Paris Hilton has bravely come forward with the truth about her incredibly damaging and abusive experience she went through as a young girl in a boarding school for troubled teens. Her exposé of Provo Canyon School in her documentary This Is Paris has inspired countless others to come forward to tell their story in hopes of protecting others from facing the same horrors. Now, Kat Von D feels the strength to publicly speak on her experience at the same evil school.
Kat Von D Opens Up About Her Experience At 'Torturous' Boarding School
Make-up tycoon and famous tattoo artist Kat Von D has felt inspired by Paris Hilton's bravery to come forward with her truth. She, too, was sent to the same boarding school for the "rehabilitation of troubled teens" that Paris was abused in, Provo Canyon School. Kat Von D has posted a video on Instagram in support of Paris and the survivors and victims of the school in an effort to prevent other children from suffering the same fate.
In her video, she described her horrid experience at the school that was tragically all too similar to Paris's. Kat was also woken in the middle of the night, she explained,
"The door opens and there are these two big dudes and a pretty athletic-built woman standing at the door telling me to calm down and to get dressed and that we would be leaving. And if I didn't do what they say I would have to choose the hard way, which was getting handcuffed."
When she arrived at the school, she was blindfolded and strip-searched in the "crazy, torturous awful place."
Kat Von D detailed the "most traumatic 6 months of my life", where she endured endless physical, emotional, and mental abuse and witnessed sexual abuse. They did not allow the imprisoned students to be in sunlight or nature and had to shower and use the restroom in front of staff members.
They were also put in straight jackets and drugged and put in isolation where "some girls were in there for days at a time, and like peeing on themselves and defecating in that drain. It was pretty hard to be a witness to all that."
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Her parents were worried about her because she was showing interest in punk music and tattooing so a staff member from the school "A counselor set me aside and told me that I had contracted HIV and she was sure it was from tattooing. And you know as a 15-year-old, I had no idea what to think. I didn't know how I was going to tell my parents and I didn't even have the time to critically think that this could be a lie, which obviously it was. But they never told me that, I went through the entire 6 months thinking I had HIV and this was just a scare tactic to get me to stop tattooing."
Kat Von D's Scary Experiences At Boarding School For Troubled Teen
Kat and her fellow imprisoned students were only very rarely allowed to call their families - when they did, they would be closely monitored so the student would be hindered from explaining their abuses. Kat was scared to come forward she was worried about the amount of guilt her parents would feel.
"I guess I wanted to spare them from knowing the horror that took place at Provo Canyon because it wasn't their fault. I think that schools like these that basically exploit the fears of parents, genuinely concerned parents and scare them into sending their kids to these schools. Mind you this was extremely expensive. I've never asked my parents exactly how much they spent on this but I know that we did not have money at the time and my parents did end up putting their house on loan just to pay for this."
Kat Von D is now a mother herself and hopes to close down this still-operating school that left her and countless others with PTSD and severe traumas. She also thanked Paris for giving her the courage to share her story and seek closure for this horrific time of her life that spurred her alcoholism. Luckily, Kat is proudly 15 years sober now and wants to help others overcome and work through the trauma they all experienced at these unregulated money-hungry schools.
Check out Kat's brave testimony here:
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