Nicole Camille Richie (born September 21, 1981) is an American socialite, style icon, actress, author, model, and singer. The adopted daughter of Lionel Richie, she is known for her role in the reality show The Simple Life and her turbulent personal life.

Early life

Nicole Richie was born Nicole Camille Escovedo in Berkeley, California.^[1] Her biological mother was a backstage assistant for Lionel Richie. Lionel Richie ran into Nicole first as a little girl playing on stage at a Prince concert, her mother was part of the wardrobe group. Nicole was playing a tamborine. Lionel became a guardian first for Nicole and later adopted her.^[2]

At age two, Nicole went to live with Lionel and his wife Brenda Harvey-Richie, who began to raise her as their daughter. When she was three years old, Nicole started attending weekly sessions with a psychotherapist and remained in therapy throughout her childhood. When she was nine, the Richies legally adopted Nicole. Shortly after the adoption was formalized, Lionel's affair with another woman became public knowledge. Nicole told Ryan Seacrest that she learned about Lionel's adultery when she read about it in a tabloid. The Richies went through a highly-publicized, bitterly acrimonious split, and, apparently feeling guilty about the end of their marriage, indulged Nicole's every whim. "Their way of making me happy was to say yes to everything I wanted, but I don't think a little girl should have that much freedom", said Richie in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.^[3] In an interview with Nylon magazine [2007] Richie said that her childhood was very dramatic and "I think my struggle right now is to try and find comfort in things not being so chaotic. I'm so used to high drama and high energy all the time - I always sleep TV on."

Richie still speaks with her biological mother but has no contact with her biological father. The identity of her biological father is the subject of much speculation. In a November 15, 2005 CNN interview with Seacrest, Richie stated that her birth father (whom she declined to identify) was not a member of Lionel's band. According to an April 2006 Tatler magazine interview with Richie, it is rumored that her biological father is musician Peter Michael Escovedo (brother of musician Sheila E.),^[4] but Richie denied this in a November 2005 Jane magazine interview.

Richie has one godmother, Nancy Davis, daughter of Marvin Davis, mother of Brandon Davis; Nancy was related by marriage to Paris Hilton.^[5] Richie's godfathers are Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones said in a People magazine interview that he has "known her since she was a baby. She's a very smart girl. When she was younger she worked eight hours a day for eight years to become an Olympic figure skater. She's a very talented girl."^[6]

In addition to figure skating, Richie studied the guitar, cello, violin, and piano. In 1986, she started Kindergarten at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California where she met Paris Hilton. Richie graduated from Montclair College Preparatory School in 2000. After high school, she studied Arts and Media for two years at the University of Arizona.^[7]

She attended the University of Arizona at the same time as professional basketball player Luke Walton, actress Heather Blair and reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian. "I stopped because I went there for two years and I felt like I experienced college or whatever. I'm over it. I like Hollywood better," she has later quoted as saying.

Richie says of her heritage that she is a "mix of everything", and self-identifies as African American. She is 1/2 Caucasian, 1/4 Black, and 1/4 Mexican.

Career

The Simple Life

Richie and childhood-friend Paris Hilton starred in 2003 in Season 1 of the reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas.
In Season 2, The Simple Life 2: Road Trip, the girls traveled the American South driving a pink pick-up and living in a trailer. They have no money, credit cards or cell phones. They stay with families or in trailer parks. On one occation a nudist resort. Their jobs include farmworkers, mermaids in an under water show, hotel cleaners, sausages makers, crawfishers, working for a baseball team, working in a Beauty Salon, Deputy Sherrifs, and working on a cattle ranch.
In Season 3, The Simple Life 3: Interns, the girls traveled the East Coast on a bus, staying at 15 different families' houses. But unlike Season 2, this time around the girls did not have a swanky home on wheels and instead were travelling around the north-east in a regular Greyhound bus that was also ferrying normal members of the public that are travelling to the same destination.

In late 2005, FOX chose not to renew The Simple Life, explaining that they didn't see a place for it in their schedule.^[8] A month later, cable network E! picked up Season 4, The Simple Life 4: 'Til Death Do Us Part, in which the girls traveled around California, acting as the mother of the family, raising kids for a day and acting as a wife to the father, though both would do tasks separately and not be seen together on screen.^[9]
This season was also unique, as Paris and Nicole did not leave L.A. The families they stayed with were L.A area residents, and the episodes often focused on Paris and Nicole's personal lives and careers as well as the challenge of being a wife and mother. This season also featured guest appearances from Paris and Nicole's well-known friends, family and associates. Since the season was set in their hometowns, Paris and Nicole had cell phone and credit card usage, previously denied to them in earlier seasons. The season finale ended with Paris confronting Nicole, stating "We have to talk", and Nicole answering "Then talk...", followed by a screen that read "To be continued... next season!" Many viewers were shocked and angry over this cliffhanger ending.

Season 5, The Simple Life 5: 'The Simple Life Goes To Camp, debuted on E! on May 28, 2007, with Paris and Nicole making up on Nicole's birthday. In this season, Paris and Nicole work as counselors at Camp Shawnee. The camp will be host to five different specialty groups: Wellness Camp, Pageant Camp, Couples Camp, Survival Camp and Drama Camp, with two episodes focused on each specialty group. Although Season 4 was a hit for E!, drawing nearly one million viewers per episode, Season 5 saw a sharp decline in ratings. While the premiere episode and ones that followed during this season drew about the same viewership, by the the 7th episode the ratings had declined to around 650-700 thousand viewers. It was announced on July 30, 2007 that the show will not be renewed for Season 6.^[10]

In an interview in the August, 2007 issue of Nylon - magazine Richie talked about The Simple Life: "It's not a reality show, though. It's unscripted television; that's what the audience likes. No one wants to see a show of Paris and I talking about the war or who we think the next President should be. That's not what the show is about. The show is for one purpose only: to keep people laughing."

Richie is also a producer on The Simple Life and she has a control over what airs and what doesn't.

Acting

• Music videos
  • 1998, appeared in Tamia's music video for "So Into You"^[11] Richie plays one of Tamia's friends in the music video.
  • 2006, appeared in father Lionel's music video for "I Call It Love", opposite Adam Rodriguez.

• Movies
  • 2005, Kids in America, acting debut in supporting role as cheerleader Kelly Stepford. A diverse group of high school students band together to peacefully stick it to their overbearing principal.

• Television
  • 2004 and 2005, MADtv
  • 2004, Rock Me Baby, Amanda
  • 2004, Eve, Karen
  • 2004, Six Feet Under
  • 2004, Nicole Richie: Her Simple Life. E! News Live explores the complicated life of Richie.
  • 2004, American Dreams, Brenda Reid
  • 2003 and 2005, Punk'd
  • 2005, 8 Simple Rules, Ashley
  • 2005, Has signed a talent pact with 20th Century Fox to develop a sitcom. She says she wishes to play a character based, loosely, on herself.
  • 2005, Richie appeared in Meet the Barkers MTV's reality tv show, which tells about Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler.
  • 2007, Richie appeared in one episode of America's Next Top Model with Paris Hilton. She got into a fight with one of the models at a party.

Music

• Richie was a member of the rock band Darling in 2004, along with model Josie Maran and socialites Soleil and Sofia Alberti were members.^[12]
• Richie made her TV musical debut in February 2005 in a live appearance on The View. She played the piano.
• Co-hosted the Teen Choice Awards 2004 and the 19th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in 2005.
• Richie stated to Tyra Banks while appearing on her talk show that her main career focus was and has always been music and that she's wanted to be a singer since she was a young girl.
• It was rumored that Paris Hilton and Richie recorded a song "You Don't See Me". ^[13] Last.fm also classifies the song by Richie. Later found out that the performer was Josie and The Pussycat Dolls.
• As of August 2006, Richie had six out of ten tracks finished for her record.^[14] The songs reported to be done so far are a mixture of rock, soul and dance. One track, called "Dandelion", which is her first single recording and a cover of a song by boy band LFO, was leaked early; it is a melodic pop-track. In recent magazine articles, Richie said the demo "Dandelion" will not appear in her debut album. She also performed a song called "Tell Him", which can be heard on American Dreams.
• According to TMZ Richie attended vocal lessons in August 2007, amid years of rumors that she has an album in the making. ^[15]

Author

Richie wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Truth About Diamonds, which was released by Bharell Jackson Publishing. The novel is loosely based on her life, but is mostly fictional. It chronicles Chloe Parker, the adopted daughter of a singer who makes her way through all of the hottest nightclubs and parties in Hollywood and battles a drug addiction. It was rumored that a character in the book, Simone Westlake, was based on Paris Hilton.

To even further distance herself from Chloe's identity, Richie makes herself a character in the book. There's a character named Nicole Richie. She's the narrator and Chloe's best friend.

The first sentence of the book is: "Chloe Parker would be a terrible role model if she were famous." Richie's novel is not only firmly entrenched in its specific demographic, it equally rooted in time. The second page references a Kanye West song. The Federlines are name-dropped in the first chapter. Nicole and friends spot Zach Braff ("without Mandy Moore") in the second chapter. While pop culture references are well and good, Richie's are so timely that in a year, they will be rendered moot.

Allegations that Richie hired a ghostwriter have been floating about the Internet.

Richie told Nylon magazine, in 2007 that she has been working on her second book, a style guide which has its main focus "the fact that a lot of my inspritation for what I wear is pulled from many different decades," to be published later this year by Simon & Schuster. In an interview in the March 2007 issue of OK! magazine, Richie said: "I have a style book that I'm working on."

Model

• In 2003 Richie shocked people flashing her boobs on a catwalk during Fashion Week. She later told: “I've just gone through so much in my life that pulling my top up just doesn't seem like that big a deal.”
• Former model for Bongo Jeans (2005). Appears in one of the ads with ex-fiance DJ AM.
• Former face of Jimmy Choo.
• Richie has modelled for a Marc Jacobs photo advertisement campaign. Shooting took place on Melrose Avenue Los Angeles, California.
• In 2006 Richie walked the catwalk with Lindsay Lohan at the 13th Annual Race To Erase MS Disco fever and in 2007 Nicky Hilton and Richie modelled Tommy Hilfiger on stage at the 14th Annual Race To Erase MS. ^[16]

Products

• Richie has a makeup line in Japan.
• She is working on an accessories line; it includes jewelry, neck and head scarves, and sunglasses.
• In an interview in the March 2007 issue of OK! magazine, Richie said: "I'm launching a jewelry-and-accessories line, a sunglasses line and doing my own perfume."

Awards and recognition

• In 2005, Richie was nominated in Kids Choice Awards for Choice TV Personality: Female.
• In 2005, Richie received the Young Hollywood's Style Icon award from Hollywood Life magazine. "I get ready pretty fast," she said. Her then-stylist Rachel Zoe said: "She's so low-maintenance because she's so beautiful naturally. Like her skin, it's so perfect that she doesn't need a lot of makeup. She never ever wears makeup during the day."
• Was number one in US Weekly Magazine's list of Fashion Winners of early September 2005 edition.
• Was the second in the Best Dressed Celebs of 2005 by Kidzworld.com - website.
• Was named #37 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
• Who magazine ranked her #1 in their Best Dressed list of 2005.
• In the summer of 2006 in Grazia magazine poll, Richie placed second in a best-dressed poll, with Mischa Barton taking top honors.
• September 2006, Richie was voted Beauty Icon of the Month in a visitor survey conducted by BeautyRiot.com.
• Ranked 2nd on a list of the Worst Celebrity Legs, conducted in November 2006 by Lambrini which was searching for the sexiest legs for a new fashion campaign with Pretty Polly.
• In 2006, Richie was named the Worst Dressed Celeb by PETA.
• Was the 3rd Best Dressed Woman according to a poll conducted by UK Glamour Magazine in January 2007.
• Was ranked #5 inLife & Style Magazine's Best Hair in Hollywood section. Katie Holmes won the award.

Personal life

Becoming a style icon

Richie started changing her style in late 2004 and she hired a stylist Rachel Zoe, who also worked for her father, Lionel. Richie's style became fashionable and she was featured in many fashion blogs. In 2005 she was internationally famous for her fabulous fashion sense and thinner body. Richie received the Young Hollywood Style Icon award from Hollywood Life - magazine on October 2nd, 2005.

People - magazine posted a photo gallery in their website about Richie and her changes from earlier years. "It's a total-life makeover: From her hair to her diet to her friends, see Richie's most dramatic changes," they wrote. ^[17]

The feud was made public in November 2006 in a blind item, purportedly about Zoe, that appeared on Nicole's MySpace page. Nicole maintains that she never goes on MySpace, adding, "My friend did it as a joke. When I saw it, I told them to take it down. I knew it wasn't the right thing to do." She will admit, though, that she and Zoe made some fashion magic in their time: Nicole topping the best-dressed lists and inspiring legions of clones — but "there's definitely an idea that Rachel styled me and she dressed me every day, like I was her Barbie. That's not the case. She dressed me for events." Does she think Zoe's growing celebrity affected their relationship? "Yes, I do" is her quick reply. "I've never met another stylist who has a publicist and an agent."

Us Weekly is reporting that a close source said Nicole “wanted to surround herself with positive people and influences” and stopped trusting Rachel. Is it because Rachel encourages her clients to stay rail thin. Nicole hired a new stylist, Cristina Ehrlich.

In January 2007's issue of Harper's Bazaar - magazine Richie, Mischa Barton and their stylist Rachel Zoe are having a photoshoot together. Zoe and Richie even kiss in one of the pictures. Photoshoot was obviously before Nicole fired her. ^[18]

Health

In the spring of 2006, Richie made media headlines with a dramatically thinner appearance, after spending two seasons of "The Simple Life" slightly heavier than her usual.^[19] In May she told Vanity Fair, "I know I'm too thin right now, so I wouldn't want any young girl looking at me and saying, 'That's what I want to look like." She also said, "I started seeing a nutritionist and a doctor. I was scared that it could be something more serious." During this time it was reported that she had also sought the help of a psychiatrist and a personal trainer.^[20] Later that year, in September, Richie stated "I am not anorexic. I am not bulimic. I do not have an eating disorder."^[20] In Elle Girl's 2006 Prom issue, in which Richie appeared on the cover, she said that it upsets her when people come up to her and ask her if she has a problem. She maintained that skinny was her natural body type and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

“You don’t scream at people that they are overweight, so what makes people think that they have the right to scream at me that I am underweight? It’s upsetting and mean,” Nicole told Us Weekly. “I am not anorexic. At the moment, I was just sick of everyone constantly bothering me about how I look. I walked up to the photographer and told him, ‘What if I really had anorexia? What if I had a disease? How would you feel about saying such horrible things?’ He probably just wanted to get a rise out of me, but I’m a human being and he hurt my feelings.”

On October 27, 2006, it was announced that Richie was seeking treatment for "an inability to put on weight", though it is not treatment for an eating disorder.^[20]

In March 2007, Richie was taken to the hospital for dehydration and on March 21 her reps announced she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia.^[21] In a March OK! magazine interview, Nicole said: "I don't care about any other rumor except the one that I have an eating disorder. That really bothers me because there are people who truly have eating disorders and it is a serious disease. To put that title on someone when it is not true is disrespectful. I've repeatedly said, 'No, I don't have an eating disorder,' and it has fallen on deaf ears."

In an interview with UK Marie Claire in August, 2007 Richie said: "I'm not obsessed with my weight. Everyone else is."

Legal problems and arrests

February 2003, Richie was arrested in Malibu, California and charged with possession of heroin while driving with a suspended driver's license.^[22]

On December 11, 2006, Richie was arrested by the California Highway Patrol after she failed a field sobriety test. She was charged with driving under the influence on California State Route 134 in the Burbank/Glendale, California area. Several motorists had reported a black Mercedes-Benz G-Class entering the SR134 freeway on the exit ramp and traveling in the wrong direction.^[23] She admitted to using marijuana and Vicodin before the incident.^[23] July 27,2007, Richie was sentenced to four days in jail,^[24] but served about 82 minutes of the sentence as Richie checked herself into the the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California on August 23, 2007 at 15:15 PDT and was released at 16:37 PDT.^[25]

Kerri Webb, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department told People magazine that Richie "was released early due to overcrowding in the jail system. This is standard procedure for nonviolent offenders." After spending 82 minutes in jail Richie was "Of course pleasantly surprised to be released so quickly," said her attorney. ^[26]

Friendship with Paris Hilton

On April 20, 2005, amid media reports that their friendship was in trouble, Paris Hilton, who had been friends with Richie since childhood, released a statement saying, "It's no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends", and "Nicole knows what she did, and that's all I'm ever going to say about it." A circulating rumor was the story that Richie had shown Hilton's sex tape at a party; though Richie has denied this.^[27] Richie, however, said "There's nothing that really happened, we've just grown apart."^[27] In an interview Richie also said that "When I got out of rehab, I had to figure out what path to go down and part of that included taking certain people out of my life. It’s not like I hate Paris and it’s war - I just don’t want to be her best friend any more. You can’t threaten people into being your friend. You can’t bribe them into being your friend."

In October 2006, Richie and Hilton reportedly reconciled their friendship.^[28]

In an interview in the March 2007 issue of OK! magazine, Richie said: "It got so blown up that at the VMA's in August, the woman who was looking after me was having this intense vibe with her walkie-talkie, like, 'Okay, come to the stairs, go through this back door.' I didn't understand why I was doing this maze, and finally Paris and I crossed paths. The escorts were really trying to make it so we didn't see each other. It was ridiculous. When we ended up talking again, we recapped that night and laughed."

Romantic relationships

• On The Howard Stern Show, she said she only lost her virginity when she was 18, and that she has only had sex with two guys.
• Richie dated Elijah Blue Allman, son of Cher and Gregg Allman.
• She dated Canadian music producer and entrepreneur Brad Salyn for several months in 2002. ^[29] The two continue to be friends, with Salyn producing several tracks on Richie's upcoming debut album.
• Rumors have been spreading the media circuit on a supposed relationship between American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini and Richie (2004).
• Richie dated club DJ Adam Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, since 2004. In February 2005, they became engaged, but they broke off the engagement December 7, 2005. They were seen together again in public in March 2006 and. ^[30] Nicole was also seen leaving Adam's house in the end of 2006.
• Richie was reportedly making her romantic dreams come true following her split from fiancé DJ A.M.--enjoying dinner dates with her lifelong crush Jeff Goldblum. Representatives for both stars denied the rumors.
• In August 2006, Richie began dating Brody Jenner, a life-long family friend. According to US Weekly, Richie and Jenner split up in October 2006.^[31] Nicole posted an entry on her official MySpace blog to clear the air: "I know there are rumors regarding my “breakup” with Brody Jenner. The truth is, we were never really together. We hung out, and he’s a nice guy, but my heart was never in it. Anything further is just a cry for publicity." Later Details magazine told that their relationship was just for publicity purposes. Jenner and his friend Spencer Pratt had a plan to get Nicole eat and Jenner to become famous. ^[32]
• On September 19, 2006 Steve-O told in Howard Stern show: "She had her back to me and she was dead asleep when I rubbed the first one out. I was, like, trying to wake her up when I was rubbing one out ... and ultimately I squeezed her hard enough the second two times she was totally awake. She never rolled over to face me. I was being so careful not to offend her in anyway because I wanted to be in those tabloid magazines!" When asked if he had a problem with her being too skinny, he said: "I didn't care what she fuckin' ate. I think she looks a lot damn better skinny than fat!" ^[33] The had a fling in 2006.
• Richie is currently dating Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte. After months of speculation, Richie announced her pregnancy on July 31, 2007 in an interview with Diane Sawyer saying that she is nearly 4 months pregnant and Madden is the father.^[34] Madden and Richie are reportedly engaged. ^[35] Richie said she was finally able to break the bad "pattern" in her life, thanks to two major influences: her boyfriend, Joel Madden, and her pregnancy. ^[36]

Trivia

• Has been looking for a good location to open her own nightclub in Los Angeles.
• Has said that she would never agree to do a reality show about her personal life.
• Is set to inherit her father's, Lionel's, $200 million fortune.
• On how many children she wants: "I want five. I want three girls and twin boys."
• Has nine tattoos: two wings on her shoulder blades (one on each side), a cross on her lower back, a bow with "Richie" below it, on the back of her neck, a Rosary on her ankle, the word "virgin" on her right wrist, a tiara on her hip, a shooting star on her left wrist, and a picture of a ballerina on her lower hip. She considered having the tattoos laser removed--they are frowned upon in the Jewish religion--and may have converted to Judaism for her ex-fiancé, Adam Goldstein.
• After her experience with on The Simple Life (2002) when she stayed with a family that practiced Islam, Richie became interested in and started studying different religions.
• Has two dogs, Honeychild, Foxy Cleopatra and an exotic Bengal cat named Chi-Chi-Cheeta.
• Was often seen singing karaoke. ^[37]
• When Elle Girl asked Richie what the biggest misconception was about her was, she replied that thanks to pictures, "People think that all I do is shop and eat."
• In February 2007, Mischa Barton crashed Nicole's car. After dropping Nicole off at a tanning salon, Mischa bumped Nicole's car into another. Mischa exchanged insurance details with the couple in the other car, before quickly moving on.
• Said the F-word during the 2003 Billboard Music Awards and it was not beeped. As a result, the FCC received 80,000 complaints. That was the FCC complaint record until it was broken following Super Bowl XXXVIII.
• Says if she could go back in time and have a second chance to try heroin, she would still say yes.
• Dislikes being tickled.
• Listens to The Scissor Sisters.
• Is friends with some celebrities such as actress Mischa Barton, Carlos Lopez, Club DJ Samantha Ronson, Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones. Richie and Lindsay Lohan also used to be friends, but haven't been seen together for almost two years.
• Gwyneth Paltrow calls Richie “an excellent dresser” and “super-cute.”
• NS4W.org made ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ campaign ad for Richie as a statement against our current legal system. ^[38]

Quotes

• • “Anytime I am around a male body part it is kind of exiting.”
  • “I have olive skin, so if I get pale, I look green. I have to tan.”
  • “The great thing about The Simple Life is that it's a reality show but not based on my reality, ... It has nothing to do with my life or my home or my relationships or anything. I'm not open to anything like that.”
  • "I'm not judgemental, but I can judge mentals."
  • "I’ve been in really good relationships, and I’ve been in really bad ones, but the one thing that stands out about Adam is that I can be myself. [On her relationships with guys]"
  • "I'm a social shopper. I like to do it while I'm hanging with my friend... If I'm out and I pass a store, I just pop in."
  • "People would ask me about being a voluptuous woman. It was weird because I've been skinny my whole life."
  • "To me it was the epitome of caring about absolutely nothing, There were points when my mom would come home and scream at me about something, and I literally didn't care about anything. It was like watching a really dramatic movie with the volume turned down. I thought I was getting away with everything, when the reality was that I was arrested three times and had five car accidents. Two were totals."
  • "I have really good instincts about friends."
  • "I'm not insecure, but I'm not like, 'Hi, I'm confident.'"
  • "Staying sober is something that I don't really even have to think about. I just live my life as today, and today I have great friends, a very stable fiancé, and am very close with my family."
  • "You just have to go after what you want you want and if it doesn't want you back, then, so be it - it doesn't deserve you anyways." [On following your dreams]

References

External links

• Official Website
• Nicole Richie at IMDb
• Nicole Richie at People.com
• Nicole Richie Photo gallery at Wireimage.com
• MySpace page

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