Paris Hilton recalls iconic ‘holy trinity’ shot on 18th anniversary

Paris Hilton recalled the “holy trinity” with Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.

The media personality marked the 18th anniversary of a legendary paparazzi photo of herself, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan by celebrating the moment on Instagram.

“18 years ago today, this photo became the moment that defined an era,” Hilton wrote on Wednesday alongside the iconic image. “@BritneySpears, @LindsayLohan and me – the holy trinity. Instantly iconic #LovesIt #Sliving #Y2K.”

The snap, taken in November 2006 as the trio left a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, quickly became a pop culture phenomenon.

However, Hilton later revealed that the night was not as carefree as it appeared.

Speaking on her podcast, This is Parisin 2021, Hilton explained that the photo captured an awkward interaction between herself and Lohan, who were arguing at the time.

“(Britney and I) walked to the car and all of a sudden it was flooded with tons of paparazzi,” Hilton recalled. “Just as we were walking to the car, that’s when Lindsay came up. It was a little awkward because we had some drama.”

The drama stemmed from a video in which Lohan had accused Hilton of hitting her. Hilton said she invited the paparazzi to ask Lohan about the claim directly.

“At that moment, I saw Lindsay walking toward us and I said, ‘Why don’t you just ask her?'” Hilton recalled.

And Lindsay said … ‘No, Paris would never hit me. I’ve known her since I was 15.’ It was basically just not admitting what she did. It was pretty awkward, you know, to be asked that question and it was just weird how it all happened.”

Moments later, Hilton noticed that Lohan had climbed into her car. “We didn’t get along, so I was being polite,” Hilton explained. “It was really hard just getting out of there because I couldn’t see with all the cameras.”

The Simple life Star shared that she and Lohan were once close friends, but their relationship became strained.

“She did some things to really hurt me and betrayed my trust and caused a lot of drama,” Hilton said, describing their bond as an “on and off friendship.”

Now Hilton reflects on their younger years, chalking up the tension to immaturity. At the time, Lohan was 20, while Hilton was 25.

“When I think about it now, we were just so young, immature. It was like high school drama, especially in the LA scene,” she explained. “And living it out in public with the media constantly trying to stir things up and make things worse than they were.”

Hilton added: “Back then, the media really enjoyed having girl feuds with each other.”