| Movies | 
Early life and family
Nicole Richie was born Nicole Camille Escovedo in Berkeley, California.[1] She is reportedly the biological daughter of Afro-Latin American percussionist Pete Escovedo and a white woman identified only as a backstage assistant on Lionel Richie's 1980 world tour; Escovedo was a member of Richie's band. Reportedly, Nicole's mother was never a factor in her life, and Escovedo raised her alone. Escovedo took Nicole to Richie's shows and recording sessions, and she became something of a mascot for the band.[2]
Lionel Richie first met Nicole as a child playing tambourine onstage at a Prince concert. Richie became her guardian and later adopted her.[3] At age two, Nicole went to live with Lionel Richie and his wife, Brenda Harvey-Richie, who began to raise her as their daughter. When she was three years old, Nicole began attending weekly sessions with a psychotherapist and remained in therapy throughout her childhood. She was legally adopted by the Richies when she was nine. Shortly after the adoption was formalized, Lionel's affair with another woman became public knowledge.[4]
The Richies went through a highly-publicized, bitterly acrimonious split, and as a result, indulged Nicole's every whim. "Their way of making me happy was to say yes to everything I wanted, but I don't think a little girl should have that much freedom," said Richie in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine.[5]
Richie still speaks with her biological mother but has no contact with her biological father. The identity of her biological father is the subject of much speculation. In a November 15, 2005 CNN interview with Ryan Seacrest, Richie stated that her birth father (whom she declined to identify) was not a member of Lionel's band.[6] According to an April 2006 Tatler magazine interview with Richie, it is rumored that her biological father is musician Peter Michael Escovedo (brother of musician Sheila E.),[7] but Richie denied this in a November 2005 Jane magazine interview.[8]
Richie has one godmother, Nancy Davis, daughter of Marvin Davis and mother of Brandon Davis; Nancy was related by marriage to Paris Hilton.[9] Richie's godfathers are Michael Jackson[10] and Quincy Jones. Jones said in a People magazine interview that he has "known [Nicole Richie] since she was a baby. She's a very smart girl. When she was younger she worked eight hours a day for eight years to become an Olympic figure skater. She's a very talented girl."[11]
She said her drug habit began very casually. "You know, pot at 13, which, in my circle, was very normal. Drinking every once in a while, but that wasn't really my thing. And then I started getting into cocaine at like 14 or 15. And then I stopped. And, and went to heroin, at about 19, I believe," she told ABC news. [12]
Education
In addition to figure skating, Richie studied the guitar, cello, violin, and piano. In 1986, she started kindergarten at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California where she met Paris Hilton. Richie graduated from Montclair College Preparatory School in 2000. After high school, she studied Arts and Media for two years at the University of Arizona.
Reality television
Main Article: The Simple Life
In 2003, Richie and best friend Paris Hilton starred in Season 1 of the reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. The series debuted on FOX on December 2, 2003, to high ratings. The premiere episode drew 13 million viewers, increasing FOX's Adults 18-49 rating to 79%.
n Season 2, The Simple Life 2: Road Trip, the girls traveled the South driving a pink pick-up and living in a trailer. The girls had no money, credit cards or cell phones and were required to work various jobs during their trip to earn money. Their jobs included farmworkers, mermaids in an underwater show, hotel maids, sausage makers, crawfishers, working for a baseball team, working in a beauty salon, Deputy Sherrifs, and working on a cattle ranch. The girls also stayed with different families or in trailer parks and on one occasion, a nudist resort.
In Season 3, The Simple Life 3: Interns, the girls traveled the East Coast on a bus, staying at 15 different families' houses. Unlike Season 2, the girls did not have a swanky home on wheels and instead were traveling around the north-east in a regular Greyhound bus that was also ferrying normal members of the public that were traveling to the same destination.
In late 2005, FOX chose not to renew The Simple Life, explaining that they didn't see a place for it in their schedule.[14] A month later, cable network E! picked up the series for its fourth season. The Simple Life 4: 'Til Death Do Us Part followed the girls as they traveled around California, acting as wife and mother to various families, though both would do tasks separately and not be seen together on screen.[15]
The Simple Life 5: The Simple Life Goes To Camp, debuted on E! on May 28, 2007, with Hilton and Richie reconciling on Richie's birthday in the season opener. For Season 5, Hilton and Richie worked as counselors at Camp Shawnee. The camp was host to five different specialty groups: Wellness Camp, Pageant Camp, Couples Camp, Survival Camp and Drama Camp, with two episodes focused on each specialty group.
Although Season 4 was a hit for E!, drawing nearly one million viewers per episode, Season 5 saw a sharp decline in ratings. While the premiere episode and ones that followed during this season drew about the same viewership, by the 7th episode the ratings had declined to around 700,000 viewers. It was announced on July 30, 2007 that the show would not be renewed for a sixth season.[16]
Music
Main Article: Nicole Richie's debut album
Richie was a member of the rock band Darling in 2004 [17].
Since 2005, Richie has been working on her debut album. A release date has not yet been announced.[17] In 2005, one track called "Dandelion" was leaked and since then it has been available in YouTube. Richie said it won't appear in her album.
Acting
She made her acting debut in a movie "Kids In America." Richie has guest starred in television series including Eve, Six Feet Under and American Dreams. In American Dreams, Richie portrayed Brenda Reid, the lead singer of the girl group The Exciters, and sang the group's hit song "Tell Him".[18]
Writing
In 2005, Richie wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Truth About Diamonds, which was released by Bharell Jackson Publishing. The novel is loosely based on her life, but is mostly fictional. It chronicles Chloe Parker, the adopted daughter of a singer who makes her way through all of the hottest nightclubs and parties in Hollywood and battles a drug addiction. It was rumored that a character in the book, Simone Westlake, was based on Paris Hilton.[17]
In early January 2006, The Truth About Diamonds peaked at number #32 in Hardcover Fiction on The New York Times Best-Seller List.[19]
Other
In addition to acting and singing, Richie has also modeled and has appeared in ads for Bongo Jeans and Jimmy Choo.[17]
In April 2007, Richie announced plans to start a jewelry, accessories, and sunglasses line along with a perfume and style book.[20]
Public image
Personal life
On April 20, 2005, amid media reports that their friendship was in trouble, Paris Hilton, released a statement saying, "It's no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends," and "Nicole knows what she did, and that's all I'm ever going to say about it." A circulating rumor was the story that Richie had shown Hilton's sex tape at a party; though Richie has denied this.[21] Richie, however, said "There's nothing that really happened, we've just grown apart."[21] Richie and Hilton reportedly reconciled after Hilton called Richie on her birthday in September 2006.[22]
In the spring of 2006, Richie made media headlines with a dramatically thinner appearance, after spending two seasons of The Simple Life slightly heavier than her usual weight.[23] In May she told Vanity Fair, "I know I'm too thin right now, so I wouldn't want any young girl looking at me and saying, 'That's what I want to look like.'"[24] She also said, "I started seeing a nutritionist and a doctor. I was scared that it could be something more serious."[25] During this time it was reported that she had also sought the help of a psychiatrist and a personal trainer.[26] Later that year, in September, Richie stated "I am not anorexic. I am not bulimic. I do not have an eating disorder."[26] On October 27, 2006, it was announced that Richie was seeking treatment for "an inability to put on weight", though it is not treatment for an eating disorder.[26]
In March 2007, Richie was taken to the hospital for dehydration. On March 21 her reps announced she was diagnosed with hypoglycemia.[27]
Richie has had a string of high-profile relationships. She dated DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) from 2004 to 2005, and they broke up after a nine-month engagement.[28] Richie was also briefly linked with Brody Jenner of The Hills.
Richie's highest profile relationship thus far has been with Joel Madden, of the band Good Charlotte, an ex-boyfriend of Hilary Duff. Duff's song "Gypsy Woman" garnered media attention independently from the album when it was rumored to be about Richie. This speculation, which was reported in sources such as MSNBC and Radar magazine, also involved another song on the album, "Dignity".[30][31][32] Radar suggested that a line in the song, "Enjoy the fame, bringing down the family name," refers to Richie's famous father Lionel Richie.[32] Duff admitted that songs on the album were about ex-boyfriend Madden, but insisted that she has nothing but "good feelings" toward him and Richie. "She seems like a nice person," Duff said.
On July 31st, 2007, Richie confirmed that she and boyfriend Joel Madden were expecting a child, due in early January 2008.[34] She gave birth to 6 lbs. 7 oz daughter Harlow Winter Kate Madden on January 11, 2008 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Charity
In November 2007, Richie and Madden created The Richie Madden Children's Foundation. The charity will create and promote an online registry to inspire the purchases of items for moms and their families in need.
Early life
Joel Madden was born to a middle class Irish-American family in Waldorf, Maryland. He has an identical twin brother, Benji Madden, who plays guitar in Good Charlotte. He has an older brother named Josh, and a younger sister named Sarah. Madden attended La Plata High School in La Plata, Maryland.
When Madden was 15 years old his father left the family, causing financial hardship for the family. Madden took up various odd jobs as a teenager to help his mother with the family's bills. One job he and his brother, Benji, took up was washing people's hair at a salon. While in his early 20s, Madden changed his last name from Combs, his father's name, to his mother's maiden name, Madden. He did this to further himself from his father, who had left their family.[1]
Good Charlotte
In 1995, at the age of 16, Madden attended the Beastie Boys Ill Communication Tour with his brother Benji. Drawing from music introduced to them by their older brother Josh, such as Rancid and Social Distortion, as well as the influence of the Beastie Boys concert, the two started their own band with a friend. The band was short lived and the Maddens eventually recruited fellow high schoolers Paul Thomas and Aaron Escolopio to form Good Charlotte.[2]
Other projects
In the 2001 film Not Another Teen Movie, Joel and the other Good Charlotte members made a cameo as the band at the school's prom. He later had a cameo role in the 2004 film Fat Albert and in the 2006 film Material Girls with his brother Benji.
Madden started a clothing line called MADE Clothing along with his brothers Benji and Josh. The line is now defunct. In early 2006 MADE Clothing became DCMA Collective. The line is owned by himself, his brothers Benji Madden, Josh Madden, and friend Tal Cooperman.
Personal life
Madden dated singer and actress Hilary Duff for two and a half years before their relationship ended in November 2006. Later that year in December 2006, Madden and Nicole Richie became a couple. In June and July 2007, numerous media outlets were stating that Richie was pregnant with Madden's baby. These rumors were unaddressed by the couple until July 31, 2007 when they confirmed in an interview with Diane Sawyer that Richie was pregnant with Madden's child. For the sake of Richie and the baby, Madden has given up smoking. Richie gave birth to the couple's daughter, Harlow Winter Kate Madden on January 11, 2008 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.[3]
Madden currently resides in Glendale, California.
|
