A rich girl, interrupted

From the magazine

Ally Hilfiger never wanted to be a Rich Girl, said Maureen Callahan in Page Six magazine. It’s a label I’ve been trying to run away from my entire life, says the daughter of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger. But when MTV came calling five years ago, she reluctantly agreed to sign on to Rich Girls, a reality show about the fabulous lives of New York’s young and overprivileged. It was a decision she immediately regretted. Hilfiger, then 17, came off as a lonely, awkward teen, desperate for people to like her in spite of her wealth; under the pressure of the sudden visibility, she and her best friend began bickering on camera, and their friendship unraveled for the entertainment of the TV audience. I felt really, really alone, says Hilfiger. One day, in the middle of filming, I got so upset that I locked myself in the bathroom and just started crying. I felt like I wanted my life to end right then and there. For five months, she sought refuge from the humiliation of reality TV by drinking, smoking pot, and dreaming about running away to Thailand. Once the show ended, her parents checked her into rehab. Now sober, Hilfiger is taking acting classes and working in an art studio. Her greatest accomplishment, she says, is not allowing herself to be used anymore. If anyone asks me to drop my name to get in someplace—no.

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