Following is an excerpt from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC exclusive interview with Paris Hilton on CNBC’s “TechCheck” (M-F, 11AM-12PM ET) today, Tuesday, August 9th as part of NBCUniversal News Group’s “Inside The Metaverse” series. Following is a link to the full interview on CNBC.com:
Paris Hilton Bets On Virtual Entertainment And The Metaverse
JULIA BOORSTIN: Dubbed “Queen of the Metaverse,” Paris Hilton built her own world inside Roblox where her avatar DJs headline a Neon Carnival Festival timed to Coachella and a virtual New Years Eve Party.
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PARIS HILTON: I was playing and there was more people at Paris World than there was in New York at Times Square.
BOORSTIN: Today, she’s announcing her expansion into another metaverse platform, The Sandbox. Here, she'll sell Paris-inspired NFTs and host parties.
HILTON: Right now, we're mostly focusing on the experiences and not the monetization because that's just not the focus right now. But we are going to be doing digital wearables and working with different brands.
BOORSTIN: She’s bringing her real-life apparel line into the metaverse by selling digital tracksuits, ultimately imagining ways to link virtual and physical items.
HILTON: We want to be able to do where people could buy the tracksuit and then also get a digital version for their avatar to wear.
BOORSTIN: Hilton says she started investing in crypto in 2016, long before crypto's meteoric rise and fall. She’s been selling NFTs since last April. Before that market dropped, one sold for over one million dollars. During peak interest in the metaverse last year, she invested in a number of startups in the space, including Bob Iger-backed Genies which creates customized avatars. While Hilton continues to DJ in the real world, she sees new virtual worlds including from Mark Zuckerberg's Meta becoming the future of entertainment.
HILTON: Not everyone is able to go to Ibiza or go to Tomorrowland or go to these shows. It makes it accessible to so many people who aren't able to do that.
