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Nicole Camille Richie, known professionally as Nicole Richie (born September 21, 1981) is an American celebutante, actress, author, and an aspiring 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. Like her fellow celebutante and best friend, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie has become famous for doing absolutely nothing of merit. As the daughter of famed pop singer Lionel, Richie has lived an opulent lifestyle exclusively because of someone else’s fame and money. Because of her virtually limitless access to the upper crest of society, Richie has lived life on her own terms. However, such a life as pampered and secluded as it is has not been without its dangers and consequences. On February 27, 2003, Richie was arrested in Malibu for felony possession of heroin and driving with a suspended license. Meanwhile, Richie was in Altus, Arkansas filming a reality TV show with pal Hilton called “The Simple Life” (Fox, 2003- ). Richie’s excursion into rural America caused her to miss her April 29th court date, but luckily a high-priced Hollywood lawyer persuaded the judge to skip remanding the wayward felon. Nicole Richie was born Nicole Camille Escovedo in Berkeley, California. She is of Caucasian, Black Creole, and Mexican descent. She is reportedly the biological daughter of Afro-Latin American percussionist Pete Escovedo and a woman identified only as a backstage assistant on Lionel Richie's 1980 world tour; Escovedo was a member of Richie's band. Reportedly, Nicole's mother was never a factor in her life, and Escovedo raised her alone. Escovedo took Nicole to Richie's shows and recording sessions, and she became something of a mascot for the band. Riche grew up best friends with Hilton. While the latter opted out of college upon graduating high school, Richie at least gave it a shot. She spent two years at the University of Arizona, but soon dropped out because she felt that she was “over it”. Since that time, Richie did little career-wise but made a reputation for herself partying with Hilton. Richie did attempt to make a name for herself, if only as second fiddle to the more outgoing and controversial Hilton. The Fox reality show was her first step, though she did nothing more than set-up Hilton’s comic relief. In one instance, she had to explain to a perplexed Hilton what Wal-Mart was; in another, she had to explain what a water well found in their bedroom was for. Lionel Richie first met Nicole as a child playing tambourine onstage at a Prince concert. Richie became her guardian and later adopted her. At age two, Nicole went to live with Lionel Richie and his wife, Brenda Harvey-Richie, who began to raise her as their daughter. When she was three years old, Nicole began attending weekly sessions with a psychotherapist and remained in therapy throughout her childhood. She was legally adopted by the Richies when she was nine. Shortly after the adoption was formalized, Lionel's affair with another woman became public knowledge. The Richies went through a highly-publicized, bitterly acrimonious split, and as a result, 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. 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 Ryan Seacrest, Richie stated that her birth father (whom she declined to identify) was not a member of Lionel's band. Richie also denied rumors that her biological father is musician Pete Escovedo (brother of musician Sheila E.), in a November 2005 Jane magazine interview. Richie has one godmother, Nancy Davis, daughter of Marvin Davis and mother of Brandon Davis. Richie's godfathers are Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones said in a People magazine interview that he has "known Nicole Richie 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." From a very early age Richie became involved in alcohol and substance abuse. Richie herself has openly admitted that she smoked marijuana at the age of 13, then progressed to cocaine a year later. At 19, she was injecting heroin. After she reached 24, she told an interviewer for Vanity Fair magazine that she considered herself to be a drug addict. 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. She also studied Arts and Media for two years at the University of Arizona. Richie went into the recording studio to record her first album, though she has insisted the attempt wasn’t meant to capitalize on her growing fame from the television show. Able to play piano, violin and cello, Richie felt it was inevitable for her to lay down her talents in the studio, but has ruled out any collaboration with her famous father. Richie also auditioned for the part of Maureen in the popular Broadway hit, “Rent”, though she later confessed she had never seen the play. Richie did manage to rack up some TV acting roles, including guest stints on "Six Feet Under," "American Dreams," "8 Simple Rules..." and "Eve," but it was "The Simple Life" that kept her in the spotlight as the show retruned for a second and third season, featuring the wacky, wealthy gal pals on a cross country road trip and working as interns. Early in her career, she appeared in music videos, including Lionel Richie's for "Love Oh Love" in 1992. In 1998 she appeared Tamia's music video for "So Into You", playing one of Tamia's friends. Later, in 2006 she appeared in her father, Lionel's music video for "I Call It Love" opposite Adam Rodriguez. She made her acting debut in a movie Kids in America. The film is a fact-based drama comedy about the experiences of young people in modern-day America. Richie has guest starred in television series including Eve, Six Feet Under and American Dreams. In American Dreams, Richie portrayed Brenda Reid, the lead singer of the girl group The Exciters, and sang the group's hit song "Tell Him". In 2005, 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. In early January 2006, The Truth About Diamonds peaked at number #32 in Hardcover Fiction on The New York Times Best-Seller List. The diminutive heiress also became a well-reported-on celebrity, slimming down dramatically in a short time span (which led to much media speculation about how healthy her weight loss actually was), along with classing up her fashion sense. But in 2005 Richie and Hilton's lifelong relationship hit a serious road bump when Hilton announced that she'd had a falling out with her friend--the inciting reason was never fully disclosed--and that she hoped to film the fourth season of "The Simple Life" without Richie, replacing her with another "celebutante," Rod Stewart's daughter Kimberly. However, after several months of speculation, Fox announced that both heiresses would return for a new season together...and then later indicated that there was "no room" on its 2005-2006 schedule for "The Simple Life," and released the series to be shopped to other networks. E! Entertainment picked up the fourth season, set to debut in spring 2006, featuring the celebutantes taking turns running a household. Richie had other irons in the fire, appearing in a supporting role in the film "Kids in America" (2005), playing one of a group of high school students fighting for their right of free expression. In addition to being known for her television work, Richie is also an international fashion icon. She received the Young Hollywood's Style Icon award from Hollywood Life magazine in 2005 and is known for topping numerous of best-dressed lists. Due to her reputation, she is credited for setting numerous trends. In recent years she has popularised head scarves, pregnancy fashion, animal as accessories and big sunglasses. Her tattoos have also become the subject of much media attention and has often been addressed by interviewers. Especially her foot rosary tattoo has inspired women across America. Tattooist Chris Nunez said that women "pour in for the same tattoo." She has nine and a half tattoos. She has two angel wings on her shoulder blades (one wing on each side and appear to be colored in orange or faded red), 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 red shooting star on her left wrist (matches stars received by her friends Kidada Jones and Aaliyah), a picture of a ballerina slippers on her lower hip (commemorates both her childhood passion and her father's song "Ballerina Girl"), and the half was received when she played with a tattoo machine and dropped it. When the gun dropped, it fired a spray of dots on a finger. Richie was second only to Angelina Jolie on the Top 25 Tattooed Celebrities of 2005 and 2006, which was based on the online popularity of tattooed celebrities. She has also modeled and has appeared in ads for Bongo Jeans and Jimmy Choo. In April 2007, Richie announced plans to start a jewelry, accessories, and sunglasses line along with a perfume and style book. Richie was a member of the rock band "Darling" in 2004 along with Josie Maran and Soleil and Sofia Alberti. A year later she made her musical debut on The View by playing the piano. Since 2005, Richie has been working on her debut album. A release date has not yet been announced. "It's like a mixture of rock and soul, a little bit of dance also. I play piano, violin and cello, so I'm gonna be playing those instruments on my album as well," Richie told ContactMusic. In 2005, one track called "Dandelion" was leaked online and since then it has been available on YouTube and iTunes. However, Richie said it won't appear in her album. Richie's dream was to do Broadway and in 2004 she auditioned for the part of Maureen in the popular Broadway hit, "Rent," but did not get the part. In 2008 she was offered the lead role in the hit musical "Chicago" as the latest big name Roxie Hart in the show. In 2003, Richie and best friend Paris Hilton starred 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. The series debuted on FOX on December 2, 2003, to high ratings. The premiere episode drew 13 million viewers, increasing FOX's Adults 18-49 rating to 79%. In Season 2, The Simple Life 2: Road Trip, the girls traveled the South driving a pink pick-up and living in a trailer. The girls had no money, credit cards or cell phones and were required to work various jobs during their trip to earn money. Their jobs included farmworkers, mermaids in an underwater show, hotel maids, sausage makers, crawfishers, working for a baseball team, working in a beauty salon, Deputy Sherrifs, and working on a cattle ranch. The girls also stayed with different families or in trailer parks and on one occasion, a nudist resort. In Season 3, The Simple Life 3: Interns, the girls traveled the East Coast on a bus, staying at 15 different families' houses. Unlike Season 2, the girls did not have a swanky home on wheels and instead were traveling around the north-east in a regular Greyhound bus that was also ferrying normal members of the public that were traveling 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. A month later, cable network E! picked up the series for its fourth season. The Simple Life 4: 'Til Death Do Us Part followed the girls as they traveled around California, acting as wife and mother to various families, though both would do tasks separately and not be seen together on screen. The Simple Life 5: The Simple Life Goes To Camp, debuted on E! on May 28, 2007, with Hilton and Richie reconciling on Richie's birthday in the season opener. For Season 5, Hilton and Richie worked as counselors at Camp Shawnee. The camp was 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 7th episode the ratings had declined to around 700,000 viewers. It was announced on July 30, 2007 that the show would not be renewed for a sixth season. On April 20, 2005, amid media reports that their friendship was in trouble, Paris Hilton, 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. Richie, however, said "There's nothing that really happened, we've just grown apart." Richie and Hilton reportedly reconciled after Hilton called Richie on her birthday in September 2006. 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 weight. 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. Later that year, in September, Richie stated "I am not anorexic. I am not bulimic. I do not have an eating disorder." 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. In March 2007, Richie was taken to the hospital for dehydration. On March 21 her reps announced she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia. Richie has had a string of high-profile relationships. She dated DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) from 2003 to 2005, and they broke up after a nine-month engagement. Richie was also briefly linked with Brody Jenner of The Hills. Richie's highest profile relationship thus far has been with Joel Madden, of the band Good Charlotte, an ex-boyfriend of Hilary Duff. Duff's song "Gypsy Woman" garnered media attention independently from the album when it was rumored to be about Richie. This speculation, which was reported in sources such as MSNBC and Radar magazine, also involved another song on the album, "Dignity". Radar suggested that a line in the song, "Enjoy the fame, bringing down the family name," refers to Richie's famous father Lionel Richie. Duff admitted that songs on the album were about ex-boyfriend Madden, but insisted that she has nothing but "good feelings" toward him and Richie. "She seems like a nice person," Duff said. On July 31, 2007, Richie confirmed that she and boyfriend Joel Madden were expecting a child, due in early January 2008. She gave birth to 6 lb (2.7 kg). 7 oz daughter Harlow Winter Kate Madden on January 11, 2008 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In February 2008, Richie introduced her daughter, Harlow, in People magazine. Richie and Joel Madden also pose in the photos, for which People reportedly paid $1 million. "She gives life a whole new meaning and a whole new purpose," Richie tells the magazine of Harlow, adding that she's ready to "move on" from her days as a wild child. In February 2003, Richie was arrested in Malibu, California and charged with possession of heroin while driving with a suspended driver's license. 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 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. She admitted to using marijuana and Vicodin before the incident. July 27, 2007, Richie was sentenced to four days in jail, but served only about 82 minutes of the sentence as Richie checked herself into the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California on August 23, 2007 at 15:15 PDT and was released at 16:37 PDT. 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. Richie signed up for an 18-month SB 38 anti-drinking driver education program, according to papers filed with the Superior Court of California. In November 2007, Richie and Joel Madden created The Richie Madden Children's Foundation. The foundation supports programs that "provide immediate aid and seek out programs that are addressing the underlying causes of suffering and provide sustainable solutions." In 2006 Richie was PETA's Worst Dressed Celebrity for wearing fur. A spokesperson from the organization says that Richie "is all animal skin and bones. She’s an incredible shrinking woman with the heart to match." |
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