorities' decision was the result of a multi-year large-scale campaign that Hilton led against child abuse in similar centers.
According to Shannon Thoman-Black, Director of the Licensing Division of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, the decision to close was made after state regulators discovered a whole host of horrific child rights violations and safety rules there.
Inspections recorded instances of unjustified and cruel physical abuse of pupils, an acute shortage of staff, due to which children were left unsupervised. Management hired people "off the street," neglecting mandatory background checks and criminal records.
Back in May 2026, temporary restrictions were imposed on the school after staff refused to call an ambulance for a pupil with severe bodily injuries.
The institution's administration now has exactly 15 days to completely cease campus operations.
Paris Hilton first openly spoke about the nightmare of her teenage years in 2020 in the documentary "This Is Paris," and later, in 2023, even testified before the U.S. Congress advocating for the reform of closed boarding schools.
According to her, the institution's staff regularly beat children, stripped girls naked and forcibly locked them in solitary confinement cells, forcibly gave them unknown psychotropic pills, and male staff watched girls shower.
Upon learning of the Utah authorities' decision, Hilton issued a very emotional statement on social media: "There are no words to describe what it feels like to become the person you so desperately needed as a child. If I could go back and tell that little girl that one day she would help protect other children from what she endured, she wouldn't believe it," Hilton wrote.
“There are no words to describe what you feel when the changes you've fought and prayed for so long finally arrive. The state has confirmed what all survivors have always known: Provo Canyon School betrayed the children entrusted to it,” Hilton stated.
She also added in a comment: "I was one of those children.
I know what it’s like to call for help and realize no one is coming. The little girl inside me, who was once told no one would ever believe her, felt her truth acknowledged today. We spoke the truth. Always. No system or institution is too powerful to escape accountability when victims refuse to remain silent."
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