House Editorial: The judgment of Paris
Taking a shot at Paris Hilton, ‘guerilla graffiti’ artist discovers the simple celebrity bleeds tabloid ink
Posted on September 5, 2006

Can’t poor Paris Hilton catch a break?

After a string of misfortunes — including losing her precious Chihuahua Tinkerbell, falling out with Nicole Richie, and breaking her engagement to a rich and handsome shipping heir — it only gets worse.

Most recently, “guerilla graffiti” artist Banksy took his own cheap shot at Ms. Hilton, doctoring 500 copies of her first self-titled album.

Before covertly distributing them into music stores throughout the United Kingdom, where they would be sold to 500 unsuspecting consumers, Bansky tampered with everything from the CD booklet to the record credits. On the cover, he digitally remastered Hilton’s image to expose her bare breasts. On the inside, he replaced her head with that of her beloved dog. But it doesn’t stop there.

In another image of Hilton, where she’s getting out of a fancy car, Bansky added a group of homeless folks behind her. Yet another shot Hilton’s face is Photoshopped over a mannequin in a store window, under a banner reading “Thou Shalt Not Worship False Icons.” And he re-edited the record credits to include a thank you to himself for his “wonderful work.”

Granted, this isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to Paris Hilton. But, like Daniel Edwards’s sculpture of Britney Spears giving birth to Sean Preston — and Edwards’s latest sculpture of Suri Holmes-Cruise’s first stool, entitled “Suri’s Bronzed Baby Poop” — Bansky’s celebrity mini-scandal only adds to the ever-expanding universe of phony-celebrity coverage. As Bansky aims to make fun of Hilton’s “empty celebrity,” as Britain’s The Independent puts it, and deter her cult of followers, what he’s really doing is drawing her more attention.

On the back of the album, Bansky continues the abuse, replacing names of song titles with questions like, “Why Am I Famous?” and “What Have I Done?” These are decent questions, but potentially moot when one realizes that Hilton has obviously done something right — she’s caught your eye, Mr. Bansky.

And, like they say, any press is good press.