Paris Hilton is celebrating 14 years since she “invented the selfie” alongside Britney Spears
The 39-year-old businesswoman and socialite has claimed for many years that she and her pal Britney were the first people to popularise the technique of turning your camera on yourself to take pictures, and on Friday (20.11.20), she marked the 14th anniversary of the very first snap she ever took with the ‘Toxic’ hitmaker
24 November 2020
Posting the throwback snap of herself with Britney, she wrote on Twitter: “14 years ago, @britneyspears and I invented the selfie #LegendsOnly (sic)”
Paris first claimed to have invented the photography method in 2017, when she said she had been taking selfies since she was a child, and boasted that her rise to fame on ‘The Simple Life’ alongside Nicole Richie kick-started the modern day social media celebrity phenomenon.
She said at the time: "If a beeper had a camera, I would have taken a selfie with it. I think I have a selfie from when I was a little kid, like on a disposable camera."
Recalling her journey to stardom, she added: "We started a whole new genre of celebrity that no one had ever seen before. Nowadays, I feel like it's so easy becoming famous. Anybody with a phone can do it.”
After her comments, Paris then shared the same photo of herself with Britney, at the time celebrating 11 years since the snap was taken.
Along with the 2006 image, her accompanying tweet read: "11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie! (sic)”
Her 2017 post garnered some criticism though, as some Twitter users accused her of lying.
One user claimed the first genuine selfie was taken by Madonna in her 1985 movie 'Desperately Seeking Susan', whilst another referenced a clip from iconic 1991 road movie 'Thelma and Louise' which shows the two lead Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in character taking a Polaroid of themselves.
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