Paris is famous, because before the TV series, she got her faces into magazines by being a party hopper. She was just some rich guy's little girl, but this allowed her to get into parties with people like Edward Furlong. She'd attach to someone like him when he was popular post-Terminator, and then party him into obscurity with booze, coke and the rest. In the average magazine it would be "Here's a shot of Edward Furlong!..and Hilton daughter Paris." Then the famous person would bomb out, and it would just be her left. She just partied her way into celeb status, getting her face into magazines concerned with who she was around more than her. Eventually it paid off.