nicole richie

Biography

Early life

Nicole Richie was born in Berkeley, California. Her biological father is widely rumored to be Afro-Latino musician Pete Escovedo, brother of 1980s pop percussionist Sheila E. and son of famed Latin percussionist Pete Escovedo, but this was directly denied by Nicole in the November 2005 issue of Jane magazine. According to an April 2006 Tatler magazine interview with Nicole, her biological father was a drummer who worked with Lionel Richie; her biological mother was a backstage assistant for Lionel. When Nicole was 3, Lionel and his wife Brenda Harvey-Richie informally adopted her and raised her as their daughter. When she was 9, they went through the legal formalities of the adoption; she still speaks with her biological mother who is also of Afro-Latin diaspora - currently resides in the Dominican Republic. On the The Tyra Banks Show in September 2006, Nicole said of her heritage that she was a "mix of everything", but when asked she just says she is Black-American. Her godfather is Michael Jackson.

A year later, Lionel and Brenda split, and in their guilt over the separation, "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 ^[1]. She used marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, was arrested three times, and was involved in five car accidents. Not until she went into drug rehabilitation in 2003 did Richie and her parents have an open conversation about her addiction."I'm now, at 24, just learning to deal with my problems instead of concealing them with drugs," she said in the interview.

Nicole has studied the cello, violin, piano, and figure skating, and has plans to pursue a music career. She also attended the University of Arizona for two years after graduating from high school. She stated, "I went to the University of Arizona. I stopped because I went there for two years and I felt like I experienced college or whatever. I'm over it."

The Simple Life

Nicole and Paris Hilton starred in the 2003 reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. In the second season of Simple Life: Road Trip, the girls traveled the South driving a pink pickup and living in a trailor through out the trip. In the third season The Simple Life: Interns, the girls traveled the East Coast on a bus, staying at 16 different familys' houses. In the fourth season, Simple Life: Til Death Do Us Part, 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. The producers of the show have not stated what the girls will be doing or where they will be going in the still-in-development fifth season.

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 Nicole had shown Paris' sex tape at a party (Richie has denied this ^[2]). There were also rumors of Hilton's being jealous of Nicole's rising stardom. Richie, however, said "There's nothing that really happened, we've just grown apart." In the November 2005 Jane magazine interview, she also said "We really haven't been friends in probably about two years." Richie is still friends with Paris' sister Nicky Hilton, who was to serve as a bridesmaid at Nicole's wedding, until it was called off in December 2005.

In late 2005, FOX did not renew The Simple Life, explaining they did not see a place for it in their schedule. ^[3] A month later, cable network E! picked up the fourth season - The Simple Life: Till Death Do Us Part - with both Hilton and Richie as participants in a Wife Swap-style premise, though both would do tasks separately and not be seen together on screen. ^[4]

Hilton released a track on her 2006 self-titled album, called "Jealousy." The track was seen by many to be a jab at Richie, containing such lyrics as "I thought you were my best friend....You used to be that shoulder....you sold your soul for your fame."

Actress

Richie made her acting debut with a supporting role in the movie Kids In America. She is rumored to join the cast of The OC season 4, but there was nothing official about this rumor.

Other career activities

She has also made appearances in films and Fox's MadTV. Her first major acting role was a supporting role as cheerleader Kelly Stepford in 2005 comedy Kids In America.

Richie recently wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Truth About Diamonds 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 Hilton; Simone does a few things similarly to her, such as "accidentally on purpose" losing her cellular telephone and circulating the phone numbers of celebrities to the general public.

On December 1, 2005, Richie signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television that could land her in a TV sitcom. Richie's deal could either put her into an existing show or have a new show built around her. Richie is a former model for Bongo Jeans, and is the current face of Jimmy Choo. Richie also holds a position promoting Diet Dr Pepper, and she has been seen promoting the soft drink in several locations.

Music career

Another current project of Richie's is a music album. The songs reported to be done so far are a mixture of rock, soul and dance. One track, called "Dandelion", which is a demo recording and a cover of a song by boy band LFO, was leaked early; it is a melodic pop-track. In 2005, Richie appeared in and co-hosted at the 19th Annual Soul Train Music Awards. Nicole is being managed by Irving Azoff.

As of August 2006, Nicole has 6 tracks finished for her record.[1]

In September 2006 Nicole announced that she will soon debut the artwork for her album on her official MySpace page.

During an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show on September 12, 2006 Richie announced she will debut her album soon. She also stated music was her first and only career choice and was wondering why she had so much of the media spotlight on her when her career hasn't even begun. She has also appeared in her father Lionel Richie's new albums video "I Call It Love".

In recent magazine articles, Nicole Richie told that her demo 'Dandelion' will not appear in her debut album. In September 2006 it was announced her first album will be released in January, titled Soul Searching.The first single off the highly anticipated release, is entitled “Baby Jane” a song written by Richie about a young girl strangled to death in a Chicago Town home. It is also rumored to be a dark gritty, pop soul infused album with a distinct indication to the underground music scene that Richie enjoys. Other rumored tracks on the album include they disturbing “Blister, and “Severed Ties” a blatant attack on one of Richie’s old pals Paris Hilton.

Media spotlight

In February of 2003, Richie was arrested in Malibu, California, and charged with possession of heroin. She has since been a patient in a drug-rehabilitation hospital. She was also driving with a suspended driver's license.[2]

In December 2003, she publicly spoke out in defense of her godfather Michael Jackson following his accusations of child molestation.

Following the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, the FCC received 80,000 complaints after Richie said "fucking" and "shit" during the show's broadcast (the network didn't edit the words). This was the FCC's complaint record, until it was broken following Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's appearance at Super Bowl XXXVIII. The FCC ruled that the words were indecent, but did not fine FOX.

In early 2005, Richie received tabloid speculation of having an eating disorder. Richie, however, said that "I've always been really skinny. I just went through a heavier stage after rehab and during Simple Life 1. Now I have a trainer and the weight has gradually come off." She also claims that she does not have a current battle with an eating disorder. Like many other young stars, Nicole claims she is targeted with rumors involving her personal life. The ever-present rumor involving Nicole has a direct relationship with her weight.

Richie, however, acknowledged in a May 2006 Vanity Fair interview that she knew that she was too thin and stated that she was on the path to gaining weight, adding that she was worried young girls would want to look like her.

Recently, Nicole appeared in a music video with her father for "I Call It Love", opposite CSI: Miami actor Adam Rodriguez.

Nicole's stylist, Rachel Zoe, is also the stylist of three of her friends, Mischa Barton, Lindsay Lohan and Andrew Brin.

Nicole has been under fire of internet groups, for her new solo career.

Personal life

Nicole dated Canadian music producer and entrepreneur Brad Salyn for several months in 2002. The two continue to be friends, with Salyn producing several tracks on Nicole's upcoming debut album. She was engaged to club DJ Adam Goldstein also known as D.J. AM. They announced their engagement in February 2005 after dating since 2003 and were set to marry in summer 2006. On December 7th, 2005, she and Adam broke off their 9 month engagement, but they were publicly seen together again in March 2006.

In August 2006, Richie began dating Brody Jenner, a life-long family friend, who starred in the reality show Princes of Malibu. The couple have been photographed together numerous times. A source tells Us Weekly, "“He really likes her. Brody is really easy-going and Kristin (Jenner's ex-girlfriend) was very high-strung. He likes that Nicole is so laid-back and that she’s older and more mature.” [3]

Trivia

• Richie has 9 tattoos on her body. The favorite seems to be the rosary she had tattooed around her ankle. She also has a spider-shaped one on her lower stomach, as well as a pair of ballerina slippers she got in honor of the song ("Ballerina Girl") her father, Lionel Richie, wrote for her.

Selected filmography

• The Simple Life (2003) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• The Simple Life 2: Road Trip (2004) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• The Simple Life 3: Interns (2005) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• The Simple Life 4: 'Till Death Do Us Part (2006) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• The Simple Life 5 (2007) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• Kids in America (2005) (film) ...Kelly Stepford
• Punk'd (2005) ... Herself
• Mad TV (2005) (guest) ... Herself
• The Oprah Winfrey Show (2004) (guest with father) ... Herself
• Six Feet Under (2004) (guest) ... Herself
• American Dreams (2004) (guest) ... Herself
• Total Request Live (2005) (guest) ... Herself
• The Tyra Banks Show (2006) (guest) ... Herself

References

1. ^ Vanity Fair - Press Room: Nicole Richie Talks About Her Weight, Being a Role Model, and What Happened with Paris
2. ^ Hollywood.com - Nicole Richie: 'Paris & I Just Grew Apart'
3. ^ People.com - Paris & Nicole's Simple Life Canned
4. ^ E!Online - "The Simple Life" Lives

External links

• Nicole Richie at the Internet Movie Database
• NicoleRichieweb.com Official site of Nicole Richie
• NicoleRichie.NU Largest Fansite Online
• Nicole Richie Get's "Punk'd"
• The Nicole Richie Community
• Nicole Richie's Biography