It's difficult to remember what the pop culture landscape looked like before the Kardashians began to dominate our cultural consciousness.
But it was really just a decade ago -- 10 years ago to the day, to be specific -- that Kim Kardashian posed on red carpet with her very famous friend Paris Hilton for the first time.
The timing was perfect. Hilton had been down a sidekick for nearly a year, having confirmed to reporters that she and "Simple Life" co-star Nicole Richie were no longer BFFs. Meanwhile, Hilton and Kardashian grew up together and recently reconnected after the heiress reached out to her old pal, who was known at the time as "the Queen of the Closet Scene," to organize her monstrous closet.
After spending the last few months posing solo or with younger sister Nicky, on April 12, 2006, Hilton brought Kardashian along with her to the 3rd Annual Lakers Casino Night in Santa Monica, unknowingly setting the stage for everything that was to come.
Ten years ago, Kardashian was just Paris Hilton's friend Kim, which is exactly how she's described by Getty in the photo above. The next few months were crucial to Kardashian's career as she became Hilton's new BFF and knew better than to turn down an invite for a night out.
"We'd go anywhere and everywhere just to be seen," Kardashian told Rolling Stone in July 2015."We knew exactly where to go, where to be seen, how to have something written about you. All you had to do is go to this restaurant, or this party, talk about whatever you want to talk about, and it would be in the paper the next day."
They say everyone has to start somewhere. The seeds of Kim Kardashian's celebrity were planted with a photo of her with Paris Hilton, which, in retrospect, Hilton probably regrets.
Being Hilton's BFF is a full-time job -- one Kardashian held for about eight months. By early 2007, she didn't need Hilton anymore. What's more, America didn't need Hilton anymore. Just months after "The Simple Life" was canceled, "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" premiered.
Kardashian's ascent to fame didn't sit well with Hilton, who later resorted to name-calling and crude remarks that signaled a feud was brewing between the two former besties, not that Kardashian was particularly concerned.
Today, the feud is over, though we'd never call them friends -- just two women who know the value of a well-timed #tbt.
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