Entrepreneur, DJ, and activist Paris Hilton announced that she’s engaged to her boyfriend, Carter Reum. He popped the question on Hilton’s birthday, February 13, while the couple was celebrating her 40th on a private island.
“This past year with COVID has accelerated so many things. As someone who traveled constantly, I had a chance to stay home and reevaluate what was important to me. My relationship and the time I spent with Carter was a gift," Hilton told People. "I'm excited for our next chapter."
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"I have gotten the unique opportunity to get to know the real Paris on a daily basis just the two of us during these past 15 months and I couldn't be more excited and lucky to have her as my future wife and partner,” Reum added. “She shines with her kindness, work ethic, authenticity and her voice in making the world a better place and she will do the same as a future mother and wife."
Despite having only started dating a year ago, Reum is a longtime friend of the Hilton family, so the pair have known each other for over 15 years. Reum is an author and entrepreneur known for starting the venture capital firm M13 and co-founding the liquor brand VEEV Spirits alongside his brother Courtney Reum.
In December during the holiday season, Hilton wrote a tribute to Reum on Instagram for their 13-month anniversary. She said that being with Reum felt like a "Disney fairytale" and called their love "perfect and special."
"I'm so happy and grateful that I was custom-made for you and you for me," she wrote.
This moment of celebration comes on the heels of a difficult period for Hilton. Since opening up about the alleged abuse she experienced during her youth while under the care of treatment centers for teens in her documentary This Is Paris in September 2020, Hilton has continued to speak out about her trauma publicly and has been a vocal activist against unregulated teen programs. Most recently, on February 8, Hilton shared her personal story and testimony with Utah lawmakers in order to lobby for a bill that would require more regulations for the state's youth residential treatment centers. The bill passed unanimously.
One day, Hilton helping make policy changes for victims of abuse, the next she's engaged on a private island. At least someone is being productive during quarantine.