Nicole Richie (born Nicole Camilla Escovedo on September 21, 1981) is a socialite best known for her role in The Simple Life and sometimes by her former friendship with heiress Paris Hilton. Richie was born in Berkeley, California. Her biological father is believed by some to be percussionist Peter Escovedo III, brother of Sheila E Her mother is a woman identified only as an assistant on Lionel Richie's 1980 world tour. When Nicole was 9, the Richie formally adopted her.

Nicole is trained in cello, violin, piano, and figure skating, and has plans to pursue a music career. She also attended the University of Arizona for two years after graduating from high school. She made her musical debut in February 2005 with a live appearance on ABC's The View playing the piano. Her godfather is Michael Jackson.

Richie and Hilton starred in the 2003 reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived for a month with a family in the rural community of Altus, Arkansas. Later seasons of the show had Richie and Hilton in a roadtrip across the United States, and an East Coast trek on a Greyhound bus while performing various internships. She has also made appearances in films and Fox's Madtv. Her first major acting role was a supporting role as cheerleader Kelly Stepford in 2005 comedy Kids In America.

Richie recently wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Truth About Diamonds. 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. Rumors have said that a character in the book, Simone Westlake, is based on Nicole's ex-best friend, Paris Hilton. Simone does a few things extremely similar to Hilton, such as "accidentally on purpose" losing her cell phone and letting out the phone numbers of celebrities to the general public.

While former best friend Paris Hilton has the catchphrase "That's Hot", Nicole has one of her own in the same vein: "Loves It." Another current project of Richie's is an album, with no release date specified as of yet. The seven songs reported to be done so far are a mixture of rock, soul and dance.

Richie is set to inherit her father's $365 Million fortune.

She was engaged to club DJ Adam Goldstein also known as D.J. AM. They announced their engagement in February 2005 after dating since 2003 and were set to marry in early 2006. On December 7th, 2005, she and Adam broke off their 9 month engagement. Nicole has recently been seen with Kevin Lafreniere all over Los Angeles and near his hometown in Texas. Kevin is an up-and-coming songwriter who is working with her on several songs for her album to be in late 2006. Kevin was asked about Nicole and he commented, "She is amazing, awesome and talented".

During 2006, she was seen hanging out with MTV's "Jackass" star Steve-O. It is rumored that they are a couple.

In the Media Spotlight

In February of 2003, she was arrested in Malibu, California, and charged with possession of heroin. She has since been through rehab.

In December of 2003, she publicly spoke out in defense of her godfather Michael Jackson following his accusations of child molestation.

Following the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, the Federal Communications Commission received 80,000 complaints after Richie said, "fuck," and was not bleeped. This was the FCC complaint record, until it was broken following Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's appearance at Super Bowl XXXVIII.

She briefly dated Canadian music producer and entrepreneur Brad Salyn in 2002. On 20 April 2005, amidst 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 involved a story that Nicole had shown Paris' sex tape at a party. There were also rumors of Hilton being jealous of Nicole's rising star. Richie is still friends with Paris' sister Nicky, who was to serve as a bridesmaid at Nicole's wedding until it was called off in December, 2005. Recently, Nicole has spoken out about Paris. She has said that there was never a real falling out, that she and Paris have just drifted apart and haven't been friends for about two years. Nicole has also said she doesn't see herself making up with Paris and that if they were to meet "at a mall or something, we would just not talk."

In 2005 Richie appeared and co-hosted at the 19th Annual Soul Train Music Awards.

Initially, because of the end of Nicole's friendship with Paris Hilton, Kimberly Stewart or not as publicly known Manhattan socialite Bethany Carkhuff were tapped to be Nicole's replacement in The Simple Life 4. Richie and fiance Goldstein were said to be considering a Jessica Simpson-type reality show of their own. Nicole has since said that she would never agree to doing a reality show about her personal life and relationships. Fox, the network behind The Simple Life, has announced that the next year, entitled The Simple Life 4, has been cancelled as the show's stars "no longer proved compatible." On November 10, 2005 on The Tonight Show she said that she and Paris Hilton will do the show but tape their segments separately.

In early 2005, Nicole was ridiculed by media members who claimed that she had an eating disorder. She has lost about twenty pounds, weighing a mere ninety-seven pounds, since her rise to stardom in 2003 with The Simple Life 1. Nicole has been quoted as saying "I've always been really skinny. I just went through a heavier stage after rehab and during Simple Life 1. Now I have a trainer and the weight has gradually come off."

Selected TV appearances

• The Simple Life (2003) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• The Simple Life 2: Road Trip (2004) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• The Simple Life 3: Interns (2005) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• The Simple Life 4 (2006) (reality series regular) ... Herself
• Larry King Live (2005) (guest) ... Herself
• Punk'd (2005) ... Herself
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2005) (guest) ... Herself
• Mad TV (2005) (guest) ... Herself
• The Oprah Winfrey Show (2004) (guest with father) ... Herself
• Six Feet Under (2004) (guest) ... Herself
• American Dreams (2004) (guest) ... Brenda Reid
• Viko and Nicole's Honeymoon (2004 on dvd and video) (star) ... Herself