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Paris Hilton reflects on friendship with Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears: 'So much has happened'

Hilton celebrated the trio's highs while reflecting on their lows.
Paris Hilton and Britney Spears spend another night out on the town. They started their Sunday evening at "Guy's" nightclub in West Hollywood and stayed til closing. Afterwards they went to a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel where Brandon Davis was thr
Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton were captured leaving a party in this image from 2006. Ben / Gabe / Dean / Bauer-Griffin
/ Source: TODAY

Plenty has transpired in the lives of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears in the 15 years since the paparazzi captured the iconic shot of the three woman squeezed in the front seat of Hilton’s car outside of the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2006.

Last week, Hilton, 40, took a moment to reflect on the photo and the trio's reign as the “Holy Trinity” well over a decade after the photo entered the pop culture zeitgeist. Even though she was on her honeymoon, Hilton released a new episode of her podcast "This is Paris," where she discussed the "iconic" photo and her relationship with Lohan and Spears.

Hilton looked back on the last few months for the group, noting that they’ve each experienced a massive life moment worth celebrating.

“I’m very proud of how far we’ve all come,” Hilton said.

"Fifteen years later, and just so much has happened in the past two weeks,” she continued. “I got married, Britney got her freedom back and engaged and then Lindsay just got engaged. I just love seeing how different our lives are now, and how much that we've grown up and just having love in our lives.”

The reality TV star was referring to the news that broke on November 12 that Spears’ 13-year-long conservatorship was finally terminated, two months after she got engaged to fiancée Sam Asghari.

Honoree Britney Spears attends the 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 12, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California.
Britney Spears attends an event in 2018. Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic

Hilton also had her happy ending with venture capitalist Carter Reum after the couple tied the knot on November 11, less than a year after their romantic engagement.

Despite their tumultuous relationship in the past, Hilton also shared a congratulatory message for Lohan, who announced last week that she was engaged to Bader Shammas.

"I also just saw that Lindsay got engaged, and I know that we've had our differences in the past, but I just wanted to say congratulations to her and that I am genuinely very happy for her,” Hilton said. “It just makes me so happy to see."

Lindsay Lohan attends the Channel 10 Marquee on Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 05, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia.
Lindsay Lohan in 2019. James Gourley / Getty Images

The “Paris in Love” star expressed that she is a different person now than in the drama-filled era when the 2006 car photo was taken.

"Things have happened but I'm an adult now," she said. "I just realize that a lot of that was just being immature. Yes, there have been people that have hurt me … I feel like now that I'm married and grown up and starting this next phase in my life, I don't want to have any of that negative energy. So I forgive anyone, anyone that’s hurt me in life. I think everything in life happens and you grow from it.”

Hilton attributed many of the trio's problems in the aughts to the media, describing it as “vicious” at the time. She reflected on some of the negative articles that were written about women during that period, most of which spun false narratives.

"In the 2000s, that's what it was all about. They loved pitting women against each other. That was their thing," she explained. "Every single tabloid cover would always have, ‘So and so hates this person,' ‘Feud,' just causing more drama than there even was.”

Back in March, Hilton discussed the same car photo on a different episode of her podcast called “This is…The Truth,” sharing some of the backstory behind the moment.

"That was a night that Britney and I went out, and we were at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and we were at our friend's party, and then we were deciding to leave because we wanted to go home," Hilton explained. "We were walking to the car and all the sudden got swarmed by tons of paparazzi. Just as we were walking to the car, that's when Lindsay came up. It was kind of awkward because we at this point we were having some drama."

Paris Hilton attends the 10th Annual LACMA ART+FILM GALA honoring Amy Sherald, Kehinde Wiley, and Steven Spielberg presented by Gucci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 06, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Paris Hilton in 2021.Presley Ann / Getty Images

After she and Lohan had an awkward exchange with the paparazzi about rumors that were swirling that the former “Simple Life” star had hit her friend, she described the moment as “weird.”

"All of the sudden, I looked over, and she's in my car. We weren't getting along, so I was polite," Hilton added. "It was really hard just to even get out of there, because I couldn't see just with all the cameras."

In retrospect though, Hilton chalked up their on-and-off friendship as them being “immature.”

“It’s just kind of like that high school drama, especially in the L.A. scene, and then also having to live it out in public with the media just constantly trying to stir things up and make things even worse than they are,” she said. “Back then, the media really enjoyed having girls feud with each other.”

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