Hilton to end 'dumb act'

Paris Hilton says she has had enough of her "dumb" act.

The socialite revealed her new outlook in a weekend phone call from a prison medical ward where she is serving out a 45-day sentence for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

“I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute,” Miss Hilton said during the call, according to an account posted by to Barbara Walters on ABC’s website.

“It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me.”

After spending three days in jail last week, Hilton was briefly released to electronically monitored home confinement last Thursday for an undisclosed medical condition. An outraged judge sent her back to jail on Friday.

According to ABC News, the call came after Hilton’s mother, Kathy, phoned Ms Walters. During the conversation, Paris Hilton called her mother on another line, found out her mother was talking to Ms Walters, and then called Walters.

Hilton reiterated assertions that jail has changed her: “Now, I would like to make a difference. … God has given me this new chance.”

In a related development, civil rights leader the Rev Al Sharpton met Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca yesterday and told reporters afterwards that Hilton’s situation exemplified an unfair legal system.

“People who cannot afford the best lawyers, people who cannot afford the best doctors are not going to get an early release,” Rev Sharpton said.

Baca has denied giving any special treatment to Hilton by reassigning her to home detention.

Also yesterday, a claim against the county was announced by a black woman who has a prosthetic leg and was recently an inmate at the same jail where Hilton was held last week.

Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, said Pamela Richardson, 51, also “had serious medical issues” but was treated more badly than Hilton. A claim against a US government entity is a precursor to a lawsuit.