The new perjury accusations stem from Hilton’s denial that she planted false stories about Graff in the press, which is the basis for Graff’s multimillion dollar suit.
Hilton blames her former publicist, Rob Shuter, for placing the story, according to court documents.
But Shuter recently confirmed Graff’s accusations, based on excerpts from his deposition in which he describes how Hilton phoned him after the two women had a run-in at London nightclub Kabaret, and then gave him specific instructions about what she wanted him to feed to the gossip pages of the New York Post.
“I listened carefully. I took notes. And then, I made a call. Then, I called the Post,” Shuter said in his Dec. 16 videotaped deposition.
The story that appeared in the Post’s Page Six column July 2 portrayed Graff as a “jealous ex-girlfriend” who went “berserk” when she saw Hilton dancing with Paris Latsis, Graff’s former lover.
The Post quoted an anonymous eyewitness who claimed Graff tried to strangle the heiress and grab the jewels off her neck before security restrained her and escorted her from the club.
Shuter said in his deposition that Hilton was the anonymous source and that she referred to herself in the third person as she fed him the following quote: “’It’s one thing to lose your boyfriend to Paris Hilton — it’s another to find her wearing your family jewels,’ mused one observer.”
Hilton has admitted, in court documents, that the story was false and even concedes that she tried to have Graff removed from the club. However, her attorneys say she denies causing the article to be published.
“Hilton believes that certain statements contained in the article were communicated to the New York Post by Robert Shuter of Dan Klores Communications, without Hilton’s prior consent, knowledge, participation or authorization,” say documents filed in September by Hilton’s attorneys, who could not be reached for comment.
But Shuter said that the “media savvy” socialite “painted a very dramatic and pretty ugly scene” during their four-minute conversation.
“She dictated and I wrote,” Shuter said, adding later, “My recollection is that she wanted to say something much more mean than this. Much more tough. I can’t remember, but I definitely had to tone her back.”
Graff’s attorneys want to question Latsis next.
“We look forward to all of the facts coming out. And in that regard, we will be taking Paris Latsis’ deposition later this month,” Paul Berra of Lavely & Singer told Courttv.com.
Two European tabloids that ran the Post piece have since apologized and retracted the article. The Post has not retracted the article, but on Tuesday Page Six quoted another anonymous source as saying Hilton admitted during her own deposition that she lied when she planted a story in the press about Graff.
“Hilton will learn a valuable lesson about what happens when you try to ruin another person’s reputation,” Graff says in a statement published by the Post, which Berra confirmed to be Graff’s words. “She made a number of false statements about me, and she repeatedly lied under oath during her recent deposition. I look forward to her explaining all of this to a jury.”
http://www.courttv.com/people/2006/0103/hilton_ctv.html
I read the main article, but didn’t read the coresponding links on the side. My computer is crap, and loading up docs is getting completely frustrating. Took almost 5 minutes just to get the main page, and I don’t have dial up :(
Does Zeta Graff have some other connection with the Hiltons? Imo, guys aren’t worth fighting over. Jewelry is a different matter ;) Maybe I’ll go through the frustration of googling up Ms. Graff. I’m so nosey...
Yowza. Thanks for the info. The plot sickens.
Wow. All legitimate info on Zeta Graff apparently pulled. I did see a blurb about the 4 million dollar necklace Paris was wearing that night. It belonged to Zeta’s former father in law.
Zeta split from her husband Peter Graff in 2001. They reached a settlement where she received 17 million. At the time, her age was listed as 33, which would make her around 37-38 yrs old now. In an article that dealt with the lawsuit, her age was given as 34???
LOL, try and find pics of this woman, nevermind her real age. I saw a passible one of her and Paris Latkis, and another one at a Fendi function. In that one, she looked like Donatella Versace. There was an “official website” for Zeta, but the photos were dated, and the info links dealt with the upcoming lawsuit.
I can’t believe I just wasted all that time :/