Nicole Camille Escovedo Richie (born September 21, 1981) is an American socialite, author, actress, and singer, and is best known for being the adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie and for her role in The Simple Life.
Nicole Richie | |
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| File:Nrichie256.jpg | |
| Height | 5'2 |
| Website | NicoleRichieWeb.com |
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 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 to study Arts and Media for two years after graduating from high school.
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 trailer throughout the trip. In the third season The Simple Life: Interns, the girls traveled the East Coast on a bus, staying at 16 different families' 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 Simple Life season 5 "Going to Camp!" will begin production in November '06 and air in April'07. This will have them being camp counselors.
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. 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." 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. On October 9th, 2006 Paris and Nicole reportedly reconciled their friendship. They were spotted enjoying each other's company numerous times. It has been reported that the cause of their long-running feud will be discussed on the upcoming season of The Simple Life, where they will once again be filmed together.
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]
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 O.C. 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 out of 10 tracks finished for her record.[5]
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" with Adam Rodriguez.
In recent magazine articles, Nicole Richie told that her demo 'Dandelion' will not appear in her debut album.
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.[6]
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.
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.
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 7, 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."[7] According to US Weekly, in October 2006, Richie and Jenner split up.[8]
On October 26, 2006, Nicole checked herself into a treatment facility. The following is from E! News Online:
"The 25-year-old reality TV star has checked herself into an undisclosed private facility, her publicist exclusively tells E! News, "to undergo diagnostic treatment."
"She is working with a team of doctors and specialists whose focus is nutrition," says the rep. "It is important to Nicole that she achieve this goal in a healthy way, [but] this is not a treatment for an eating disorder."
In November 2006, Richie told US Weekly that she had not checked herself into a rehabilitaion center. "I'm getting the help I need and taking care of my health", stated Richie.
A recent Blind Item in Page Six implied that Richie's rehab stint was to remove a gastric bypass surgery gone bad that caused her to not be able to put on weight. Richie denied this and wrote an angry response to the press through her MySpace page.
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
- MADtv (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
- The O.C. season 4(rumored) (2006) (unknown) ...unknown
References
- ^ Vanity Fair - Press Room: Nicole Richie Talks About Her Weight, Being a Role Model, and What Happened with Paris
- ^ Hollywood.com - Nicole Richie: 'Paris & I Just Grew Apart'
- ^ People.com - Paris & Nicole's Simple Life Canned
- ^ E!Online - "The Simple Life" Lives
- ^ TV Guide Interview
- ^ The Smoking Gun - May 9, 2003
- ^ Us Weekly Online - New Couple Alert! Nicole Richie and Brody Jenner
- ^ TMZ.com - Nicole and Brody Split -- Nic's Heart "Never In It"