Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie was born September 21, 1981. It is rumored that her biological father was a drummer and her mother was a backstage assistant, both of whom worked for singer Lionel Richie. When Nicole was two, Lionel and then wife Brenda began raising her. She was not legally adopted by the couple until she was nine years old. The next year, Lionel and Brenda separated. She attended The Buckley School with her BFF (best friend forever) Paris Hilton.
For a while, it seemed that Nicole would have to take a backseat to socialite Paris. While Paris was starring in a homemade sex movie and was frequenting nightclubs with a different handsome bachelor each night of the week, Nicole seemed to be lying low. Her only headline making news was when she was arrested for heroin possession in February 2003. She completed rehab in 2003 and once she started on “The Simple Life,” she seemed to have cleaned up her act – at least for a little while.
Nicole began dating DJ Adam Goldstein (DJ AM) in 2003 and they were engaged in 2005. Nicole seemed health, happy, and off drugs. But the summer of 2006 marriage never happened. They broke off the engagement in December 2005. Although they reconciled once in 2006, it was short lived. She is now dating Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden.
The breakup with DJ Am seemed to signal a period of trouble in Nicole’s life. Next, childhood friends ran into trouble and ceased their friendship in April 2005. Word was that the feud was started when Nicole showed Paris’ sex tape at a party, but that was never confirmed. The two continued to film their reality show “The Simple Life” and had made up by October 2006.
Suddenly, Nicole seemed to be the one to garner most of the headlines away from Paris. Nicole, who was once pudgy compared to Paris, began losing weight. At first, she looked good, but then she continued to lose to the point of it being scary. She told Vanity Fair in May 2006 that she knew she was too thin, but was seeing a nutritionist to help her gain weight. She claimed however, that she didn’t have an eating disorder. But, by October 2006, she was in rehab for “an inability to put on weight.” Later that year, in December 2006, Nicole was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. She admitted to using both marijuana and Vicodin. Her arrest put “The Simple Life” season five at risk.
Just like Paris, Nicole has expanded her career into different areas. She appeared in episodes of “8 Simple Rules…for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and “American Dreams.” She wrote a pseudo-autobiographical novel titled The Truth About Diamonds. It was loosely based on her life, but much of it was fictional. She has modeled for Bongo Jeans and Jimmy Choo shoes. She is planning to work on a style book and launch a jewelry accessories line in the future. She started working on a record in 2006, but currently it seems to have been put on hold, although OK! Magazine said she is working on it with new boyfriend Joel Madden.
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